Category: Silver Linings

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Christine Thelker © 2020 Dementia For This I Am Grateful Silver Linings

Unrest in the Advocacy World

It’s worrisome and somewhat frightening to see and hear so much discontent and heartbreak from so many advocates. It’s even more heartbreaking to know that after 25 or more years and all the advocating and all the promises of change very little in fact has changed for people living with Dementia.

It was deeply troubling yesterday to chat with and hear some very amazing advocates, both on a more grassroots level and on an international level, talking of the fatigue and being so tired and wondering if its time for people with Dementia to just “give up”, and all stop advocating.

It is not at all surprising to hear this, I have often sat and wondered if my advocating was worth it, if it truly was making a difference. 25 or 30 years of advocating and seeing little to no change in how Dementia is treated, how a diagnosis is handed out, how often we are only given a place in the roster and on the stage at conferences to quiet us and say yes we have a person with the lived experience here, it a carrot and nothing more a lot of the time, and it’s shameful.

What’s even more shameful is that most attending are funded through the various organizations they work for on funds raised under or on our backs, because we have allowed our faces and stories to be shared to help the fundraising campaigns, and then we are expected to do our own fundraising and campaigning to attend.

This of course is a bone of contention for many who advocate, why are others paid to stand on the same stage as us and be paid for their contribution to the event, and we are not. In the words of Kate Swaffer ” Corporate Egos”, must go. If you truly want to help change things for those living with Dementia then absolutely the Corporate Ego’s need to disappear and all need to start working together.

But for me personally, the thing that is most exhausting and tiring and very difficult to swallow is that after 25 or more years, there has been no change in the education of Doctors, Nurses, Clinicians, or any of the varied positions that have people in direct contact with people living with Dementia.

This to me is the biggest shortcoming of all, its actually nothing short of tragic, its imperative that this one piece be changed, because if we change it there, then we have the ability to change how the general public perceives Dementia and those of us living with it, and we are living with it, we are not at home, waiting to die, as most seem to think we should be.

So yes we are tired, yes we need to be brought to the table as full and included participants who are as equally valued as others. But for me no matter how tired I am I cannot and must not quit, for doing so would be doing a disservice to all those who worked tirelessly for so long, before me. Out of respect for them, out of respect for all those who are unable to use their voice, I will continue, and hopefully, I will remember to look for the silver linings, and the wins, no matter how small they may be, for if we make a difference in any small way it is still better than making no difference at all.

I will continue to look to my mentors for guidance along this very challenging road of advocacy, I will not be bought or gifted to conform to any one’s particular script, I will speak my truth, I will speak about the human rights violations, I will speak about the need for change.

The world is facing many challenges and changes in 2020, going forward as things change I can only hope that how we diagnose and treat those living with dementia, catches up to how others with any other type of illness are treated. This should promote and help provide quality of life. I say “Care until Cure” is the way forward.

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Talking about my Book – “For This I am Grateful” on Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio

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Christine Thelker © 2020 Dementia For This I Am Grateful Silver Linings

Giving Thanks

Today I want to write about an incredible lady that I met just over a year ago ( maybe it’s two, I have no sense of time anymore), but I was blessed to be introduced to her, and that set about a new friendship, for which I am grateful.

We were connected because I was in need of finding a photographer to do photos for my publishers. Nicole Renney Kenney stepped forward, she planned and set aside a whole day, she came to my house we packed up changes of clothes, jewelry and off we went, coffees in hand for what became a joyful, magical day.

I absolutely love this

We spent time getting to know one another, we laughed a lot, she made me totally at ease. I felt very cared about as a person, I felt she not only had a keen interest in my dementia and my journey, she saw me a person beyond my dementia.

By the end of that day, I had a great deal of respect for Nicole, I marveled at her talent as a Photographer. I love to take pictures, but I am not a photographer, Nicole is a photographer and her eye for capturing moments for capturing the true sense of a person is beyond amazing. After that day, we had another day of photo shots at her home, where again I marveled at her abilities.

