I am more than my dementia diagnosis – Gail’s story

On Valentine’s Day in 2019, my world changed forever. At 54 years old, I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. At first, I was numb. But in the following weeks and months, there were so many emotions – confusion, sadness, anger, and a lot of self-pity. I started to withdraw from the world. The post-diagnosis support was almost non-existent. I was given this life-altering news, handed some leaflets and expected to walk out of the doctor’s room as if nothing had happened.