Video Transcripts
"Questions" :30 TV
Audio:
AVO: Questions. When you're caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's, not a day goes by that you don't have them.
Video:
AS A CAREGIVER TAKES AN EARLY MORNING WALK THROUGH CENTRAL PARK, SHE STOPS AND SITS ON A BENCH. QUESTION MARKS APPEAR AS IF ON A BREEZE.
Audio:
AVO: Questions about treatment options, home nursing, finances. About whether you're doing the right things....
Video:
AS A CAREGIVER RIDES A BUS ON A RAINY DAY, QUESTION MARKS APPEAR ON THE RAINY WINDOW NEAR HER.
Audio:
AVO: ...where to go for extra help, and how to live better with the disease.
Video:
A CAREGIVER IS IN THE BACKYARD. A GENTLE BREEZE CAUSES WHITE PETALS FROM A FLOWERING TREE TO CASCADE DOWN AND FORM QUESTION MARKS.
Audio:
AVO: So many questions, where do you start?
Video:
A CAREGIVER IS SITTING OUTSIDE AT TWILIGHT LOOKING AT A LAPTOP. LIGHTNING BUGS IN THE SKY BECOME QUESTION MARKS.
Audio:
AVO: Alzheimers.gov. The answers start here.
Video:
LOGO AND THEMELINE SUPER OVER END SCENE.
I Am Not Alone - Alan Holbrook
The woman I've been married to for 29 years, the mother of my children, the one intended to travel around the world with after the kids were all set, doesn't even know me when I come into visit her. My 25 year old daughter during this whole thing with me wife, she has been my rock. She has been the one that I lean on. One of the problems with dementia, like Alzheimer's, is that you simple don't have any kind of frame of reference for what's going to happen next. Financing and paying for care for somebody with Alzheimer's disease who's going to be in a skilled nursing center is a huge, huge issue. Suddenly I came to realize that with the cost of her care with the nursing home, with the rest of the doctor's visits and medications, my finances, my resources would last about 2 or 3 years. Calling the hotline made me realize I was not alone. There are people out there who know. There are people who have been there. I'm not the only one who has ever been through this. If I need help there is somebody I can ask. And they're not going to be able to solve all of my problems, but they're going to be able to help me deal with them.
Understanding Is Key For Help - Charles Zimmerman
My wife's Alzheimer's, diagnosed it very early because we had the experience with my mother. And I knew from behavior, not forgetting as much as general behavior that there was something seriously wrong with her. She kind of gave up, she stopped cooking you know. It just progressed over the years. It got worse and worse. The clinical trials were important to Betty. She said "I have to do this "and she told me "I don't think it's going to help me that much, but it may help somebody else." And I want to find a cure for this thing I've already lost my mom to it and now each day I lose my wife. My wife goes away a little bit every day. If you're going to understand what your partner or your mother or your dad going through, you need to understand what the disease is. We all deal with the anger; we deal with the lack of attention, with sometimes hygiene issues, all kinds of issues. You know the problems have a lot of commonality. They are unique to you, but they certainly are not unique to the Alzheimer's world. Today is the best she's ever going to be. She's not going to be better tomorrow. She's not going to be better next year. You know it's just one of those things, you see it and then you deal with it. She loves the Orioles, she doesn't know the score, she doesn't know who they're playing and she often cheers for the other team. You know.
No Where To Turn - Maggie Najera
I'm Maggie Najera and we became involved with Alzheimer's when Mama Lupe, my mother-in-law got diagnosed. When she got sick and we were not dying her hair, she saw herself in the mirror and she said "I don't like that lady with the white hair." Laughs. So we have to dye her hair you know. And towards the end of Mama Lupe's life Manny started kidding around that "Maybe I have Alzheimer's". He realized that his mother had the disease and one of his ancestors also passed away that had the disease. And his grandfather had had it. Then I started noticing the changing personality. That was the thing that gave it away to me. So we went to the doctor and after getting tested and all he was diagnosed. Sometimes lately, ah, he's been hard to get along with. And Manny had a very easy going personality, so this is something different. There's a lot of stigma about Alzheimer's because people don't know the disease. They right away think it's like going crazy and Manny used to say sometimes "Oh the doctor said I'm crazy." And I said no Manny; the doctor did not say you were crazy, he said you had an early stage Alzheimer's. He's still doing fairly well. We haven't had too many major problems. If I would give one piece of advice, it would be to get information concerning Alzheimer's. That's an eye opener because then you have an idea of what to do, where to go, you know, from this point on.
