我的兒子說他想成爲科學家,這樣就能給他外婆治病了

A mother and daughter's relationship dramatically changes after a dementia diagnosis. As the condition takes hold, tables turn and a daughter often becomes a carer. Here, as we approach Mother's Day, three women share how they cope with the heartbreak of gradually losing the mum they always knew but will never stop loving.

診斷出癡呆症後，母親和女兒的關係發生了顯著變化。隨着病情的發展，母親由強變弱，女兒通常成了照顧者。在此，快到母親節了，3位女性分享了她們處理這件令人心碎之事的故事：即將慢慢失去她們所熟知的母親，但卻會一直愛着她。

My six-year-old son wants to be a scientist so he can cure the condition that's taking Grandma. Jane Cox, 36, lives in Maidenhead, Berks, with her husband Kevin, son Charlie, six, and three-year-old daughter Molly. We are a very open family and good at talking about our feelings, but none of us could talk about early signs of Mum's dementia.

我6歲的兒子想成爲一名科學家，這樣他就能治療奪走他外婆的這種疾病了。簡·考克斯今年36歲，和她的丈夫凱文、6歲的兒子查理以及3歲的女兒茉莉住在伯克郡梅登黑德。我們是一個開放的家庭，經常互訴衷腸，但我們卻無法開口提及母親癡呆症的早期跡象。

My mum Janet was diagnosed at 60 but showed signs for three or four years before. She was a teacher for visually impaired children and became overwhelmed with paperwork and felt unable to use a computer. We put it down to anxiety, stress or depression.

我的母親珍妮特在60歲的時候被診斷出癡呆症，但三四年前就已經顯露出跡象了。她給視覺受損的孩子上課，文書工作壓倒了她、讓她覺得無法使用電腦了。我們將其歸結爲焦慮、壓力或抑鬱。

She grew more forgetful and didn't seem interested in our lives. Our mum, always so devoted to us, couldn't remember what jobs we did or the names of our friends. Each Christmas Mum made an amazing trifle. But one year she made a sad-looking dish with no jelly or cream. None of us had the heart to say anything but we had an inkling it was dementia.

她變得越來越健忘，對我們的生活也不感興趣。我們的母親，之前總是圍着我們轉，但卻想不起我們的職業、也記不得我們朋友的名字。每年聖誕節，母親都會做一些令人驚歎的小事。但有一年，她做了一道看起來沒有食慾、沒有果凍、也沒有奶油的菜。我們什麼都沒說，但心裏卻覺得這是老年癡呆的跡象。

For me, those first days of early-onset Alzheimer's were the hardest because Mum's personality changed. She had always been a brilliant mum - warm, friendly, chatty, outgoing and sociable. She adored having neighbours around and friends loved coming to our house for sleepovers. Mum had a strong sense of charity and every year held a card sale for Save The Children raising thousands.

於我而言，這些呈現老年癡呆症初期跡象的日子是最難度過的，因爲母親的性格變了很多。她一直都是位聰慧的母親--溫暖、友好、健談、外向，也很愛社交。她喜歡鄰居來家裏玩，朋友也喜歡到我們家過夜。母親十分注重慈善，每年都會舉行卡片義賣活動，爲"救助兒童會"籌資成千上萬美元。

At first, Mum became more forgetful and needy, but then became extremely angry and frustrated. As her condition progressed, she also became delusional.

起初，母親變得更加健忘、更加需要幫助，但之後又變得非常生氣、沮喪。隨着病情的發展，她得了妄想症。

Some say they feel dementia makes their loved one slip away. But for my mum there was a brutal shift. She thought my dad, Andrew, an endlessly kind and patient man who retired early to look after Mum, was locking her in the house and people were trying to steal her furniture.

有些人說，他們覺得老年癡呆症使他們的愛人走遠了。但對我的母親而言，癡呆症使她發生了殘酷轉變。我的父親安德魯是一位非常善良、有耐心的男人，爲了照顧我媽，他甚至早幾年就退休了。但母親卻認爲父親把她鎖在家裏，認爲人們都想偷走她的傢俱。