My guests today are Chris Maddocks and Rachel Thompson, two women who both know a lot about Lewy Body Dementia. 

Chris was diagnosed with vascular dementia six years ago at the age of 60. At the time she viewed it as a death sentence, but the Alzheimer’s Society saved her and when she became one of their ambassadors, she discovered hope and a renewed sense of purpose. 

Rachel is an Admiral Nurse, a dementia nurse supported by the charity Dementia UK, and she specialises in Lewy Body dementia. Although this form of the condition accounts for roughly ten to fifteen percent of cases, it is still underdiagnosed and misunderstood, and a large part of Rachel’s role is to increase awareness of this lesser-known disease and offer expert clinical advice.

When Chris was struggling to find any support after being told she had Lewy Body disease, she was put in touch with Rachel and for the first time since her diagnosis, everything began to make sense.   

Rachel helped Chris and her partner Heather to develop coping strategies for Chris’s symptoms. And, as with all Admiral Nurses, Rachel also offered the couple support with emotional and psychological issues. For as well as the challenges of Chris’s dementia, the pair encountered discrimination as a lesbian couple. They had to contend with what they describe as double stigma: both for Chris’s dementia and for their same-sex relationship. Rachel gave them the confidence to be more open about their status.  

Chris’s partner Heather put it very well when she said that Rachel’s strategies have taught her not to get hung up on the little things because they don’t matter. What matters, she says, is the time that she and Chris have together. 

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