ALZHEIMER'S - TAKING IT ONE DAY AT A TIME

Last Thursday, my mother had her first appointment at the 'Memory Clinic' - an euphemism for the Psychiatric Clinic. If you have never spent hours waiting in a crowded government hospital, count yourself lucky. It's not an experience you want to subject yourself to, if you can help it. It's very depressing, more so in a clinic filled with elderly people in various stages of mental decline.

As I sat there, looking at the expressionless faces of the old people around me, I wondered what was going on in their mind. What were they thinking about? Was there now one huge void where memories once held sway?

I turned to my mother as she sat in the wheelchair staring blankly at the clock on the wall. "What are you thinking about?" I asked. "Nothing," came her reply. I must have repeated the question a dozen times during the four hours we were at the hospital. Her answer was always the same -"Nothing".

Footnote: The KL-PJ Caregivers Support Group will be holding its monthly gathering and talk on Saturday 19 Nov, 2.00pm, at ADFM PJ Daycare Centre, 6 Lorong 11/8E, Section 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya:

TOPIC: “Can Alzheimer’s Disease Be Prevented?”
Speaker : Dr Rajbans, Consultant, Pantai Hospital Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur,

Kindly confirm your attendance early.

Email to jenny@adfm.org.my / Tel: 03-7956 2008/7958 3008 / SMS 016- 608 2513 / Fax 03-7960 8482 or contact Christine at 03-2260 3158