Daughter Deanna Spencer is the main carer for her mum Kristina Farnum, aged 81, who is living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Kristina was diagnosed with her form of dementia in 2013 – but at first – hid it from Deanna and her siblings.
The 50-year-old mum-of-two from Timperley said: “Although we had seen a decline in mum, we were shocked to hear her diagnosis. My step-father and her – who lived in Nottingham at the time – kept it from us, managing by themselves. It was only after mum had a fall and broke her neck and we stayed with them, we saw that her care needs were massive. She fully recovered from the fall but my step-father Hugh passed away in 2016, so I became mum’s full-time carer.
“Like a lot of people, I initially thought Alzheimer’s would mean a rapid downhill as my dad had lived with vascular dementia and it was like that for him. But mum has very lucid days and enjoys life with us – everyone lives with their dementia differently.
“I have found it difficult to have conversations with mum, and sometimes she regresses to her native language. She is from the Faroe Islands, Scandinavia, and only 45,000 people speak the language! I can get by with this situation but it could be distressing for mum if health professionals did not know how to deal with a situation like this. Empowered Conversations training helped me to have better conversations and understand the reasoning behind certain behaviours.
