A CAMPAIGNING Gourock grandmother is calling for better tests to diagnose dementia after a TWO YEAR delay in her husband’s case.

Ann Caldwell has spoken out after battling to get help for her husband David, who is 75.

The retired policeman had suffered memory loss for two years before medics eventually discovered he had the condition.

Ann fears that many patients my fall through the net in the early stages of the disease and she believes there is an urgent need for a rethink on the tests which doctors carry out.

She said: “There was one test with 30 different questions but most of these questions are for people who have more advanced symptoms.

“David passed the test two or three times at Gourock Health Centre but he was getting worse.

“He would forget simple things.

“He’d go out for messages and come back and say ‘there’s not a baker down there’ and he would have passed the shop three times before he realised.

“We had been married for 48 years — we’d been together all that time and I knew things weren’t right.” The breakthough finally arrived when a new doctor started at the practice and David was sent for a CT scan.

Ann said: “He was diagnosed with vascular dementia.

“He’d previously had heart three heart attacks and the lack of oxygen caused by this had affected his memory.” David’s condition has since stabilised thanks to medication which slows down the onset of symptoms, and he also attends a psychiatrist.

But he is aware that his condition is worsening and this is in turn having an impact on both of them.

Ann said: “He can’t drive and I have to deal with all the financial stuff, as he kept losing his bank card or taking money out of the bank and hiding it.

“I’ve had to stop him using the cooker after he nearly set the house on fire.” David has also walked past friends he’s known for years because he didn’t recognise them.

The couple, from Cowal View, also have another daughter Ann, 45, and a grandson Calum, 23.

Ann, who is a volunteer at Ardgowan Hospice, says more funding is needed to find a cure for this cruel disease.

She said: “A lot of money goes into cancer research but not so much goes to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

“Dementia is a family disease, it affects the whole family.

“You have to ask the whole family for help.” Ann, a retired area manager with Inverclyde Council, said she and David used to enjoy up to four holidays a year and nights out with friends at the Police Club but this has all stopped due to David’s illness.

She said: “We don’t have any social life and he doesn’t want to go on holiday any longer because it is unfamiliar to him.

“We go to Largs for the day but the last time he came out of the public toilets and got lost.” David can still wash, dress and go to the toilet which means there is little help available to the family until his condition does deteriorate.

Ann copes the best she can but is dreading the day when her beloved husband of nearly 50 years doesn’t know her.

She said: “I would hate to get to the stage when he doesn’t recognise me any longer — he dreads that as well. Hopefully it is going to be a long time before that happens.” Ann says she has found great support at Inverclyde Carers’ Centre and the Your Voice community care centre, and wants to highlight the finanical help available to families affected by dementia.

But she is also urging people who know there is something wrong with their loved ones to insist on a CT scan.

She said: “If your husband or wife loses their memory, don’t just accept it’s a part of getting older.

“Get to the doctor straight away.

“Push and push for a proper test, not just silly questions.”