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

OT Concept Map

Joe O'Brien

Joe O'Brien. Birthdate unknown. 4/22/18

Occupational Profile

	Reason the client is seeking OT services and concerns related to engagement in occupations (may include the client’s general health status)	The client has recently been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease and is seeking OT services to try and maintain the ability to perform his activities of daily living. He wishes to be able to walk his dog, Yaz, attend yoga classes that his daughter teaches, and hold his newborn grandson.
	Occupations in which the client is successful and barriers or potential barriers to his/her success in those occupations (p. S5)	Due to the chorea part of Huntington's, Joe is unable to currently hold his grandson because he is worried he might injure him accidentally. The chorea also prevents his wife from getting close to him in fear that she might be hit from an involuntary movement. The disease has also caused him to leave his job as a police officer, because he is no longer fit to perform the tasks. He is successful in eating Sunday dinners with his whole family and sleeping.
	Personal interests and values (p. S7)	Joe enjoys walking his dog, getting drinks with his friends Tommy and Donny, and watching Red Sox games. He values time spent with his family and his job as a police officer.
	The client’s occupational history/life experiences	The client is born and raised in Charlestown, MA right outside of Boston. He is married to Rosie and has four children, JJ, Patrick, Meghan, and Katie. JJ is married to Colleen and they just had a baby named Joey. He has been a police officer for twenty four years, and just had to retire due to the onset and worsening of this disease.
	Performance patterns (routines, habits, & rituals) – what are the client’s patterns of engagement in occupations and how have they changed over time? What are the client’s daily life roles? Note patterns that support and hinder occupational performance. (p. S8)	Roles: father, grandfather, husband, police officer, friend.  Routines: Joe wakes up, showers, gets dressed, eats breakfast, and then would spend his day working as a police officer. Now that he no longer can, he goes to yoga classes taught by Katie, goes to physical therapy to try and strengthen his body, drinks a beer or two with friends, and sits on the couch watching the Red Sox.  Habits: his chorea has become an involuntary habit.
	Aspects of the client’s environments or contexts, as viewed by the client (p. S28)	Supports to Occupational Engagement:	Barriers to Occupational Engagement:
	Physical	He lives in a small town that easy to walk around in.	His chorea makes a simple task extremely difficult due to the extra and involuntary movement.
	Social	He has a supportive family that assist him with anything he needs.	He desires to be more independent and not have to lean on his family so often.
	Cultural	Joe's wife is extremely religious and attends church often to pray for him.	Before this disease, Joe rarely participated in any religion-related activities.
	Personal	He is determined to stay alert for as long as he can in order to spend as much time with his children as possible.	The chorea is extremely disruptive and has caused him to lose weight fast due to the constant moving.
	Temporal	He is still so young, so before the onset he was fit and able to perform any task needed.	Huntington's disease has a timeline of progression, getting worse until they can no longer care for themselves at all.
	Virtual	New advances in technology will help Joe communicate and move when these things become too difficult for him.	Technology cannot stop the progression of the disease.
	Client’s priorities and desired target outcomes (consider occupational performance – improvement and enhancement, prevention, participation, role competence, health & wellness, quality of life, well-being, and/or occupational justice) (p. S34)	Joe would like to continue walking his dog, attending yoga classes with his daughter Katie, and hold his newborn grandson without the fear of hurting anyone.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Inside the O'Briens. I thought it was a great way to learn more about Huntington's disease, but really see how the entire disease progresses and affects the family and friends of the individual. One part I did not like, however, was the ending. I would have loved to find out if Katie, Patrick, or Joey have the gene or not. I thought it was a sweet ending showing how everyone is supportive and this disease has not changed how tight knit they are. If anything, it has brought them all closer. I liked how everyone was there for Katie and she had come to terms with wanting to know, but I personally want to know! The weather this past week has been so nice I have found myself reading the book laying outside by the pool. While it was an assignment for class, I loved being able to relax and enjoy reading, something I have not been able to do since school started. It definitely reminded me to start taking more time to enjoy little things in the midst of a crazy school week.