What truly stood out was Nicole’s heart, a big heart, full of compassion and kindness, she works in long term care, I wish I would have had the opportunity to work with her, I’m so happy to think about all the kindness and love she doles out to those she helps. Nicole donated all this time and effort to bring my photos to life and has since then stood as a friend, as someone who continually steps up to help, and has been a voice in supporting my efforts to get the word out to try to help others living with Dementia, so when my book was being released, I didn’t have to as, Nicole again stepped up to say she would be my book launch to do photos, some of which are displayed here. We stay connected, I’m happy and honored to promote her photography work, Passionate Eye Imagery. I’m looking forward to our next coffee date, and I am very grateful that we were brought together, and I’ve gotten to know this incredibly talented and beautiful lady.

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Christine Thelker © 2020 Dementia For This I Am Grateful Silver Linings Stress

Finding the Silver Lining

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Sometimes we get buried trying to stay afloat when our brains are fighting the constant fatigue and the brain fog sets in, sometimes we have to not fight it and go to bed, its self-care, its frustrating, but we learn that if we keep pushing we may end up doing more harm to ourselves and then recovery is even longer.

These days, I think about so many who are struggling on many different levels. The world is a different place right now, for all of us whether we have dementia or not. As we go through unprecedented times with Covid 19 and all that it entails, as we see very abnormal weather patterns affecting the world, as we see our local and global economies changing, its at times hard to look for and find the silver linings. Especially given the fact that life doesn’t stop, people still get sick, get diagnosed, wait for surgeries and procedures. People still have to put food on the tables. Yes life is still happening, but the silver linings are still there, we just have to focus more on them than the hard stuff. We will manage the hard stuff, it won’t be easy, we at times will feel like giving in and giving up, but we in the end will come through the other side.

What we can hope for is that as our new world emerges, its a little softer, a little kinder, that we see those silver linings and grasp onto them. The simple things, like being able to hug your children, to go for a walk or hike in the woods, go for a bike ride, enjoy the sound of children’s laughter, enjoy each other’s company. Take more time to help each other, help the neighbors, check-in on those you may not have seen or talked to in a while.

Our world has been turned upside down, everyone lives with a level of fear of the unknown, so acknowledge that we are all a little more on edge, give each other a little more grace and forgiveness, patience, and understanding. Something as simple as a warm hello can make the difference in someone’s day, its true that kindness matters. I talk to many and most if not all are feeling just a little off, some can’t identify why, others feel like they are on such unsteady ground, they don’t know how to maneuver through it.

Staying connected is harder with social distancing, but we should still be reaching out, have a social distance coffee in the park, don’t be afraid to open up and share the fears worries, and concerns.

For those of us with Dementia, who by nature of the illness ( although I don’t believe that, I believe it is by nature of people choosing to make it ok, to walk away, to not work to include then to accept and understand the person living with dementia) (but that’s for another blog), end up being more isolated than many of us would choose. Our support groups become increasingly where we feel connected, and understood, where we don’t have to work so hard to be, it was said at one of our meetings today by someone that they don’t want talk to other people anymore because they except me to be the way I was before and I’m not, so I’d rather just be here where everyone excepts me how I am today. That’s a big statement it speaks volumes to how people with dementia feel. it’s sad, however at the same time but not at all surprising. Those of us that do a lot of advocating are often heard to say ” I have Dementia, but I am not Stupid”. So our get-togethers with our friends and colleagues whether they are on zoom, video calls, messenger calls, video calls, are extremely important. We need the connection. The loss of our ability to go to conferences and to work with the various Research groups we work, which provided us stimulation, purpose, and social interaction all ceased, so our actual social interaction ( face to face) for many of us is very very limited.

We must keep striving to stay connected during these coming months, even though things are challenging us. If there’s one thing that those of us living with dementia are good at its adapting. And Adapting to an ever-changing world at the moment doesn’t have to mean bleak and despair, we can and should look to the silver linings, things like our DAI online support groups, and webinars and most are learning zoom, we have been using it for many things for a long time. It’s one instance where we don’t have to adapt we are already there. Silver linings just look they are there.