Meet Derek and Maureen

Derek’s wife, Maureen, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2021. The couple have been supported by Approach Dementia Support (now Dougie Mac’s Dementia Services) throughout their journey.

Derek explained, “I’d noticed that Maureen had started to forget the odd word and generally become a bit more forgetful, but it wasn’t until I heard our granddaughter say “you’ve asked me that three times already” that I realised there might be a bigger problem.

“We saw our GP who referred us to the Memory Clinic at Bradwell Hospital where Maureen completed some tests which confirmed her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. The diagnosis felt like we’d been dropped into a different world, as if we had landed on Mars. There was no manual to tell us what to do or where to get help, and we had no clue what to expect or what lay ahead.  But we soon realised that we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel – the wheel is already there, we just didn’t know about it.

“Maureen began medication and had regular appointments with her nurse who also shared information about the possible support available to us. The leaflets included details of a local community group organised by Approach Dementia Support (now Dougie Mac Dementia Services) and she suggested we go along to one of their meetings in Leek.

“We were both a bit apprehensive about the first meeting as we weren’t sure what to expect or whether the other people there would have much more advanced conditions than Maureen, but we quickly realised that the group was a great help.  

“Each month we would cover a different subject, from tools to make day-to-day life easier to energy saving advice, and information about the financial support available to us. The most valuable part though was being able to meet other people who had already been on the same journey we were on. We quickly made some great friends who passed on invaluable information and advice.

“The team from Dougie Mac Dementia Services have been brilliant too, they attend each meeting and are always available to offer advice or answer questions. When we first joined the group they explained more about the help available to us, from the Attendance Allowance to applying for a Blue Badge for parking. In fact they helped me to fill out my Blue Badge application online at the meeting and by the time I’d got home there was an email waiting for me to confirm our application had been successful.

“Maureen’s condition has declined a bit but she’s still pretty independent. I have to keep an eye on her and some activities, like cooking, have become an issue, but I take care of all her medications and prescriptions and we’re managing.

“We attend the group in Leek every month, it’s excellent support for us both and we’ve made some great friends. I now find myself passing information and advice on to new members, we all help each other. As we overcome one hurdle we walk into another, but the support from our friends and Dougie Mac’s Dementia Services continues to be superb. We recently got together for a Christmas celebration and I asked everyone to stand up and applaud the Dougie Mac Dementia Services team – they’re angels.”