"It ain’t going to get me!" A story about living with Dementia

93-year-old Barbara Wilson has been a resident at BlueCross Hansworth for just more than 18 months. Barbara moved in shortly after her Dementia diagnoses and is comfortable discussing how it feels for her living with dementia, as well as a what it is like living in a residence with friends who have different types of dementia too.

“I try to sleep on my left side- not on my right, I notice that when I’m on my right things change and I see things I know aren’t there. Sometimes I see red dots or hanging leaves, I tell them to go away and if they don’t go, I get mad at it and eventually it goes away” shares Barbara.

“For me that’s what dementia is, something trying to take over me and I’m not going to let it!”.

Barbara shows great confidence in living with her dementia, employing little strategies to feel on top of it. Being a caring person, she also steps in when some of her friends are struggling with their disease.

“One of my Friends here Mary, has dementia and doesn’t always follow the guidance of the carers trying to help her, so the other day I interfered when she wouldn’t take a seat when asked to, I told her ‘Mary go on sit down and then we can have a nice cup of tea’ and she did.”

Barbara recognises when her friends need help and knows it’s not like that all the time. She was very keen to clarify that despite Mary’s struggle with her dementia it doesn’t interrupt her competitive streak because as soon as games are on, Mary is there, ready to win and she very often does. Barbara believes that still having fun with the group helps.

“When I was first diagnosed with dementia I got a bit of a shock, it really hit me” she explained,

“I have a few techniques I use to feel I can get some control of it and I’m trying to hold it off as long as I’m alive- it ain’t going to get me- not until I’m really old, maybe 106 like my aunty.”

Cheers to you Barb!

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A dementia diagnoses can be scary and stressful however it can also be an opportunity to learn more about dementia and its varied impacts on people. There are plenty of resources out there and chatting to people living with dementia and their families can be a great comfort.