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Neuro Note 4

   

     I decided to watch some of the videos in a video series done by a son, Joey Daley,  whose mother, Molly,  has Lewy Body Dementia.  I remember seeing one of these videos on social media a while ago and remember feeling shocked by how much the disease affected Molly.  I was really interested in watching more videos once I found out there was a series.  Joey creates weekly videos with a mission to educate others about Dementia and the effects that it can have on people.  One thing Joey says on the website is "it's impossible to simply read about Dementia and understand the magnitude of this disease."  I find this so true and for me it always helps to watch real-life individuals and see the effects first hand.  I found this video series to be a true representation of the disease and full of raw emotion.
   
     I watched several of the videos with the first one being when Molly forgets how to use her toothbrush.  Molly has both an electric and regular toothbrush and first brushes the electric toothbrush with the regular one instead of her teeth.  This is just one of many things that Molly often gets confused about.  I did think that it would be helpful to have only one of each item she needs to limit confusion.  For example, once she got upset about why the rolls of toilet paper were in her bathroom and what they were for.  At the time, there were a few different rolls in her bathroom.  I thought that it might would have been less overwhelming for her to only have one of each item to limit how overwhelming it is to not understand somethings purpose.  Another thing that was reoccurring in many videos was that Molly would get confused by thinking her shower was a door she was supposed to be able to get out of.  Through the videos, you see Molly get confused doing simple things like putting something in the bathroom cabinet or opening her room door.  It is very frustrating to watch someone with the ability to do those things not be able to due to dementia.  Seeing some of the things that often happen with the disease will hopefully help me in the future to know what to expect should I work with someone with dementia.

      I am always interested in the roles of caregivers and Joey serves as a great example for other caregivers of individuals with dementia.  He appears to know a lot about his mother's condition and her needs.  I thought he does a great job by not getting upset in front of his mother.  I can understand why he hides his emotion after seeing in some of the videos how much it upset his mother when Joey got upset.  One very emotional video was when Molly forgot who Joey was.  In a later video, Molly asks Joey to call Joey, not realizing in the moment that he was there.  That seems to be one of the hardest things to experience with someone with dementia.  Molly has a lot of emotions and she can go from laughing to crying very easily.  Joey always seems to handle these situations very well.  Some things that Molly especially struggled with was that she dreamed a lot and would be frightened by her dreams.  Joey always had to explain to her that they were just dreams and didn't actually happen.  I also didn't know that people with dementia often sleep a lot.  Molly would sleep many hours a day sometimes not waking up until later in the afternoon.  She lost track of time a lot as well.  One fun fact about Molly is her love for Wendy's chocolate frosty.  In almost every video, Joey and Molly's trip out ended at Wendy's.  They even got invited for a steak dinner at the Wendy's headquarters because of how much she loved Wendy's!  

     I have always had only a general understanding of dementia.  I have never had a family member experience dementia, so I could only go by facts to understand the disease.  However, watching these videos has given me a greater understanding of what living with the disease is like for both the client and the caregiver.  Joey's desire to provide education and support for those with dementia and those with family members with dementia is a very special thing.  In addition to his video series, there was a short documentary done by NBC and a Q&A with Joey.  You can find the links below.  They are great resources to check out!
                                     
Molly's Movement Video Series: https://mollysmovement.com/pages/mother-son-dementia-video-series 
NBC Short Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVvij8G85t0&t=392s 
NBC Q&A with Joey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lys3A_p33t0

                                       


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