Memory Walk for Alzheimer's Society

TrixiBuG · 21 Sep 2015 at 11:34

Hi everyone!

I know these threads don't generally go down very well, but I thought I would come cap in hand and see if any of you wonderful people would like to sponsor me!

Alzheimer's a very scary disease. At the moment, there is nothing to prevent the onset of it and there is no cure. Doesn't matter if you smoke 40 a day or you look after your body, you could still get Dementia and there would be nothing you, or your family, could do about it

Did you know: By the end of 2025 over 1 million people in the UK will have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or Dementia

Did you know: At least 1 in 3 people born this year will develop Dementia.

Source

I lost my Grandma to Alzheimer's six years ago so I'm taking part in the Memory Walk in Heaton Park this Saturday to help raise money for the continued treatment, care and research that The Alzheimer's Society & Dementia Friends provide. My Gran benefited from these organisations and I want to give something back.

Would any of you like to sponsor my 10k walk to raise money for The Alzheimer's Society?

Here is a link to my Just Giving Page:

https://www.justgiving.com/Louise-Knowles2

Thanks for reading!

atpbx · 21 Sep 2015 at 12:34

I clicked this link for a reason, for the life of me i cant remember what it was.....

On a serious note, my wife has just completed a charity run for this over at nottingham, its something thats quite close to home as a both she and i have friends whos parents suffer with this this.

markweatherill · 21 Sep 2015 at 15:34

TrixiBuG said:
Alzheimer's a very scary disease.

Yes it is.

But it isn't as scary as Alzheimer's.

Amnesia · 21 Sep 2015 at 20:05

How do those who suffer from it benefit ?

Derek W · 21 Sep 2015 at 20:09

Amnesia said:
How do those who suffer from it benefit ?

from the page

Alzheimer's Society

Charity Registration No. 296645

Alzheimer's Society is the leading UK care and research charity for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, their families and carers. To find out more about fundraising for the Society log on to www.alzheimers.org.uk

TrixiBuG · 22 Sep 2015 at 10:15

Thank you to the forum member who has donated

One of the other interesting statistics I found when looking into doing the Memory Walk was that for every one pound spent on dementia research, 12 times that sum goes on investigating cancer, yet it costs the UK £23bn a year in care and treatment. That is more than cancer, stroke and heart disease combined!

If you can donate something - even £1 - that would be great

Jinxter · 22 Sep 2015 at 21:44

I think peoples attitudes to Dementia/Alzheimer's is vastly different to that of cancer maybe that's why it doesn't get as much financial support.. People still joke about Alzheimer's (see above posts for examples) Do you crack jokes about cancer too?

Alzheimer's is devastating to watch, someone you love being taken away slowly but surely. They are confused and upset and end up bed ridden and it's never the Alzheimer's that kills them but something unforeseen be it a trip or fall and breaking a bone.

I lost my Dad a month ago to this horrible disease. Please folks don't joke about it, educate yourselves as it's absolutely awful and something some of us will have to face one day ourselves.

I do hope they find a treatment or cure one day and I wish you all the best in your walk if not to raise money but most importantly to raise awareness and hopefully change peoples attitudes towards this disease.

Thekwango · 23 Sep 2015 at 00:32

Jinxter said:
I think peoples attitudes to Dementia/Alzheimer's is vastly different to that of cancer maybe that's why it doesn't get as much financial support.. People still joke about Alzheimer's (see above posts for examples) Do you crack jokes about cancer too?

Alzheimer's is devastating to watch, someone you love being taken away slowly but surely. They are confused and upset and end up bed ridden and it's never the Alzheimer's that kills them but something unforeseen be it a trip or fall and breaking a bone.

I lost my Dad a month ago to this horrible disease. Please folks don't joke about it, educate yourselves as it's absolutely awful and something some of us will have to face one day ourselves.

I do hope they find a treatment or cure one day and I wish you all the best in your walk if not to raise money but most importantly to raise awareness and hopefully change peoples attitudes towards this disease.

Couldn't agree more. I have had the misfortune to watch my gran be reduced to a shell of a human being. Literally. Couldn't speak, eat or move. It truly is one of the most awful things to witness.

Good luck with your walk Trixi and I hope you raise as much as you possibly can. I'll drop a few quid your way when I'm next at a pc.

BuffetSlayer · 23 Sep 2015 at 08:21

Jinxter said:
I think peoples attitudes to Dementia/Alzheimer's is vastly different to that of cancer maybe that's why it doesn't get as much financial support.. People still joke about Alzheimer's (see above posts for examples) Do you crack jokes about cancer too?

Alzheimer's is devastating to watch, someone you love being taken away slowly but surely. They are confused and upset and end up bed ridden and it's never the Alzheimer's that kills them but something unforeseen be it a trip or fall and breaking a bone.

I lost my Dad a month ago to this horrible disease. Please folks don't joke about it, educate yourselves as it's absolutely awful and something some of us will have to face one day ourselves.

I do hope they find a treatment or cure one day and I wish you all the best in your walk if not to raise money but most importantly to raise awareness and hopefully change peoples attitudes towards this disease.

+1

I have a family member going through this now and it is tearing his family apart. His wife is at breaking point and he is becoming too much for her to manage alone so now she is faced with heartbreaking decision to have him put in care where they will likely drug him into a stupor to make him more manageable just like they did in the respite centre then tried to deny they had done anything.

It isn't just the general public that often has a reprehensible approach to those with Dementia, many in the care profession do too because it is easier to stick a needle in someone and fill them with drugs than it is to interact and engage with them.

TrixiBuG · 23 Sep 2015 at 09:17

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss Jinxter

My Gran was ill for 5 years, and by the end of it she didnt know who I was. In fact, she didn't know who my Mum was (her eldest daughter) and only knew my Grandad

Some of the most heart breaking times with her were when she had a moment of clarity and would say that she was so sorry to be a burden to us all

As sad as I am to have lost her (I still to this day cant think about her without being upset) in the end, I wish she had died knowing who loved her and who cared about her.

50 years ago cancer was a killer. You got cancer and that was it. A death sentence. Or even people died and never knew it was cancer that killed them. Now - due to widespread government and private sector funding and charity fundraising - you can survive cancer. You can be cured

Alzheimer's can not (yet) be cured

I have a horrible feeling that my Mum will get Alzheimer's too. There is a link to Dementia and Post Natal Depression and my Mum had PND with my sister, as did my Gran with my Mum. Another reason for me to do this walk and continue raising money for the Society is in the hope that a cure or something can be found before my Mum or Dad fall victim to this disease

chrismox · 23 Sep 2015 at 09:28

Thanks a million for supporting this cause, it's close to my heart.

Donated.