Case study: Henry Rankin, diagnosed with vascular dementia

By NATALIE WALKER
Published on 07/09/2012 04:35

HENRY Rankin says it is thanks to finding specialist support for his illness that he managed to come to terms with his future.

The retired policeman, 59, of Glasgow, said: “It was dreadful. There’s no other way to describe it. The nurse said ‘you’ve got vascular dementia, come back and see me in six months’. Then she sent me on my way.

“No more information, no-one to speak to. I didn’t even know what vascular dementia was. I thought it was all over, that I had six months left to live. I walked out to the street and I burst into tears.”

Mr Rankin had spent months trying to find out the cause of his memory problems and said he got very little information from medical experts.

Mr Rankin said it was only when he visited a project run by Alzheimer Scotland called “Facing Dementia Together” that he finally understood about his illness.

He said: “The help gave me my confidence back. The way I’d got my diagnosis had knocked the wind right out my sails, but they got me back on track.

“They spoke to my family too, gave them lots of information and advice. They were always there. We could speak to them at any time.”