By CASEY NEILL
BANGHOLME couple Fred and Bev Fowler met at the Shepparton Show 51 years ago this month.
They were just 15 and 13 but it was love at first sight.
“She was the first one and the only one,” Mr Fowler said.
“We’ve been married 46 years.”
September also marks Dementia Awareness Month, and Mrs Fowler was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease four and a half years ago.
“Both my daughters and myself noticed that she was doing a few things, like misplacing things and talking differently and saying things over and over again,” Mr Fowler said.
“We had a talk and we said ‘we better book her in to the doctor’s.”
Blood tests and a visit to a specialist confirmed Alzheimer’s.
“It hits pretty hard. She was only coming up to 60 years old,” Mr Fowler said.
“I was still working at this stage.”
He’d been a Monash council employee for 26 years.
“They diagnosed her on the Thursday. She had to have 24-7 care so I went in on the Friday and gave notice,” he said.
“It’s gone downhill since then a fair bit.”
Mr Fowler said his wife’s speech, walking and memory had deteriorated.
“I do completely everything. I shower her, dress her – even combing her hair,” he said.
“It’s just got a little bit harder each month.”
The Fowlers live in the Willow Lodge retirement village.
“There’s a few in here that had Alzheimer’s. People have been fantastic in here,” he said.
Their daughters and grandchildren have also been supportive.
“And we’ve had fantastic help from Alzheimer’s Victoria,” Mr Fowler said.
“It’s good to talk to other people who know what you’re going through.”
Alzheimer’s Australia Victoria CEO Maree McCabe urged people to use Dementia Awareness Month to become more informed about the condition.
About 81,000 Victorians are living with dementia.
“A general lack of understanding and fear of dementia in the community is reported as being the main reason people with dementia disengage with their community,” she said.
“People are unaware of the symptoms and unsure how to respond to the changes in a person that they have always known.”
