Norlandia Karl Johan Hotell

I'm aware that some people reading this blog may not be quite as interested in dementia as I am, so I thought I'd say a few things about the hotel where I'm staying. The entrance to the hotel is in back of the "park" sign and the pansies are in the park (actually a very wide boulevard) in front of the hotel. To get to my room, I take an elevator to the third floor, walk down a hall a ways (past lovely old paintings and a very large Norwegian painted chest), then turn right and go down about 8 steps, walk a short way down another hall, down two steps, then up two steps, up a slight incline, turn a corner and finally get to room 325! Fortunately, there are rooms near the elevator for people in wheelchairs! The room faces on an interior courtyard which is probably a good thing as the street is quite active with outdoor cafes. Everyone wants to sit outside once the "midnight sun" emerges (May 21). I was astonished at how bright it was at 8 p.m. tonight when I returned from dinner outside at a cafe. When I was in Sweden, I was waking at 4 when the bright sun peeked in around the blinds.

It was another very good day at the conference with some amazing sessions. I went to one session on sexuality and dementia, a topic I never hear raised in the States. One presentation was by a woman who married at age 28 to a 47 year old man who started into early onset dementia a few years (and four children) later. He died at age 70 and she talked quite frankly about their relationship, how hard it is when you are caring for the person you love but you don't feel you're "equal adults" as she said. Another speaker addressed the issues of sexuality in dementia care facilities and a third speaker talked about the problems gays and lesbians have when their partners have dementia and their relationship is not honored by "the system." At another session, a man who's a physics professor talked about his wife having dementia. He actually moved with her into a dementia care facility 5 years ago; she no longer can speak or recognize him. She was an artist and he showed a remarkable series of paintings from just before the diagnosis, just afterwards, and somewhat later as she went from bright, active paintings to dark, threatening ones. These are not the kinds of discussions I hear at conferences in the States where everything is all about "evidence based interventions."

I have continued to have fascinating conversations with people, including today at lunch with a retired Catholic priest who moved to Norway after being diagnosed with dementia in Japan (where he'd worked for many years with the Spanish speaking community -- huh?). He was the first speaker of the day -- interviewed by his Norwegian physician. He was with a Japanese woman who is his caregiver. The other person at lunch, coincidentally enough, was a young woman from England who had emailed me earlier in the year about her doctoral research on hope. I also talked with an Algerian neuropsychologist, a Danish researcher, an American who is now teaching in Ireland, etc. Most amazing.