Transcript for The Mind Thief

Posted by Diane Cole Transcripts Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Diane Cole
The Mind Thief
Runs: 10:15

SFx: Sigur Ros- Untitled 3

The brain is a powerful thing. It’s the control centre for thought, movement and emotion.

But when disease creeps into the mind, the results can be devastating.

Theresa Cole knows this. Her husband Robert has Primary Progressive Aphasia.

He was diagnosed with this rare form of dementia in 2006.

Theresa: Difficult runs 0:08

I think you do a lot of crying, a lot of growing up. It’s really amazing how difficult it is.

This disease has caused Robert to forget how to speak, read and write.

It has also affected a large portion of his memory and basic motor skills. Theresa has kept watch over him in their Fredericton home since he was first diagnosed.

But that changed in October.

Theresa: Hospital runs 1:57

I was still looking after him and he had a seizure in a restaurant. He went to the hospital by ambulance. At that point in time I made the decision that I did not want him home again. I was having caregivers come in, and friends when I wanted to go out with them and sit with him. But I just couldn’t handle it anymore. So they kept him and eventually he went on four East and a month ago he fell down and broke his hip. So now we’re trying to teach him how to walk, how to eat, how to swallow. He’s having a hard time with the swallowing. He’s becoming skin and bones basically. It’s hard to see and to watch. Now it’s a matter of waiting for him to go in a home.

For Theresa, this wait is frustrating. She says Robert just isn’t getting the attention he requires.

Theresa: Walking runs :44 seconds

Yesterday was the first time he walked in 7 days, and I was quite upset. I told him I felt like he was being completely ignored. He’s still…I understand them, they’re understaffed. But I mean, Bob is still recovering from his hip injury and he should be walking. They say that because he doesn’t comprehend instructions, it makes it harder. I say, get him up his feet will move. And his feet do move. So he’s just taking little steps. Sometimes he gives you a great big smile because he’s so happy to be up and walking. So that’s hard to see him lying down in bed all the time. You know, to me, it’s not fair.

Sound Fx: Gary Jules- Mad World

This is a common concern for families dealing with dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, over 500,000 Canadians have been diagnosed with some form of this disease, and it continues to grow on a daily basis.

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There is already a shortage of space in nursing homes and hospitals across the country. But a report by the Alzheimer’s Society called Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia in Canada, suggests this shortage will soar to new heights in the next 30 years.

The baby boomer generation is aging which will make them more susceptible to diseases like Dementia.

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In 2008, there were over 100,000 new cases in Canada. This report suggests there will be over 250,000 new cases by 2038.

This expected influx will put further strain on the healthcare system.

Lori Sabo is the regional coordinator for the Alzheimer’s Society’s New Brunswick branch.

Lori Sabo beds clip: runs 50 seconds

There’s a lacking of nursing home beds in this province. There’s so many people waiting in the hospitals We have about 10 clients right now at the hospital waiting for nursing home placement, and that’s only people we know. But then there’s a lot of people at home who are waiting for placement and they may get placed before the people in the hospital. So I mean, I would say there’s hundreds and hundreds of people in this province waiting for nursing homes. They can place you in a nursing home up to 100 kilometres away. So if you have to travel 100 kilometres, a few times a week to visit your wife or your husband. That’s tough for anybody. That’s a huge issue, not just for Alzheimer’s disease but for any senior who’s trying to get into a nursing home but can’t be cared for at home anymore.

But it’s an issue that she says isn’t easily fixed.

Lori Sabo: Hospital. Runs 36 seconds

If there’s 80 people at Chalmers waiting for nursing home placement, and we’re going to say this number could double in the next, then there’s going to need to be more, that’s all it comes down to. Or if the education’s there for the caregivers and more help’s available then they could keep them home longer. But sometimes that’s not an option for everybody. Everybody’s different. Some people want to keep them home the whole time and they will hire a full time caregiver. Not everybody can afford that to begin with. Right now with Social Development, you get help in the home, they will only cover that during the day, and they won’t cover a night time caregiver.
SFx: John Williams- Piano

Even though money is already a big issue, it’s only going to get worse.

The Rising Tide report foreshadows a drastic jump in the cost of care for seniors with dementia. As of 2008, it was roughly $15 billion dollars, but is expected to rise to $153 billion within 30 years.

But research now shows ways to slow the onset of dementia which could reduce these costs.

Hazel MacRae: runs 47 seconds

When I go to hear medical doctors talk about this, medical researchers. What they have been telling us in recent years that is really, really encouraging is now research is beginning to show ways in which we might be able to either prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s or other types of Dementias, or at the very least post-pone the onset. These are very simple things like exercise, and eating well and keeping our minds active and so on.

SFx: Sigur Ros- Untitled 3

Hazel MacRae is a professor at Mount Saint Vincent’s University in Halifax.

She researches the effects of Alzheimer’s in the early stages and sees how these preventative activities can be beneficial.

But that’s not all she sees.

Hazel MacRae: Stigma runs 45 seconds

One of my concerns is that the general public still sees Alzheimer’s in terms of a stereotypical late stage Alzheimer’s. You know, the person who’s totally confused, can’t remember things, doesn’t even remember who’s talking to him or thinks that this is his uncle when in fact it’s his son, sort of thing. But the people I was interviewing, they’re still driving. Some of them were living on their own. Some of them had become very involved…at least three of them had become involved with volunteer work. So they were really still functioning very, quote, normally, in that sense of carrying on with their everyday lives.

For Hazel, education is the most important step for eliminating this stigma.

But she feels the only education right now is aimed at the later stages of dementia.

Hazel: Problem runs : 26 seconds

The problem I have with some of that is that it reinforces I think the notion that people out there are in the advance stage. So it is kind of then, the emphasis is placed on sort of the more dire situations and that makes life I think more difficult for the people who are in the early stage because then people assume they’re more cognitively impaired than they actually are.

Life without education was difficult for Theresa and Robert.

Now that his dementia is in full bloom, Theresa realizes she missed a lot of the early signs.

If she had known what to look for she feels he could have been better diagnosed and placed on medicine to ease his transition.

She has found the education she’s received since then to be helpful in understanding what he’s going through.

But she thinks there are still a lot of people who need to be educated.

Theresa: Friends runs: 28 seconds

They’re scared of it. Bob’s friends don’t even come near him. I don’t know if they think they’re going to catch something or what. But they’re not. They just don’t know how to act. I just tell them, just be yourself. Just talk to him, smile, agree with what he says. But no, they just ignore him instead. That’s sad. You know, to lose…to lose your friends.

Dementia has caused Robert to lose the life he used to know.

There is no cure for this disease. There are only medicines to slow the process.

So until a cure is found, it will continue to changes the lives of people like Robert and Theresa.

For STU journalism,

I’m Diane Cole.

SFx: Coldplay- Fix You

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Posted by Diane Cole on Apr 13, 2010. Filed under Transcripts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.