Living with dementia and memory problems

Do as much as you can while you can, because you don’t know what’s going to happen round the corner. All right, I try to keep my brain active, I do quite a lot of word search and things like that which just keeps, keeps my head going, I think. Sandrea gets a bit [laughs] sick of it, you know. But I like, I like doing ‘em because I’ll switch off and just sit there and, you know, do, do a word search and what have you, yeah; and do a couple of quizzes as well maybe, yeah. And we, to keep our sanity we play cards quite a lot [laughs] and dominoes between us, yeah.

Do jigsaws to keep me occupied sometimes, you know, I like doing large jigsaws like a thousand pieces and that, you know, it takes.

Oh gosh.

It takes a lot of time to do it, a lot of thought and oh yeah we play cards and dominoes with my wife and, yeah, do that quite a lot; that kills a bit of time.

Yeah. And do you feel that that’s quite a good thing to do for such as mental agility as well?

Yeah, because it’s keeping your mind active isn’t it, you know, you’re not sort of sat and vegetating.

Yeah, I like going to church. And we play dominoes as well; so, my great pleasure, you know, is to get a game of dominoes on a Thurday evening, Friday evening, went to [Community Group], and we all go up there and have a game of dominoes. Sometime we play domino, you know, different people come from different counties and come to play.

Ah right.

Yeah.

Competitive dominoes then? 

Just friendly, more or less [laughter]. 

More or less.

Yeah, yeah. We play to win [laughs].

Of course, yes.

Yeah, yes.

Yeah.

Mm.

So, is that, so I’ve heard people talk about dominoes quite a bit; so, is that something that is, something you’ve done for a long time?

Yeah, well it’s like a pastime, because when I first came here people used to go and sit in the house and have a game of dominoes, because there wasn’t many churches accept us; like on a Sunday evening people who know each other, we used to meet at each other’s home if you can get room and we all used to sit down and have a game of dominoes. Yeah, just things that people use, used from the Caribbean, you know, that’s game of dominoes, keep you going. Help you to concentrate as well, help you, you to know numbers and everything.

But also, the reading, I really enjoy reading and the Kindle.

Oh right.

Yeah, great for travelling, you can store the books on there, and, and I’m not an avid page turner, never [laughs] I just think it’s a great plus, you know.

Yeah. So, what kind of things do you like to read then?

Oh, usually psychological thrillers; if there’s not a murder in the first few pages then I go onto something else.

They often take, take quite a lot of concentration.

Oh yeah.

Remembering all the different characters that come in though, don’t they?

Yeah, they do, yeah; I’ve despaired on a few and actually done sort of like a tree, a tree plan with, with people and how they fit in and whatever. Only on the odd, odd, occasion where the plot really gets too involved. But I love the way that they, you know, they could lead you on for almost the whole of the book and then everything switches, everything switches round in the last chapter.

And I like to read, I read at night, mostly the Bible, I mostly study the Bible; from the begin, as a child I grown up in the church, Sunday school and everything, so I’m, I, I love studying the Bible, yeah. So, I do most, most of reading at night and sewing, I don’t sew much these days, I don’t do plenty sewing these days because I find that I don’t want to do it, I don’t have the urge to do it as I, as before, you know.

So yeah, there, there has been changes made, definitely changes, in, in pastimes. Reading; that’s another thing I can’t actually do very well. I used to love to read books, I used to be able to read a book a week minimum, now I struggle over six months to, to read a book and if I do read, start reading a book, when I go back to it, I’ve got to kind of think what was this about in the first place, you know?

It’s the same if I watch television programmes that have got continuation; what’s this about, you know? [Laughs] We tend to binge watch things now [Interviewer laughs] you know, just do, binge watch it and then I know what it’s about and that’s fine, you know. It’s like, but reading’s one thing that I, I lost the ability to do, which is sad for me.

You know, we, we try and help and it’s good, it’s good for my memory, because people always be phoning me and say, “Don’t forget you’ve got this poster to do, don’t forget you’ve got this to do,” and that, and I’m thinking you’re all killing me. But it keeps me going.

Yeah, I like doing little things. I challenge myself to, I’m challenging myself with Photoshop at the moment but it’s doing my head in.

So, what, that’s a new skill you’re looking at?

Yes, to learn a new piece of software and see how I can use it and that, so. And I’ve started learning piano in February.

Oh. 

I missed a few lessons because I’m poorly, but.

Oh, that’s a fun thing to do.