[Vijaya]

This is a big deal for me. My spouse is 81, diagnosed in November 2016. He has never come to terms with the diagnosis, spent about 18 months being angry. On Esbriet, the first scan showed the disease was stable, the second showed ‘significant deterioration’. Even more unhappy. In the last six months, perhaps longer, I’ve observed behaviours that look like age-related dementia. His GP thinks ‘senility’. But he manages to do lots of his normal stuff, including paying bills on the telephone, etc. Then I find him standing in front of the oven saying he needs to put his dentures away for the night.

He has also (referring to the topic above) become more dependent – wanting help with choosing what to wear, including what to wear to sleep, says he doesn’t know how to use the remote to change channels; ‘what should I do next’ is a common refrain.

He is due for a gastroscopy to sort out oesophagus problems, I guess after he is through that recovery, I will have to see if his GP will get him assessed for dementia – of whichever kind.

Sad.