On Day 25 of our #DAI #Hello my name is blog series for World Alzheimer’s Month #WAM2018, we feature DAI member and advocate Bob Murray from Canada.
Bob is also an avid golfer, and a very active member of DAI, attending the weekly DAI peer to peer support groups, our Action Group, our monthly Cafe Le Brain, and the weekly Brain Health meetings. We thank Bob for sharing his story with us here.
Let me help you understand...
Hello, my name is Bob Murray. I have ‘lived well’ with arthritis, cancer, a lousy memory, a hearing impairment, depression and more, and I still live with these health issues, the least of which is ‘ageing’. I now have a dementia and intend to live well with it wherever the journey takes me. I also want to help you understand.
In 2013, when I was 74, now five years ago, I told my family doctor that I felt that my short-term memory was worsening - 'senior moments' were coming more frequently. She did a quick 'clock' test and suggested that I get a SPECT brain scan. The result was called ‘mild cognitive impairment’ (MIC - a dementia) which can progress to frontotemporal dementia - a disease of the brain with no known cure. Since then I have read everything that I can find out about MIC and Dementia. Some say the worst of all the dementias is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Scary stuff. My wife of one year was probably more scared than me.
I have had a good life and intend to continue the same into my 90's. Genetics means a lot to me. I take after my father who lived for 52 years with type one diabetes and died at 89 of a stroke. His 3 siblings lived well into their 90's. My daughter got type one diabetes when she was 7 and is now 46 years old and is doing well. Diabetes skipped my generation. I am the fourth generation of Murrays in the printing industry and my son continues this tradition.
My dementia is progressing slowly
I’ve been Lucky. My dementia is progressing slowly. My ‘senior moments’ are increasing in frequency but, with the help of my caregiver, my wife, I am still 'living well' with dementia quite enjoying my life.
There are 2 Doctor’s work with Dementia that I follow closely – Dr. Dale E. Bredesen and Dr. Norman Doidge. If you were to Google these names you will discover a great deal of information re the reversal or delay of cognitive decline and the brain’s way of healing. These are my guidelines for my life in my future. The keys are exercising and nutrition and everything in moderation
I’m now 79 years old, I’ve had a good life, I am LIVING WELL WITH DEMENTIA and intend to continue into my 90's.
When I was 78 years old my family doctor and the head of our memory clinic and my local Alzheimer’s Society told me that there was nothing they could do for me – I was doing well. We moved away from the big city (Toronto) to a rural small town (Seaforth) in 2015 for it's peace and quiet. Here I was introduced to the local Alzheimer's society for counselling for me in Dementia and Care Giving for my wife. Time well spent!
I was introduced to their educational specialist who suggested that I look up the blog of Kate Swaffer who is founder and CEO of Dementia Alliance International (DAI). This organization is restricted to those with dementia. Currently I talk weekly with others over the internet for 2 - 1 hour sessions throughout the world. I was no longer alone. Highly recommended - no cost.
From my time with depression (my early 40’s), I learned that writing about myself was very therapeutic. I met with our local Alzheimer’s Society and we developed a strategy that I would tell my story with dementia and they would publish it in their monthly Alzheimer’s e-newsletter.
Thus was born “My Voyage with Dementia”.
This September's column was my 11th column and I am also being published in a 'opinion' section of a local weekly newspaper. All the columns are on this blog, My Voyage.. This column is now being published on the South Western Ontario website.
Seeing my opinion column in print is very exciting.
Coming up with monthly columns with my personal experiences on dementia has not been as tough a job as I had anticipated. Going weekly may be in my future – it excites me as a great challenge. I meet with the newspaper in 2 weeks to decide on a win-win course of action. Stay tuned. In the meantime please read my past columns – I appreciate comments. This challenge seems to be slowing the progress of my dementia. Time will tell.
Keeping my brain fully engaged is important to me. Incidentally, since starting to learn to play the saxophone my golf game has improved from the mid 90's to the mid 80's. If you are a golfer you know that golf is a brain game.
And, life goes on… I do wonder what is next.
Bob Murray © 2018
DAI’s vision: “A World where people with dementia are fully valued and included.”