Hi! 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As you may or may not be aware, my Dad -John, has recently had the devastating diagnosis of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (FYI- the late, great Robin Williams also had DLB). We as a family have fought for nearly 5 years to get help for my dad who was changing before our eyes, but only recently gained a diagnosis when reaching crisis point at what is effectively, the end stage of his disease process.

Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is commonly found but scarcely diagnosed, leaving individuals and their families to cope with what are traumatic and distressing symptoms often for many years before gaining the help and support of the medical professions. 

Unlike other dementias that gain greater media coverage, DLB is aggressive in its progression and combines cruel symptoms of Schizophrenia, Parkinsons and Alzheimers. Your first thoughts of this dementia may be of memory loss, and while this is a prominent feature, it comes alongside persistent hallucinations that can be very distressing, extreme agitation, fluctuations between alertness and confusion or vacancy, a decline in motor abilities causing stiffness and shuffling, the general deterioration of cognition, self awareness, and an inability to execute every day tasks, and can also cause the acting out of dreams. My dad has gone from functioning with some memory loss and the odd 'quirky' behaviour, to not being able to stay in his own home and at times not knowing who we are, in the space of just weeks.

Unfortunately, his diagnosis has come too late for him to make decisions about his ongoing care, and too late to spend his last few years doing what he loves. Sadly, he will never really know my daughter  who was born at the end of November. There is no cure for DLB, and no way to slow the disease process. Drugs used for other dementias can often make symptoms worse and have high mortality rates. Ongoing research is vital and although any progression will probably come too late for our family journey, we live in hope of scientific developments that might prevent and treat DLB for others in the future.

So, what's my plan???

In order to play what part I can to help continue the research, I will be painting my face every single day throughout the month of March. That's 31 whole days of looking like a plonker- that's worth donating a tenner right?! I will be functioning as normal with my face painted, so if you see me painted as Spiderman whilst grocery shopping say hi, or even better- donate!! 

I will be updating my facepainting progress on various social media along the way, so check out my Facebook (Jennifer Lunnon), Twitter (@JenniferLunnon) and Instagram (JenniLunnon).

The only mild stipulations are that I will have to remove face paint when visiting my dad as it will not help his hallucinations, agitation or ability to recognise me, and I will also try to avoid anything else that will be unsuitable for my young daughter (no rude or Hallowe'en anything!). Please feel free to leave your suggestion of a days theme with your donation, and I will do my best to oblige!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.