Thank you for all the comments. Some of you have mentioned how it's all becoming very real and daunting now......well, yes and no. We're only at the start of this new phase of the journey, husband of course has not yet been diagnosed with any type of dementia. However, we've been living with his declining cognitive abilities and behaviour for quite some time now, so that aspect of it is nothing new. One thing I will say - I've been telling friends and relatives for ages how things are and have often felt (well, realised even) that some of them don't really believe me, think I'm exaggerating or having a moan for no real reason. Well now they're realising it's a distinct possibility I've been right all along, so I feel somewhat vindicated. Especially since our GP immediately took me seriously and agreed with me.
On the subject of the GP, we had a phone call late yesterday afternoon from the surgery, booking husband in for a full range of blood tests at the end of this month. The GP was as good as his word and had notified the memory clinic immediately, and it is they who have requested that husband has these bloods done. How's that for service? I'm impressed.
I have this morning filled out the forms online for both types of LPA, just need to get a friend to witness our signatures and do a certification, this will be done at the weekend, my sister's best friend will do it (it can't be a relative). I've actually been meaning to do it for ages, just haven't got round to it before now. I guess all this stuff will be prompting me to do plenty of things I've been putting off for one reason or another.
Excellent service from your GP and the memory clinic. You can't ask for better than that! I'm glad you're getting the LPA's sorted. It's a pain, but even more of a pain if you don't have one and have to apply to the Office of the Public Guardian if you need to give consent for anything medical, or to access any financial stuff that is in your husband's name. We did ours a few years ago, after dealing with the illness and death of both sets of parents, who, fortunately, had their LPA's in place. We went through a solicitor for ours (purely because we didn't have the mental energy!) and he said that he always recommends that people make a will and sort out their LPA's when they turn 18. As he said, anyone can have an accident or illness, that causes them to lose capacity. Common sense when you think of it like that! xx
ReplyDeleteI can't believe family would think you're lying. You are with him and know how things are. My husband has had a stroke twice in the past two years and it has affected his memory somewhat.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that your GP is so on the ball.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Wow, you don't let the grass grow .....an excellent effort re LPAs, very well done you! So good to hear you have an excellent GP.
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