Janice’s Story

My name is Janice and I live in the Wirral and my son Michael who is only 37 has just been diagnosed with early-onset Dementia. The doctor initially thought he just had some form of cognitive impairment but later it was confirmed as dementia and both his dad and me are devastated as he is our only child, we didn’t realise that Dementia effected people so young.

He is a gay lad and he’s our gay lad with an amazingly kind nature. He loves his football and his darts. We noticed over the last year or two he was struggling with calculating the score when playing his beloved darts and we agreed to the doctor’s suggestion of having tests done but never expected such a devastating diagnosis. The doctor said information and support for young dementia sufferers apparently is patchy and not available in all areas but he and us are working together to see what is actually out there, and we don’t know what the future will hold but we will try our damnedest to make some kind of future for our lad, and who knows, with an early diagnosis and with new treatments coming on board, we may be able to hang on to our beloved son just a bit longer, so to be able to join a group like GGAT and hopefully be able to speak to people who have already gone through this experience will be invaluable to us. I must say all his mates from the pub have rallied round him and promised their support and I will make sure that now I have found this group we will be only too pleased to support your efforts for equal care for the LGBTQ community xxx