600Km trip for newspaper

Submitted: Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 00:35

ThreadID: 73841 Views:3221 Replies:5 FollowUps:9

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Kelvo

G'day, Just seen this on the BBC news website;
600km newspaper trip

You have got to love this man for his quotes!

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Reply By: Member - Ed. C. (QLD) - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 01:17

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 01:17

As R J L Hawke has been heard to say................

"Silly ol' bugga"

;-))

Confucius say.....
"He who lie underneath automobile with tool in hand,
....Not necessarily mechanic!!"

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AnswerID: 391699

Reply By: Bob of KAOS - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 07:37

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 07:37

All well and good --- until they start driving the wrong way down freeways etc

AnswerID: 391707

Reply By: RJ5023 - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 07:41

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 07:41

There's been quite a lot of talk about this on the local radio, most of it treating it as a bit of a laugh.

True, it has a "funny" side. But I can assure you that dementia is no laughing matter when it's affecting some one you love. You will watch them doing "funny" things every hour of every single day, and know that you are losing them bit by bit with absolutely nothing to stop it from happening.

Sorry to be a killjoy, but the incidence of dementia is increasing and the real life impacts of it are devastating. Somehow we need to be able to find a way to cope with this disease and it will be a great shame on us all if we treat sufferers as objects of fun.

Years ago there was a TV show on the ABC called "Mother and Son". When I watched it at the time I thought it was hilarious, but now with family members suffering from dementia I just couldn't stand it. It is not a proper subject for humour.

I sincerely hope that you are able to avoid dementia in your family. It is a horrible disease.

Regards,

AnswerID: 391708

Follow Up By: Member - Lionel A (WA) - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 08:04

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 08:04

My dad walked out of the house two months ago and hasn't been seen since.

FollowupID: 659645

Follow Up By: RJ5023 - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 08:15

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 08:15

Very sorry to hear that Lionel. We have locked doors and installed fences, but it still happens. We refuse to put Nana into a nursing home though because it's a one-way door, with some truly frightening stories.
I hope he is OK.

FollowupID: 659648

Follow Up By: MrBitchi (QLD) - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 09:36

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 09:36

RJ5023, not all nursing homes are bad. Had my late mother in 2 different homes over about 7 years. The first WAS a horror story but the second was such a nice place I could have moved in there myself. Far easier and less stressful than keeping loved ones at home.

Reason mum needed a home in the first place was cause she lived alone for years then suffered a stroke and was down for 6 hrs before a neighbor found her. Nearly lost her then, but it meant she was no longer capable of living alone.

I know dementia is a different set of circumstances but as you know it's still quite stressful for all concerned. Having the support of GOOD nursing staff can make a world of difference.

FollowupID: 659655

Follow Up By: RJ5023 - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 09:54

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 09:54

Thanks for that mate.

I know that some are good and a lot of very dedicated people work in them, but it's a lottery we don't want to enter until we have to. Very hard to pick the good from the bad from the outside.

Govt provided in home services are good - and so they should be, since our Govt (SA) has washed it's hands of institutional responsibility for mental patients. She's happy, cared for and aware enough to know that she doesn't want to move out of her home of 50 years.

Cheers,

FollowupID: 659658

Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 20:22

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 20:22

Yeah, people joke about these things.

It is worse for the carers and those left to sort it out. My Mother had Alzheimers for 10 years and there were the funny moments but mostly a sad state of affairs which ended in tears all too often. Now we have MIL who has clear moments but mostly mixed up memories and delusions. She did not make provision for this and we are left to carry the can. However, she is well cared for in an excellent Aged Care facility on the Gold Coast but the bond cost $250,000 and monthly Care is $2000. To top this off we have other family members who want things done differently. A lot of unnecessary stress for us in our old older years!

We can only hope that dementia it is not hereditary!

Cheers

FollowupID: 659742

Follow Up By: RJ5023 - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 21:52

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 21:52

Yeah Willem,

One of the saddest places in this state is the Guardianship Tribunal Board room in the ABC building at Collinswood.

That's where the legal and financial future of dementia patients is decided by a Government appointed panel when the patient is no longer legally capable, and has not made their wishes legally clear prior to the onset of their disease.

A room of tears and conflict with families torn apart.

Anway, life goes on...

Anyone got a good joke? We all need cheering up after this thread!

Best wishes,

FollowupID: 659756

Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 22:17

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 22:17

Tell me about it!

We have to deal with both Queensland and NSW Guardianship Tribunals in a complex matter due to bureaucratic idiosyncracies. And we live in SA! This year we were sorting stuff out in the middle of The Great Sandy Desert via Satphone!!

On a TV show tonite the fella asked the girl (while looking at a box of tools) if she knew the difference between Imperial and Metric? She said that she knew of Imperial Soap....hahahahahaha!! Thats my joke for the day! :-)

Regards

FollowupID: 659759

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 22:55

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 22:55

I hope Lionel, the news flash I saw about the Guiford river was not your dad.

Hope hes still alive, not a nice thing to worry about.

FollowupID: 659764

Reply By: rocco2010 - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 10:51

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 10:51

Gidday

I am glad that some have seen the serious side of this story. I personally know of two cases where the first sign that an elderly relative was in strife was that they got lost when out driving. Up and till that time everybody jusy thought they were a bit absent minded ...

For anybody with an elderly relative it is a timely warning.

Cheers

Rocco

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AnswerID: 391730

Reply By: Member - DAZA (QLD) - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 17:12

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 17:12

G/Day All

You don't have to be inflicted with Dimentia to do odd things when driving, I recall when being oncall 24/7 and working for the Local Govt, I worked 2 days straight being involved with a major Water Supply drama, when we had finished I stopped at a set of Traffic Lights in the Govt Vehicle and went to sleep in the middle of the Gold Coast Hwy, lucky it was early hours in the morning, I woke up and proceeded on my way home down the hwy, I drove past the turn off to the suburb we lived in and carried on for several ks before I realised what I had done, Fatigue and Sleep Deprivation plays funny tricks on the human body.

PS, and I couldn't blame the Booze either lol lol.

Cheers

AnswerID: 391788

Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 20:00

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009 at 20:00

Hi Daza,

Hubby use to do things like that after night shift, we live in the hills in Perth and to get home we have to climb up the top, on the top is a right hand turn which takes you back down the hill in another direction, normally we drive past this intersection to get home however on this occassion hubby took the right turn, (accross traffic) and woke up at the bottom of the hill again, he has no idea why or how he got down there (apart from driving of course), he has done your trick of falling asleep at the lights on a number of occassions while doing night shift, the one that worried me the most was the one mentioned above, Thank goodness that he has retired, life is much less stressful.

Cheers

Deanna