‘I kept repeating “I’m not right” to my doctor to try to get them to listen. You know how you feel inside.’⁣ ⁣ Gina had a stroke when she was acting headteacher of a school for children with behavioural problems.⁣ ⁣ The single mother-of-four noticed some changes after her stroke, such as feeling depressed, falling over, missing words out while talking and reading became a challenge.⁣ ⁣ After this, she had a mini-stroke and Gina recognised something was wrong but it was a challenge to make the GP listen to her concerns.⁣ ⁣ ‘They said they couldn’t find anything wrong with me.’⁣ ⁣ ‘I will admit, I have somewhat of a stubborn or persistent personality, so I kept going to see the GP until I eventually got an appointment with a consultant.⁣ ⁣ ‘I know how difficult and frustrating it can be to wait a long time to get the correct diagnosis when you know something isn’t right.’⁣ ⁣ Gina eventually received a diagnosis of vascular dementia.⁣ ⁣ ‘My world emptied out. It seemed so unfair. Had I not had a hard enough life with the two strokes? I had such a successful career, something that was mine that meant a lot to me because I come from a real working-class home.⁣ ⁣ ‘After some time, I said to myself “You’re still here. There are people who are worse off.”⁣ ⁣ Support from Alzheimer’s Society has enabled Gina to feel empowered to join a choir and she will be at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool to share the challenges she faced getting a dementia diagnosis.⁣ ⁣ To read more about Gina’s story, visit https://bit.ly/3qi8RQh