The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Maureen and Sean share experiences for dementia week
Two Ross-shire residents have spoken movingly about living with dementia as part of a nationwide campaign to increase understanding of the condition.
Maureen McClung and Sean Cowan have both been talking about their experiences to support Dementia Awareness Week, which begins today.
The pair are among the 3,000 people in Scotland who have been diagnosed with the condition before they reach their 65th birthday.
Both hope that their stories can help change perceptions of dementia, reduce the stigma surrounding it and offer people hope.
A key campaign message is that early diagnosis allows people to receive the treatment and support they need to help them live well with the condition.
Mrs McClung, a former call centre worker from Dingwall who was diagnosed two years ago, said: “I don’t feel sad in myself because I’ve got dementia.
“You just have to live with it and take life as it comes. Although there are things I can’t do anymore – such as using my car – I’m not feeling sorry for myself.”
Her family began noticing signs before she was diagnosed.
Her husband, Robert, said: “Maureen would always call her sons by the wrong name – things like that. Then she started forgetting words in sentences.
“Soon we thought ‘this isn’t right – we all forget things but it’s all adding up to something bigger.”
Mrs McClung added: “I think we got it at the right time. The hardest part of it was starting the medication and getting that balance, but I think I’m OK now.
“I liked my job, and the
routine, but I can still do things. It’s nice to meet up with people but we don’t really talk about dementia – we catch up about what’s been happening in Coronation Street.”
Mr Cowan, who was diagnosed three years ago, is keen to make people aware that dementia is not just a condition restricted to the older generation.
“You assume dementia is an old person’s thing,” he said. “I understood quite a lot about it in theory, but in practice it’s different.
“My diagnosis was a traumatising time. For a year and a half, I was really angry and battling with it, and the support worker from Alzheimer Scotland told me it’s something you’ve got to live with.”
Mr Cowan’s wife, Stacey, admits living with dementia has its challenges.
“For me, it’s about trying to be patient and changing my personality to manage the dementia and fit round Sean,” she said.
Alzheimer Scotland chief executive Henry Simmons said it can be challenging to meet the needs of people facing dementia younger in life.
He said: “The emotional impact of a dementia diagnosis can be huge, particularly at a younger age. A timely diagnosis means that people can start coming to terms with the illness, learn how to cope and begin to make decisions and plan for their future.”