Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Symptoms: Let's talk about it.

   I have long been a fan of Lael Stone. In her own words she is "an Australian Speaker, Educator and Author who’s passion is supporting parents to understand their children, helping adults process their own childhood trauma and creating education systems that value emotional awareness. Everything is based on one fundamental principle – connection and compassion. The purpose of her work is to help all humans understand themselves better and be inspired to live the life they desire ."  https://laelstone.com.au/ While much of her work has been with families and children and supporting parents to raise emotionally intelligent children so that they can become emotionally intelligent adults, her work is larger than this. You might think what has this got to do with Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy?  I am writing this today because I have just listened to a podcast that Lael did with "The Imperfects" titled Lael Stone-Take Care of Yourself (3 Feb 2023, S4, E48)...

 Compassion and Connection can come from surprising places. Some time ago I presented to Accident and Emergency with mild chest pain. I was not concerned but thought that it was prudent to have it checked out as we are always being told. I was not surprised that my cardiac function was fine.  The staff did a couple of other tests and while waiting for the results of these, one of the A and E doctors came to see me to have a chat. I mentioned that my husband had Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy and I had recently started taking an anti depressant and that it was probably just some physical manifestation of mild anxiety. What did surprise me was his reaction when hearing of my circumstances. He took one look at me, went and shut the door to the cubicle and pulled up a chair and said to me with such sensitivity "that is a horrible, horrible disease". Most medical and other practitioners that I and my husband come across have never heard of the condition. Not only did he immediately u...

In the arena of being a carer Over the years when I have found times to be tough, I go back to thinking of the quote "The Man in the Arena" but of course these days it would be good to re-title it as "The Person in the Arena". Theodore Roosevelt many years ago captured beautifully the courage of the person in the arena who "dares greatly", sometimes over and over again. Being "in the arena" is hard work. Sometimes you feel strong and can roll with the punches but at other times you feel like curling up in a corner of the arena and just taking a rest. Other times you may need to exit the arena temporarily or for a longer period but no one can ever say you didn't give it a crack and you can take pride in the fact that you were not one of those "cold and timid souls" who prefer to point the finger from the sidelines. What does this have to do with CAA? It's a tough job as a carer and tough as your role changes from th...