PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Hey everyone, welcome back to Global Transmission. Today’s episode is quite serious, so I decided to keep the intro music but cut the transition sound effects. I’m going to be discussing a topic that’s pretty difficult to deal with in my everyday life, and that’s dementia. My great-grandmother Joan is 91 years old, has the condition, and I live with her. It’s a lot to handle, so I felt that I should share my experience in trying to help her navigate life when nothing makes sense. 

First, I want to discuss what dementia really is. In short, it’s a mental condition that can’t be cured and slows down many functions of the brain. The most common symptom is memory loss, but there are many others. A person with dementia might forget people, even the ones they see every day. Thinking abilities are impaired, and social interactions can be anywhere from slightly flawed to confusing and making no sense at all. These are the ones I see most often. My great-grandma usually asks if I’m doing alright once every five minutes when I’m sitting with her. It doesn’t bother me, but it really just shows how severe this condition is.

At night time, my great-grandma gets up a lot and walks around in the hallway, so I have to lock my door so that she doesn’t wander into my room by accident. We keep a gate fastened by a dog collar at the top of the stairs so that she won’t fall down. For most of the day, she sits on the couch watching TV, but sometimes gets worried about the movie, thinking it’s real. I sometimes sit with her to keep her company when my grandparents are busy and can’t watch her at that moment. I don’t mind sitting there. The only part that really gets to me is when she gets confused. She often asks where her husband is, and it’s heartbreaking when I have to tell her that he passed away two years ago. I can’t imagine how painful it must be to forget about your spouse not being alive, and having to relive that every day, multiple times in some cases. It’s terrible to explain it to her every time, and I feel awful about it.

I’m sorry that I kept this a little bit shorter, but this one is pretty tough for me to talk about. Joan will be 92 years old in March. I’m always happy to be there for her, but it’s a little bit challenging at times. I love my family, and it’s really sad to see my great-grandma lose all of her memory. Thank you all for listening. This is Connor Riley with The Globe, and I’ll see you next time.