I still get asked why I’m still visiting my mum when she’s no longer able to talk. I haven’t had a 2 way conversation with my mum for over 7 years but we’re still enjoying our time. Because talking isn’t the only form of communication. She can see us, she can hear us, she can move her eyes and hands, she can smile and always loves a massage-she can feel the touch on her skin! The power of non verbal things.We still get so much out of our time together 8 years post dementia diagnosis..
Mum had no boundaries, she put others before herself for too long, worked as a PHN in a socially deprived area for too long and lived with undiagnosed depression stress and anxiety all her life aswell all those undiagnosed functional conditions that myself and my son have that aren’t seen medically, all of which catapulted her into a blood pressure event age 47, then dementia which became apparent in her early 50s and was undiagnosed for 15 years, and the the reason I suffered from burnout age 36, after years as an unseen carer and why I went self employed and set up go with your gut clinic
For any new followers i moved from a medical career into functional naturopathic health to help people avoid getting cognitive decline in later life. Its all about prevention and actively addressing risk factors like APOE4, COMT, MTHFR gene mutations, your nutritional deficiencies, your gut, liver, thyroid and adrenal health to iron out those niggling symptoms long before they become anything. I know the investment in myself this past decade has changed the trajectory of my life for the better. What I uncovered through sheer determination to be the healthy mum my kids needed me to be floored me. It took me 10 years to pull myself out of the complex nervous system dysregulation and gut health conditions that occurred due to trauma of caring for mum all my life behind the scenes. It isn’t a coincidence you have a difficult perimenopause, suffer with stress, have a child with low mood or learning issues and a parent with cognitive decline or chronic illness, the root causes are all there and if your ready to do a deep dive, follow me on @gowithyourgut.ie
