‘Thank you.’ She rummaged in her bag and, placing her phone on the table, she pulled a face. ‘Sorry. Do you mind? I promise I’m not one of those phone-obsessed individuals but, with everything going on with Mum, I like to have it out, just in case.’

‘I don’t mind. Honestly. How was she at the weekend?’

‘Not so good.’ She shook her head as she brought me up to date and added in a few things she’d remembered since our last discussion.

I put my pen down on my open notebook when she’d finished. ‘I know that you’d love me to give you a definite answer as to whether or not your mum has dementia, but I’m afraid I can’t without actually meeting the patient and doing a proper evaluation.’

Her eyes immediately clouded with tears and she nodded her head slowly. I felt terrible.

‘That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about dementia and what that might look like.’

‘Okay.’

‘Let’s start with the science bit. When people think about dementia, they tend to think of Alzheimer’s which, granted, is one of the most common forms and one of the most well-known. It’s possible for a patient with Parkinson’s to also have Alzheimer’s. Both affect the neurological system but in different ways. There are also forms of dementia specifically linked to Parkinson’s. There’s something called Parkinson’s dementia where the patient presents dementia symptoms a year or more after experiencing the motor symptoms – movement problems – and there’s something called Lewy bodies which is where the dementia symptoms present at the same time or even before the movement problems. Does that make sense so far?’

Jemma took a sip of her wine and nodded.

‘When most people think about Parkinson’s, they think about people shaking but tremors aren’t the only symptom and they’re not something that happens to everyone.’

‘Like Mum. She doesn’t have any shakes. She has stiffness instead.’

‘There you go, then. With dementia, it’s the same in that there are several symptoms and not everyone with it will present with every symptom…’

Jemma sipped on her wine and listened intently as I talked about dementia and the different symptoms. She wrinkled her nose as I said each new one and I could tell she was thinking of something her mum had said or done which might suggest a display of that symptom.

‘Do remember that your mum’s only forty-six,’ I added, ‘and that developing dementia under the age of sixty-five is rare. It could be something else.’

Jemma finished her glass of wine. ‘I hope so.’

‘Another one?’ I asked, nodding towards her empty glass.

‘Yes please. I could certainly do with one.’

As I passed her, I gently squeezed her shoulder. ‘It’ll be alright.’