La via che va tra la perduta

       

“Per me si va ne la città dolente,

per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,

per me si va tra la perduta gente.”

(Dante’s Inferno, Canto 3.1-3)

La via che va tra la perduta

There is no warmth here;

the inner glow of being me

is somehow elusive

and I can’t (quite) remember

why I’m here...

There is no warmth here;

the inner glow of being me

is somehow elusive

and I can’t remember…

It is cold here,

a numbing emptiness,

a loneliness,

a chill permeates

my every screaming fibre. 

Fear is cold as ice,

splitting,

exploding      every atom;

fear                        fear

excites the torment of,

the dread of tomorrow,

the dread of things… (forgotten)

as I desperately

try to grab,

to hold

to keepsake

memories of today

that disappear

with every fleeting moment,

disappear into the grey.

Something

(I can’t quite get hold of what it is)

is drawing me

like moth to candle,

something

cold and dark and uninviting,

yet it draws me,

draws me

like a spindly beckoning finger

and as I linger at its gate,

foreboding tells me

I should not enter

yet strange longing urges me to stay

and I can’t quite remember why I’m here...

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

 Anna :o]

Fred at dVerse asks us to write in a language which is not our own.  Although some of the above is drawn from Dante’s Inferno, that written in English is not my own.  It is based on the language and thought process of someone (I was privileged to know) who was a dementia sufferer. 

There is no pleasure to be achieved from dementia, no yearning to earn its tag – for the sufferer or the carer –and following diagnosis worlds begin to disintegrate, friends gradually cease to visit, even relatives – loneliness, isolation and fear ensue.  There is very little – and I mean very little - community support, perhaps a six-monthly visit to your psychogeriatrician, an annual review from your GP, an occasional visit from CPN or social worker and that is it – and they do mean well, they really do – but until you are diagnosed with dementia or care for someone who has – until you live this life - you really don’t know a thing - you may think you understand and can reel off wisdom acquired through the requirements of your profession - but you don't understand at all.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has proprosed that GPs should screen all those considered at risk of developing dementia and those over 74 when attending a routine visit – with no warning of the intention to screen.  There are so many dangers here of over-diagnosing and over-medicating – please DO read two excellent post by Dr Martin Brunet regarding this here and here.

Please watch the video above – brought to my attention on Margaret McCartney’s blog and read her post here.

NICE has concluded that there is no accurate method of identifying people through screening – please see ‘Basis for recommendation’ so why are the government pressing ahead?  What will happen to the folk who may have to wait up to nine months for a Memory Clinic appointment?  They may be diagnosed with early dementia and then what?  Certainly very little helpful support and definite stigma attached – they may be found to have mild cognitive impairment that will not progress to dementia – but oh the worry while waiting (for the appointment) and the stigma will remain. They may be found not to be in the early stages of dementia at all – but oh the worry while waiting and the stigma will remain…  

 What are your thoughts on dementia screening?

Image: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, author Luca Casarteli