The next few days are important in our journey with dementia.  The appointment with our social worker on Friday morning will be the start of my Carers’ Assessment.   I need to take advice on how to develop a life alongside being a Care Partner. There are lots of aspects our lives that have fallen by the wayside, as we have grappled with the consequences of Maureen’s stroke and onset of dementia.

The following list outlines my current aspirations:

• Visit family and friends on a regular basis
• Plan holidays
• Resume meditation classes
• Resume tai chi classes
• Return to ballroom dancing classes
• Return to some form of painting and drawing
• Attend some form of educational/interest group/class
• Read more books and other publications
• Improve my DIY skills
• Resume involvement in the Labour Party
• Continue with my attempts to improve the diagnosis and treatment of dementia

I am sure I may well revise this list in the next couple of days.  One thing for sure Cleethorpes is a lovely place to live, as you can see from my photo above of the sun rising over the Humber.

Progress?

In almost two months the only item on the above list on which any progress has been made is the first one.  Thanks to the efforts of our new social worker I now have a day off every other weekend.  I made London a week ago, and I will be in Coventry on Saturday.

If a report on the last few weeks was written I think it might say: ‘He talks a good game’.  The procedure I am about to undergo in a few hours might be a warning that Carer Burnout is around the corner unless I, and others,  begin to place more importance on my own welfare.