Julie reflects on the fourth anniversary of her diagnosis, and her ‘third career’ as a dementia activist. This is inspirational stuff Julie.
Hello, this is Julie Hayden.
Today, May the 28th, 2021, marks the fourth anniversary of my dementia diagnosis, and that anniversary is both bitter and sweet.
Yes, there have been losses but also many gains. I’ve had the opportunity to know and meet so many people from a wide variety of backgrounds and from many countries. It has also afforded me the opportunity of a third career – that of dementia activist. It is this last career that I have found the most rewarding: from running peer support groups, through research, and becoming involved in professional education.
Our diagnosis can be viewed as devastating, but a more positive way forward is to see it as post-traumatic growth. In this way, we can take the physical, cognitive and emotional impact of diagnosis and progression and use that to learn new ways of adapting to those changes and signpost others to those possible work-arounds.
