We've found more room! New Spaces available for our Public Lecture and Exhibition

Registration for our Public Lecture and Exhibition on Monday January 21, 2013 has been re-opened.  Due to tremendous demand, we have found additional space!  Register Here! 

Spread the word!

2013 Alzheimer Awareness Month Event

Public Lecture and Exhibition

                When:       Monday, January 21st, 2013

10:00 am  -  12:30 pm  (includes light refreshments)

                Where:          William G. Davis Computer Research Centre

DC 1302 (lecture) and DC 1301 (exhibition)

University of Waterloo

This event is free and parking is available at a cost of $6  (coin or  credit card) in Parking Lot M

To register call 519-888-4567, Ext. 36880 or email jluh@uwaterloo.ca.

Space is limited!

   

_______________________________________________________________________

Living Well with Dementia and Challenging the Myths

Dr. Peter J. Whitehouse, MD-PhD

Professor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, USA

Author of “The Myth of Alzheimer’s: What You Aren’t Being Told About Today’s Most Dreaded Diagnosis”

 

A Meaningful Life

Ann Marie Wilson

Family partner in care, Spokesperson and Advocate

 

Carpe Diem - Living Life to the Fullest with Dementia

Mary Beth Wighton

Person living with Frontotemporal Dementia, Spokesperson and Advocate

______________________________________________________

Displays by: MAREP, RIA, Alzheimer Society of Kitchener Waterloo, and much more!!!!

For more information including a map and directions, visit www.marep.uwaterloo.ca/conferences

Special Event hosted by Alzheimer Societies of Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge

 

Alzheimer Societies of Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge

Presents

Dr. J.B. Orange

Associate Professor and Director,

School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Western University,

Associate Scientist, Lawson Health Research Institute



The Language of Dementia: Communication Management in Dementia Care

The forum will provide helpful information for families and healthcare providers supporting persons with dementia.

 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Langs Community Health Centre 1145 Concession Rd., Cambridge To register, call Alzheimer Society of Cambridge 519-650-1628

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Holiday Inn 30 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener To register, call, Alzheimer Society of Kitchener-Waterloo 519-742-1422

My Journey with Dementia - A Personal Story

By Mary McKinlay

 

In 2006, I went to our family doctor after not remembering how to put my dentures back in my mouth.  I told him about the confusion I had been experiencing for several years, and that it was getting worse.  After a CAT scan and testing, I was informed I had Alzheimer’s.  I was started immediately on Aricept, and several months later the drug Memantine was added.  The combination of these two drugs is letting me live an almost normal life.

My husband Jim and I spent hours researching on our computers to learn all we could about the disease.  We found a chat room online where I was able to chat to others on this same journey.  I found out that indeed I probably had many good years ahead of me.

I started keeping an online journal so I could share with my family and friends on how I was doing.  My website, located at www.jim-mary.com, is now full of lots of helpful information as well as my journal.  I have between three and five thousand visitors to my website each week.  Hopefully they are getting some help there.

MAREP has been instrumental in creating a day of sharing for people with dementia and their care partners for the last few years.  I have been very fortunate to have been able to attend five of these Changing Melody forums so far and have actually been a keynote speaker at four of them.

Over the past six years, Jim and I have discovered lots of neat tricks to make our life work with my changing brain.  We now use headphones when watching TV, so when I've had enough input to my brain I can take my headphones off and enjoy the quiet.

I have earplugs I can use when we find ourselves in a noisy environment.  And when we're with a group of family or friends, we know that sometimes we need to find a quiet spot for me for a brain break.

I can still do most of the meal preparation, however usually use the slow cooker or microwave, and things don't get forgotten on the stove.  The use of a small food chopper solved my problem of getting my fingers in the way of the knife.  I seem to now have a one track brain, so I would concentrate on what I was cutting, and not where my fingers were.

Sometimes I struggle with having to make decisions, and in the mornings trying to decide what to wear uses up a whole bunch of brain power.  I've discovered if I hang my slacks and blouses on hangers in sets, I am saved having to make a decision.  I just grab any hanger and I'm ready to go.

While chatting with folks in the chat room, many times caregivers expressed their concerns because when they tried to continue on with their usual activities, their loved one ended up getting very anxious and upset, and the only way they could do these things was to use anxiety drugs to keep them calm.  We're finding that we have had to make major changes in what we do, and can't continue doing everything we used to enjoy doing together.  I think people will get more enjoyment out of life if they realize they have to adjust their thinking and their lives.

So my advice to you is.....KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Make changes as needed as the brain changes.  ENJOY EACH DAY AS BEST YOU CAN!!!

