Fiona Phillips has expressed confusion after being told by her husband Martin Frizell that she is ‘not there at the moment’.
On Wednesday, the ITV presenter, 62, revealed she had been secretly dealing with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s since last year.
After losing both of her parents to the disease, Fiona said it had ‘ravaged’ her family and had ‘come for’ her.
Now, in an interview with her husband Martin, 64, who is the boss of breakfast programme This Morning, the couple have shared more about how their lives have been impacted.
‘My only frustration is just I want her to get better. I want her to remember things. I want the apathy to go and I want this person back who was vibrant and interested in things and eager to do new things…,’ he said.
Martin then added: ‘But she’s not there at the moment.’
Visibly affected by her husband’s comments, Fiona is said to have been caught a bit off guard.
‘Really?’ she said, as reported by The Mirror.
‘I hadn’t noticed I was being like that’, while Martin added: ‘But you wouldn’t because you’re in the middle of it.’
When revealing her diagnosis, Fiona also shared she was undergoing trials as part of research into a revolutionary treatment being investigated by scientists.
As part of that, Martin has been helping to administer the trial medication on a regular basis by injecting the drug into his wife’s stomach, however Fiona said she was trying ‘not to rely on him too much’.
But she added: ‘And he hasn’t really ramped it up because he has always been good.’
However her husband said he was now worried about his wife and spent lots of time wanting to make sure she was ok.
‘That’s too kind Fiona… I have absolutely ramped it up… Before I didn’t ever have to worry about Fiona before and now I do… “What is she doing all day while I’m at work? What is she doing in the evening if I’m out? what has she eaten?”,’ he explained.
What is early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?
Early-onset Alzheimer’s is also known as young-onset dementia or younger-onset Alzheimer’s. It is the label given to anyone who receives a diagnosis before they turn 65.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, an estimated 70,800 people with dementia in the UK have young onset, and Alzheimer’s disease accounts for around one in three cases of young onset dementia.
It is thought at least five in every 100 people with Alzheimer’s are under 65, however the figure may be higher.
According to the NHS, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s can begin with usually minor memory problems, but can develop into:
- confusion, disorientation and getting lost in familiar places
- difficulty planning or making decisions
- problems with speech and language
- problems moving around without assistance or performing self-care tasks
- personality changes, such as becoming aggressive, demanding and suspicious of others
- hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) and delusions (believing things that are untrue)
- low mood or anxiety
Before her diagnosis Fiona had been battling brain fog and anxiety, which she put down to menopause, however was later revealed to be Alzheimer’s.
The couple’s then two sons, Nat, aged 24, and Mackenzie, 21, were then tested for the gene that showed a predisposition for Alzheimer’s’, however thankfully the results showed they did not carry it.
As Martin explained, it was an ‘enormous sense of relief’.
Earlier this week Martin said that when the news of the diagnosis was delivered, he and Fiona ‘sat in silence’.
‘There was no funny line to make this go away. Nothing smart to say. Nothing,’ he said.
Fiona has also said she wanted to share her story to try and tackle stigma around the disease, explaining that she was still able to ‘get out and about, meet friends for coffee and go for dinner’ with her husband.
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MORE : What it’s like when a loved one gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s: ‘It’s grieving in real time’
MORE : Why Fiona Phillips’ ‘brave decision’ to go public with Alzheimer’s diagnosis will ‘save others from heartbreak’
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