The son of a woman who may soon be diagnosed with a life-changing disease has spoken of his mum's illness and his effort to help her keep her independence. Dan Katchi, from Barry, said his mum Joanne started to become unwell in October, 2022.
The 50-year-old's symptoms started when she experienced slow speech and felt pins and needles in her limbs. Dan, 32, said: "Following that, my dad took her to the University hospital of Wales where she was told it was likely to be a temporary lapse and that everything should go back to normal. Unfortunately from then, everything gradually got worse. She started not being able to use her hands and her speech got worse."
A few weeks later, Dan said his dad Michael took Joanne back to the hospital, where she stayed for the next three weeks undergoing tests. He said: "The second time she went in, they were lucky to see a neurologist who was just about to finish work. As soon as he met my mother and saw how she was and how she was moving and her speech, I think she knew straight away [there was something wrong] because he kept her in that night. He told my mum she was going to have some tests over the next few weeks, so she stayed in for around three weeks."
