It's strange to think that before working in care in 2012, I had never come into contact with anyone that had Dementia. Of course I probably had but I had been oblivious to it. It wasn't ever something that I'd given a lot of thought to, I knew that it existed and I knew that it was a difficult disease to live with. When I started my job as a carer, this was one of the things that immediately hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. Day in, day out, I was caring for people with different types of Dementia and I have to say, they were by far my favourite patients. I've come into contact with carers, families and friends over the years that sort of view Dementia as a disease that basically writes a person off..that they're no longer the person that they once were..and while the latter is true to an extent, that person is by no means "gone". Working in the care home led me to meeting some of the loveliest residents, they may have been in their 80s physically, but in their minds they were 20 and would tell me stories of the war and their childhoods and their families and I loved this aspect of my job. I found it fascinating. I was moved to tears more times than I care to admit by the wonderful and wholesome lives that these people had led, and in their minds they were still living them, which honestly kind of warms the soul.
After having my daughter in 2015, my Grandad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. And for the first time I experienced what those other families had experienced. My Grandad was slipping away from us and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to witness, but at the same time..he was still my Grandad..he would still make silly jokes, and dance down the corridors without his walking sticks, giving us all mini heart attacks, and in his final days in the hospital, he still took my hand, and though he may not have remembered my name, he knew me..his heart knew mine and that's all that mattered.
During the weeks leading up to my Grandad's passing, he was in and out of hospital for various reasons, and I was lucky enough to have people that I knew and loved taking care of him, both nurses at the hospitals and carers in the home he was in. This gave us as a family a little reassurance and I will always be grateful to those people for all they did for him.
Now I would like to do my part for the Alzheimer's Society, and in memory of my beloved Grandad, I will be taking part in One Giant Leap on May 27th 2018. This means I will be doing a skydive, something that excites and terrifies me simultaneously while raising money for the Alzheimer's Society. The date of One Giant Leap also falls within the same week as the anniversary of my Grandad's death which makes this event all the more special to me. He is part of the reason I finally decided to become a nurse and now I'm determined to do this for him.
If you would like to sponsor me, no matter how big or small, please follow the link here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zoe-porter8
I will be so grateful for any support in reaching and hopefully exceeding my fundraising target.
Please follow me on Instagram for regular updates on my nursing journey: @zoe.m.porter
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