My grandma is one of my “I wish I was her” women. She’s always been my favourite. She is the ultimate matriach. She was changing the way the world thought of women before the world noticed she had done it. She trained as a doctor during the war, at a time when education was for men and women were irrelevant. She was one of the first doctors specialising in “womens health” (ie family planning). She ran the house in such a way that even my grandpa mistakenly thought he was in charge. Shes my idol. 


Shes 97 now and old-age is doing what old age does. She was forcibly stopped from using the car about two years ago now and is NOT registered blind (because she refuses to admit it, not because shes not). And she is increasingly forgetful (but definitely not suffering from dementia because she wont allow it). 

Last week she broke her hip. It took 4 hours for the ambulance to get to her and shes been on a ward of 20 geriatics with 2 nurses and 2 HCA’s for a week. (Those are rants for another day). She has lost more years in one week than the last ten.

She came home today. Yay! 

She wasn’t released from hospital, my parents (and extended family) staged a prison break. (What can I say? We’re not a normal family). 

She now needs two people to assist her to get in and out of a wheelchair and into bed and cannot weight bear at all. 

When I first saw her she was telling me how she got bored in hospital so went for a walk around the hospital and up a flight of stairs and had a drive around the hospital car park. Oh dear, I thought, the dementia has got really bad. 

Ten minutes later she was telling me how she went for a walk around the hospital and up a flight of stairs and had a drive around the hospital car park and ended up back in her own bed and how amazing was that? I sighed inwardly. Its sad to see such an amazing lady reduced to this. 

Another ten minutes later she was telling me how she got bored in hospital so went for a walk around the hospital and up a flight of stairs and had a drive around the hospital car park. And wasnt the brain an amazing thing to have created this entire hallucination. 

Wait. 

Now I’M confused. 

Is she demented or delusional or still the cleverest person I know?

I’m 42 and arguably in full control of my brain and Im not sure I could do that. She has had a memory that felt totally real and analysed it so much she’s worked out exactly what it is: her brain playing tricks. 

Grandma 1: Dementia 0

My grandma. 

Fighting old age and dementia as strongly as she ever fought. 

My grandma. 

Down. 

But most definitely not out.