 

 

For more information about Mary, please check out her online journal www.jim-mary.com  or you can see a video of Mary sharing her personal journey on the Alzheimer Society of Ontario's website at http://www.alzheimer.ca/en/on/We-can-help/Resources/Video-Library/Benefits-of-early-diagnosis/Mary-McKinley

 

 

 

January is Alzheimer Awareness Month! Come Join Us in Learning More and Making a Difference

2013 Alzheimer Awareness Month Event

 

Public Lecture and Exhibition

        

 When:     Monday, January 21st, 2013

                      10:00 am  -  12:30 pm  (includes light refreshments)

 

 Where:    William G. Davis Computer Research Centre

                      DC 1302 (lecture) and DC 1301 (exhibition)

                      University of Waterloo

 

This event is free and parking is available at a cost of $6 in Parking Lot M

To register call 519-888-4567, Ext. 36880 or email jluh@uwaterloo.ca.

Space is limited!

 

   

_______________________________________________________________________

Living Well with Dementia and

Challenging the Myths

Dr. Peter J. Whitehouse, MD-PhD

Professor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University, USA

Author of “The Myth of Alzheimer’s: What You Aren’t Being Told About Today’s Most Dreaded Diagnosis”

 

 

 A Meaningful Life

Ann Marie Wilson

Family partner in care, Spokesperson and Advocate

 

Carpe Diem - Living Life to the

Fullest with Dementia

Mary Beth Wighton

Person living with Frontotemporal Dementia, Spokesperson and Advocate

______________________________________________________

 

Displays by: MAREP, RIA, Alzheimer Society of Kitchener Waterloo, and much more!!!!

 

For more information including a map and directions, visit www.marep.uwaterloo.ca/conferences

Living Beyond the Diagnosis of Younger Onset Dementia

By Kate Swaffer ©, 2012

Just before my 50^th birthday, I was diagnosed with a younger onset fronto temporal dementia. With no pharmacological treatment options, and the realisation it is a terminal illness, I decided to accept it as a disease with disabilities, rather than one leading to my demise.  My neurologists and neuropsychologists told me to “give up work, give up study, and go home and live for the time I had left!” I termed this ‘prescribed disengagement’ and chose to ignore it! I gave up work 12 months later as my driving license was revoked, but rather than give up everything, I developed strategies to accommodate the disabilities caused by the symptoms of dementia, as they appeared. I remained at university with the support of disability advisors and campus counsellors to continue with two tertiary degrees, both completed post dementia diagnosis. My roles now are as an advocate for improving dementia and aged care, and a writer, poet and speaker.

I remain actively engaged in a world beyond dementia, and use writing and blogging not only as a form of emotional healing, but to create my memory bank. My blog has become the journal of my life, my thoughts and my activities, ensuring my memories are retained, not only for my children later on, but for me right now. Other social media like Facebook and twitter have also become important, as they offer other social connections and photographs, other ways to record and recollect my world. Having dementia does not mean you have to give up doing crazy and fun things or blogging and living beyond the diagnosis. For some, following a diagnosis of dementia, their whole life becomes about dementia and many forget to keep living the other parts of their lives. It is probably the negative side effect of the ‘prescribed disengagement’ given out following diagnosis.

Blogging and writing has become imperative to my positive attitude, and my global community motivates me to keep fighting against dementia. I published a poetry book earlier this year, Love, Life, Loss, A Roller Coaster of Poetry, available via my blog Creating Life with Words. Recently I have been involved in setting up two new blogs; one called The Dementia Dialogue, where a woman diagnosed with dementia and a carer discuss the disease, its impact on their lives. Through this conversation, we hope to open up the doors to a deeper understanding. The other one is called Global Dementia Voices, where people with dementia share their stories. I write to stay inspired, to share my thoughts, to remind me of who I really am. Treating the symptoms of dementia as disabilities, rather than managing them in ways that constrain and hinder me are vital to my well-being, motivation, and my ability to continue living well.

Personal Stories from People Living with Dementia - Part of January Alzheimer Awareness

Over the years, MAREP has been very fortunate to have met people who inspire the work that we do at MAREP and who challenge us to find innovative ways to help support those living with dementia in making a difference not only for themselves but for others who are living with and/or affected by dementia.

As part of January Alzheimer Awareness month, we thought we would feature on our blog some inspirational stories - personal stories submitted by our partners living with dementia throughout the course of the month.

You will find that each person's journey and experience living with dementia is very different as we are all unique individuals, yet you will also note some similarities.  We hope that by reading these stories, you will be able to gain a better understanding of what it is like living with dementia and how all of us - those living without or with dementia - can partner together to ensure that people living with dementia can lead a very fulfilling and meaningful life!