04 July 2023 , 21:07
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Fiona Phillips has not let her Alzheimer's diagnosis, at the heartbreakingly young age of 62, stop her from living her life to the full.
She walks daily and regularly meets friends for coffee. Time with her family is also vital - dinner with her husband, This Morning boss, Martin Frizell, or quality time with her two sons.
Journalist Fiona has also started on a treatment programme she hopes with slow the progression of the cruel disease, which claimed the lives of both her parents.
For months Fiona was insistent on keeping the news of her illness from their two sons Nat, 24, who’s in the army and Mackenzie, 21.
It’s only now - with this story about to emerge - that Fiona has agreed they should be properly told.. Although two young men who so love their mum must have been able to see the changes in her behaviour for many months.
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“I just didn’t want to make a big thing out of it where we all sit down as a family and announce we’ve got something to tell them”, she says.
“And I was worried they might be embarrassed in front of their friends or treat me in a different way. And it’s not like I’m doing anything out of character.”
Fiona still loves to walk daily
Fiona and her husband Martin make sure to spend quality time together“But there are episodes of forgetfulness and memory lapse”, Martin gently asserts.
“But they’re not profound, they’re not ruining peoples lives”, she counters.
Martin agrees.
With Alzheimer’s Disease running throughout Fiona’s family, the couple have had a blood test to check if their boys may have inherited the disease.
“We wanted to know in case we needed to prepare the boys to make some difficult decisions later in life”, says Martin.
“When the results came back as negative it was a huge moment - such an enormous sense of relief. There’s no Alzheimer’s on my side of the family and thank goodness it seems the boys have not inherited from Fiona’s side of the family.”
Three times a day Fiona is injected with the drugs which she desperately hopes will stall the advance of Alzheimer’s Disease in her brain.
But despite the time and energy spent coping with the disease Fiona and Martin Frizell who’ve been married since 1997 after meeting when they worked together on GMTV, are still enjoying life as best they can.
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Fiona speaks to Mirror Editor-In-Chief Alison PhillipsFiona spends her days going for walks, reading the newspapers, meeting up with friends and enjoying dinners and drinks with family.
Her illness has led to a loss of interest in food so Martin tries each night to return from work and cook a nutritious meal to keep her physically strong.
“It’s a limited repertoire”, he laughs. “But it’s alright.”
The couple have also made regular trips to their small holiday home in Italy.
“It is very beautiful there,’ says Fiona. “It’s tranquil.. with golden skies.
“Italy is brilliant for Fiona”, adds Martin. “It is very familiar to her because we have been going there for years and it is quiet so she feels a lot less stressed there.”
Alzheimer’s Disease can cause feelings of anxiety and stress - as patients with it process the reality of disease and adjust to a world where many familiar things have become unfamiliar, too noisy and too fast.
“I wouldn’t take the tube now because I feel anxious,’ says Fiona. And that’s awful but this disease takes things away from you. It takes away from who you are and the things you have always done.
The drugs Fiona takes weekly“There are things I’m slightly scared about now - it is like being a child again and I just feel vulnerable I think.. And that’s not me at all.”
Despite concerns about crowds and noise Fiona has still continued to watch her beloved Chelsea FC.
“As if you’re not depressed enough”, says Martin, again trying to find grains of humour in their situation.
“I know!” laughs Fiona. “But I love going to the football.”
As the weeks since diagnosis have slipped into months Fiona’s mood understandably became lower and she was prescribed anti-depressants.
Martin thinks what began as a struggle coping with the impact of the illness slipped into clinical depression.
“Do you think so?” asks Fiona. “I don’t really think I have been very depressed.
“Oh Fiona you have,” Martin replies, attempting to reassure her.
“Well I’m trying not to be depressed.”
Later Fiona returns to the topic of feeling depressed and this time accepts it with a startling clarity.
Fiona is coming to terms with her diagnosis (Philip Coburn)“I guess that’s what comes from being divested of everything you have lived with and loved”, she says. “It is a common side effect of the illness. Thank God I’m otherwise fit and well I suppose - it’s just my brain which is a bit f***ed.”
As we chat there are a few topics Fiona frequently returns to, as if they loom particularly large in her mind. One is her frustration at being unable to work.
“I’ve always been a workaholic”, she says.
“I worked from when I was 11 delivering newspapers. I never asked my parents for money and always wanted to be working.
“When I was doing breakfast TV I’d be up and out for work in the middle of the night. I love working and so not being able to do that has left a massive hole in my life.
“Now there are days when I think it’s not really worth getting up just to go to the same old places for coffee.
‘But I keep fit and I walk everywhere.”
“You’re not allowed to drive now though”, Martin adds gently.
“Oh yes”, she recalls. “That’s awful, isn't’ it? But I like walking. And I’m fine, I don’t get lost or think, ‘Where am I going now? But I used to love bombing around in my little car.
Fiona with her mum, who died from the disease (MDM)“Some days I wake up and think.. ‘Maybe I’ll try this.. or maybe I’ll do that.. but then the day goes on and.. oh I don’t know..’ her voice trails off.
“It is just horrible.. But I am doing my best to keep smiling. That’s the only thing you can do unless you want to bring everyone else down with you.”
Discussing Fiona’s experiences with Alzhiemer’s and what the future might hold is clearly difficult to discuss with an interviewer like me.
There are questions I try to ask about events of the past few years which Fiona struggles to answer, and naturally I try to avoid asking questions which I fear she won’t know the answer to and thereby cause her anxiety.
But at other points she is calm yet unaware of her pockets of memory loss.
“It’s really weird because I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me,” she says. “At all.”
So how does she feel when Martin tries to explain there are gaps in her memory.
“Surprised, I think.. And it’s frustrating.”
Fiona's dad also died with the disease (Channel 4)There are things Fiona and Martin would both like to understand better about Alzheimer’s and the impact it has on sufferers. As part of that Fiona is now hoping to make a documentary with ITV about the whole issue - perhaps even visiting the States where research and more advanced drugs are already in use.
Fiona says: “People still come up to me in the street and thank me for everything I did to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s after my mum and dad were ill.
“So maybe now I could amplify that even more. Bruce Willis has a form of dementia and the Marvel actor Chris Hemsworth is taking time off acting because he’s been told he has a higher risk of developing it.
“There are so many people suffering with this awful disease around the world - and so many others who may not even know they are in the early stages of having it.
“I just want to do everything I can to make it something people are more prepared to talk about - and crucially something people seek help for as early as possible.”