Childhood sweethearts Mick and Elaine Moody have been living with dementia since Elaine, 56, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s three years ago.
Since then the independent mother and grandmother has had to hand in her driving licence, give up the part-time job she loved and adjust to new financial circumstances when Mick gave up work to look after her.
She’s also spent a lot of time with her loving children and grandchildren and twice run the London marathon, raising more than £12,500 for the Alzheimer’s Society and the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. In fact she was the first woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s ever to run the London marathon – a feat she managed in five and a half hours.
Mick says: “One of the hardest things to come to terms with is the injustice. Elaine has never smoked, drank to excess or gone in for fast foods. She is the least selfish person you could ever meet: everything she does is out of concern for others. But we have a strong relationship and we cope by continuing to make plans for the future and doing something nice together every single day.
“Research is so important. I remember years ago when there was little hope for people who got cancer. Now, thanks to high levels of investment in research, there is a good chance of coming through it. I would dearly love to see the same thing happen with Alzheimer’s.
“Obviously the ultimate prize would be a cure, but if scientists could find out more about what we can do to delay and stabilise the disease that would be amazing too. If we could keep Elaine like she is for another 10 to 15 years I would be a very happy chap.”
Best-selling author Sir Terry Prachett, who has been diagnosed with the rare variant of Alzheimer’s disease posterior cortical atrophy, is patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. He took his concerns about lack of funding for research into “the most feared disease of the over 55s” to the Prime Minister in November 2008.
Sir Terry says: “Dementia is no more a natural part of aging than is cancer, yet the latter in comparison is flush with support and research. Alzheimer’s appears to be seen as a social problem rather than a medical one. A cancer patient is a battler; a dementia patient, a superfluous old fart.”
This article first appeared in issue 9 of benhealth, the magazine for Benenden Healthcare members.
