A woman who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after her colleagues noticed something was wrong with her has shared her story as part of a campaign to raise awareness.

Lorraine Brown joined other sufferers to host a question and answer session during Dementia Awareness Week last week.

She was part of a panel who answered questions from the public about how dementia has affected their lives and how they cope day to day.

Ms Brown, who worked in mental health care for 26 years, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in August 2014.

At the time of her diagnosis she was working at Medway hospital as a support worker for Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust. Her colleagues noticed something was wrong and persuaded her to get help.

The grandmother, who is now 63, said: “I didn’t think there was anything wrong. At the time I was going through personal difficulties at home and I thought it was stress.

"My managers and colleagues suggested something else was going on.”

"It feels like all my memories from the last five or six years have been rubbed out" - Lorraine Brown

It took three years of investigations and tests before Ms Brown got her diagnosis.

She added: “In that time I lost my job, I got divorced and I had to sell my house.”

Ms Brown now lives on her own in Rainham and copes with her condition by writing everything down.

She said: “I used to beat myself up about not remembering things. It feels like all my memories from the last five or six years have been rubbed out.

“I keep a diary with everything written down – where I need to be and when highlighted in different colours. I call it my brain in my bag.

“But Alzheimer’s affects the whole person, not just memory. For example I can’t read books any more.”

Ms Brown is part of the Memorybilia action group which aims to make Medway more dementia friendly and is also the chairman of the newly created Medway Dementia Action Alliance steering group.

Her presentation at the launch has led to other requests for her to speak at conferences and events.

She said: “I want to be able to challenge the stigma and the stereotyping around dementia.”