‘I could never, ever not care for her’: how do carers know when to stop caring for those they love?
About half of people looking after someone with dementia are doing it alone. Many of them are ageing and starting to need care themselves. It is an act of love and duty – but it can be precariousDon Campbell and his wife, Marjorie, energetically travelled the world together. “We’ve had wonderful times” he says. They had season tickets to the symphony and opera – until illness intervened. “We’ve always done lots of theatre and music.” But the “lots and lots of memories” are fading now for Marjorie.She has rheumatoid arthritis and was diagnosed with dementia two-and-a-half years ago. Now she will ask him up to five times a day “what have we got to do today?” It requires, he says, “a huge amount of patience”. Her mobility is failing, she is losing her balance, she has frightening falls, soon she will be in a wheelchair. But no matter what happens from here Don is adamant: “She is not going into care, she is going to be looked after at home by me.” Continue reading...
About half of people looking after someone with dementia are doing it alone. Many of them are ageing and starting to need care themselves. It is an act of love and duty – but it can be precarious
Don Campbell and his wife, Marjorie, energetically travelled the world together. “We’ve had wonderful times” he says. They had season tickets to the symphony and opera – until illness intervened. “We’ve always done lots of theatre and music.” But the “lots and lots of memories” are fading now for Marjorie.
She has rheumatoid arthritis and was diagnosed with dementia two-and-a-half years ago. Now she will ask him up to five times a day “what have we got to do today?” It requires, he says, “a huge amount of patience”. Her mobility is failing, she is losing her balance, she has frightening falls, soon she will be in a wheelchair. But no matter what happens from here Don is adamant: “She is not going into care, she is going to be looked after at home by me.” Continue reading...
