EP 66 :: When Your 12-year old Child is Your Caregiver :: Anne Scott

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Anne Scott talks with Bobbi and Mike about the challenges of being misdiagnosed with dementia, needing to change her career, writing a children’s book, and how her 12-year-old daughter became her caregiver.

When Anne Scott, a mother of five children, was diagnosed with vascular brain lesions, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia, her whole life changed and her twelve-year-old daughter, Evie, became her caregiver.

“I was in total shock. I came home, sat in my garden for a couple of hours 'cause I couldn't go in and tell the children. I just sat there for a while and cried,” Anne says about the day she was misdiagnosed with dementia. “I got myself together and then went in the house and told the children what I knew about it, which wasn't very much at that stage.”

“I know over here in Ireland that most doctors have like 7 hours training about dementia and that's not enough to cover all the illnesses, all the aspects, that they need to know. It is quite common for somebody to go in – especially if you're not getting a brain scan ­– and be misdiagnosed with dementia,” Anne explains.  

Bobbi notes that there is a tendency for the medical profession to go with what they know, so if they see cognitive changes in an adult, they often go right to Alzheimer's or dementia. “The brain is tricky, and it can make it look like something else, so it is extremely difficult many, many, times to get the proper diagnosis,” Bobbi says

“I wanted my children to fully understand and not to be scared, so I wrote my book, Sizzling Bacon. The book gives a lot of detail about the brain and how it works. I wanted people to understand what it's like for somebody with dementia, but to equally see what it's like for somebody who is a caregiver,” Anne says.

You can follow Anne on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and purchase her book on Amazon.

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