Neuro Note #3

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