Page 36 - Who Are You-Reflections of a Dementia Survivor

About Ken and Chloe

Chloe was the runt of the litter, born December 2003 of Maltese and Poodle
parents. At two months old she was adopted by Sue and Ken and named
Chloe. Sue was two years into her battle with early-onset dementia and Chloe
became Sue’s little companion dog for Sue to love and cherish as she slowly
forgot her life.
In April 2007, Sue’s dementia reached the stage when a heartbreaking deci-
sion was reluctantly made for her to be placed in nursing home care. Prior to
the nursing home, Sue needed hospital care and spent three months there
while they tried stabilise her medications. Chloe companioned her mummy
on daily visits with Ken, and saw Sue for the last time on the Sunday before
Sue passed away quietly in hospital on the 23 July 2007 aged 55.
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Ken had no idea what his elderly father was dealing with while caring for his
stepmother, a long term dementia suffer, until at 50, Ken was faced with the
reality of caring for his wife and realising what support he and his family had
not given their father. Born in 1949, Ken was raised in suburban Perth, West-
ern Australia. His mother died aged 48 when he was 8. At 12, his father was
to obtain an old motorbike for Ken to fiddle with and a passion for bikes and
engineering was born. At age 17, he met the 15 year old Susan during his final
high school year. They married as teenagers in 1969, Sue pregnant and Ken
studying engineering. Following careers in mining and industry, Ken started
his own engineering consultancy in 1990 while Sue found her niche in life
working in community service.
In 2001 Sue left her employment due to redundancy and worked with Ken. It
soon became evident that dementia had started to affect Sue, and Ken’s life
of caring commenced as his soulmate slowly lost her mind and body to the
Demon Dementia.

Ken and Chloe have now spent ten years travelling throughout Australia by
motorbike, photographing this wonderful country and writing short stories
and blogs of Chloe's travels while supporting their small dementia charity, I
Ride With Chloe to Fight Dementia.

It has been during these times on the road, that a healing process of reflecting
on the past years of life, (the good and the bad), has taken place by putting
those thoughts into verse as the seven stages that confronted Ken and Chloe
as they suffered along with his Susan.