The other day during my free time I was
scrolling through my Facebook feed. I came across a video that had the words
“mother struggling with dementia” in the name, and knowing that we would be
studying that topic soon, I thought I would watch the video. On the day that we
had our dementia lecture, the video that I found on Facebook was once again
talked about. Molly’s Movement is a collection of videos, currently at 53
videos but more are uploaded every day, where a son, named Joey, films every
day life with his mother, Molly, who has Lewy Body Dementia. The purpose of
these videos was to raise awareness about dementia and what life looks like
with it, as well as hopefully increase donations and funding for research. The
video that I had watched was the exact one shown in class where Molly is
brushing her toothbrush with another brush because she is confused about what
she should be doing. For this post, I began watching more of the videos because
I thought it would be an interesting way to learn more about dementia by
witnessing the actual disease through someone that has it, rather than
listening to someone without the disease talk about it. In one of the videos,
Molly states “I am so confused. I don’t know who I am or where I am. I’ve never
been so confused in my life.” While this is something we always learn about
when talking about dementia, I had never actually seen someone with dementia
state these things. She looked so helpless and sad, having no clue what was
happening at all.
In one of the videos, Joey stops by
Starbucks, a pizza place, and Nothing Bundt Cakes and all three places donate
food and drinks to the nursing home whenever Joey stops by. I thought this was
very sweet because they realize how hardworking the individuals who work in the
home are and that they are very deserving. Joey will usually talk to the camera
in the car before or after he is with his mother, and will explain what is
going on, what we are about to see, or what we should know. Sometimes, he will
cry and breakdown because of how difficult it is to see his mother like this. I
think this is a great addition to the video because while it is important to
see what is going on with Molly, seeing how it affects loved ones is also
beneficial for awareness.
One of the videos they have uploaded is
titled ‘The progression of dementia in 7 months’. It starts in January 2017,
and Molly is able to carry out a brief conversation with her son. 7 months
later, and Joey and Molly are in the car and Molly cannot say a full sentence
that makes sense to Joey. It really shows how quickly the disease can progress.
While it is difficult to get her point across, Joey still is able to have
conversations with her and enjoy the time spent with her, which is a beautiful
thing to watch. I would definitely recommend this to other classmates for the
last Neuro Note, or even just for fun. While it is really sad to see, it is
important to understand exactly what can happen with this disease and how it
will affect those around the individual, as well.
Molly’s Movement. Our Video Series. Retrieved May
23, 2018, from
https://mollysmovement.com/pages/mother-son-dementia-video-series
