Bob Murray

Is it “aging” or “ageing?”

In my last column I wrote about a negative word – “stigma.” Since then, I have thought plenty about this negative word. You see, since I have been diagnosed as having dementia in 2013, I have resolved not to use negative words and hope that the people of my neighbourhood treat me equally and follow

First, a definition: a stigma is a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. For example: the stigma associated with mental illness equals the stigma of mental illness.

Last week I had an appointment for a CT scan at the Stratford hospital. I have the scan approximately every three months while they check for cancer – melanomas – in my body.

Away back, some 20 years ago, in these columns, I expressed my opinion that we have four stages of years to live.

Two weeks ago when I wrote my column, I was full of vim and vigor. It appeared that spring was here and the garden could be planted, and the golf course was drying out. Well, spring/summer hasn’t come yet and the golf course is barely open with cold, wind and rain interfering. The garden? Well…

It has been two years since I have been outside to enjoy the sun and warmth. Not my fault, of course; just some diseases, dementia, auto immune issues and cancer were getting in the way. I wasn’t going to let anything stop my gardening for this year.

FTD is the acronym for frontotemporal dementia. It is far more likely to affect the specific aeras of the brain known as the frontal and temporal lobes. This is a brain disease which cause the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes to shrink.

I am on my road to recovery from three major chronical disease: dementia, cancer and autoimmune diseases. I take pills for all three. The auto immune is the worst for me getting around. I do some exercises – not much.

I started writing these with columns, entitled My Voyage with Dementia, back in 2017. I have written one every other week for the last five years. I would like to say that dementia has changed from a “terminal” disease to a “treatable disease,” but that is not the case. As a matter of fact, it hasn’

It was a quiet weekend, as most weekends are. We stayed home and just relaxed.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to have my column for the Advance Times ready at least one week early.

It has been quite a year for both me and my caregiver – Leah, my wife.

For six years I have been using the word dementia as either a disease or a dementia, but I am wrong.

I must be like a broken record. But, I am learning the hard way. I am not following my own guidelines for both nutrition and exercise. I keep asking myself why, but the answer comes back to procrastination. I am so full of good intentions that I am wondering how she (my wife) puts up with me.