Reply To: How do I get a diagnosis?

[Clare Newgass]

Hello. I’m a newbie here. Just starting our family journey with a diagnosis for my dad. Sorry to hear of your experience which sounds really tough. If it helps at all…our dad was starting to be aware of his memory going down a few years ago and took up some suggestions like giving up caffeine. We got him referred soon for a memory test (Early/Mild Cognitive Impairment) and we’ve finally recently got a follow-up one done. He wasn’t at all keen – very private/proud chap who def.wouldnn’t want to be seen as vulnerable or lacking capability – but we took the view & suggestion that ‘there might be treatment available’ eg to help/slow this down, and purely concentrating on memory changes – not mentioneing dementia etc. Of course the ‘D’ word could well be the fear for your husband. But all the learning I’m doing talks about picking up on changes early to be able to potentially make a difference, even before any significant cognitive declline, let alone a Dementia diagnosis. Areas will vary as to what they can offer beyond memory testing- the ideal is brain scans but… It has also helped for us to be very specific and gentle with our dad (who also has anger problems) about what he forgets, asking him questions etc. Keeping his trust feels so important, and he has only recently been able to acknowledge briefly with us that perhaps there are things that might have happened even though he can’t rememeber them. I’ve jsut foudn the excellent list of leaflets on the Dementia UK website and there’s one on ‘Understanding denial/ lack of Insight’. Good luck. Clare