Episode Transcript
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13:23:48
Hi everybody, it's Susie Singer Carter and I just wanted to take
13:23:49
a minute to tell you about a
13:23:52
wonderful product I just
13:23:52
discovered. It's called
13:23:55
sociopathy. And Sociavi in Latin
13:23:55
means to share and unite. It is
13:24:00
the simplest way for older
13:24:00
adults and people with
13:24:02
disabilities to connect and
13:24:02
engage with their family and
13:24:05
friends. There's no username, no
13:24:05
password, no login and no app to
13:24:09
choose from. It's just a
13:24:09
dedicated device. It's the
13:24:13
sociol the C2M connect to me
13:24:13
device it's always on and ready
13:24:17
to use. And families and
13:24:17
caregivers just install the app
13:24:20
on their smartphone. And then
13:24:20
you can just begin sending
13:24:23
photos, videos, and even have
13:24:23
live live video chats and your
13:24:27
loved ones. They don't have to
13:24:27
do anything. They just love it.
13:24:30
And because all of us must fight
13:24:30
elder abuse and work together to
13:24:33
bring awareness to this issue
13:24:33
says the obvious supporting my
13:24:36
efforts to produce my vital
13:24:36
documentary, No Country for Old
13:24:39
people. When you subscribe to
13:24:39
sociology for your loved ones,
13:24:43
they will donate the payments
13:24:43
received and you can help us
13:24:45
reach our goal while connecting
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with your loved ones in the
13:24:48
simplest way Sociavi -
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13:24:51
simple globally. To learn more,
13:24:51
please visit their website at
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www sociavi.com. And when
13:24:55
choosing the payment select the
13:24:59
annual subscription the proceeds
13:24:59
will go to help the production
13:25:02
of our documentary, No Country
13:25:02
for Old People and I thank you
13:25:06
so much.
13:25:14
When the world has
13:25:14
got shut down, and Alzheimer's
13:25:18
sucks, it's an equal opportunity
13:25:18
disease that chips away at
13:25:22
everything we hold dear. And to
13:25:22
date, there's no cure. So until
13:25:27
there is we continue to fight
13:25:27
with the most powerful tool in
13:25:30
our arsenal. Love. This is Love
13:25:30
Conquers Alz, a real and really
13:25:36
positive podcast that takes a
13:25:36
deep dive into everything.
13:25:39
Alzheimer's, The Good, The Bad
13:25:39
and everything in between. And
13:25:44
now here are your hosts Susie
13:25:44
Singer Carter and me, Don
13:25:49
Priess. Hello, everybody. It's been a
13:25:51
while this is Susie singer
13:25:54
Carter and this is Don priests
13:25:54
and this isLove Conquers Alzs.
13:25:58
Hello, Susan. .
13:26:00
Donald.
13:26:00
Yes, we're here we're doing a
13:26:03
show. It's been what a month. I
13:26:03
don't think this is the long I
13:26:07
don't know, this is the longest
13:26:07
we've taken a break for because
13:26:11
we're so deeply entrenched in
13:26:11
our documentary, documentary, No
13:26:14
Country for Old people. And I
13:26:14
forgot about love conquers all.
13:26:19
I didn't forget about it. We
13:26:19
just had literally no time. But
13:26:22
how you been? I've been you
13:26:22
know, me. Let's talk about me
13:26:27
talking about you. No, no, no,
13:26:27
that's pretty good. No, we have
13:26:32
no what we've done is we
13:26:32
aggregated an amazing group of
13:26:36
advocates and experts and not a
13:26:36
knife drill for like, what
13:26:40
should have been a six hour
13:26:40
seven hour drive to San
13:26:43
Francisco to to film for rock
13:26:43
stars for this documentary.
13:26:48
Ended up taking us about close
13:26:48
to 11 hours because we were nine
13:26:52
hours for God. Like 24 hours. We
13:26:52
were in his his handy dandy
13:26:59
electric card, which are not
13:26:59
meant for long trips, folks.
13:27:03
Well, they can be you know, we
13:27:03
stopped twice. And you just had
13:27:07
a little a little time. We only
13:27:07
stopped twice. And it took some
13:27:11
time. But it was delightful
13:27:11
because we didn't actually take
13:27:14
any money out of our wallets to
13:27:14
pay for gas. So that was the
13:27:18
best part. But no, we had a we
13:27:18
had a great set of interviews.
13:27:24
Despite the
13:27:24
challenge of our hotel room.
13:27:26
Let me just
13:27:26
quickly tell you guys because
13:27:29
this is funny. We made a
13:27:29
reservation for a suite, a
13:27:32
Hilton suite so that we would
13:27:32
save money, Don we it was a two
13:27:37
bedroom suite. And we went two
13:27:37
bedrooms and then we thought
13:27:41
we'll shoot the interviews in
13:27:41
the living room glamorous living
13:27:45
room I've never seen I don't
13:27:45
know how they could get away
13:27:48
with using the word sweet
13:27:48
because we walked in. It was
13:27:51
like we were in it was not sweet
13:27:51
Green Acres. Green Acres if
13:27:55
anybody knows, it was really
13:27:55
bad. It was the parking spot.
13:28:01
And tiny, We have to
13:28:01
bring in video equipment and
13:28:06
lighting and and have a
13:28:06
beautiful background of which
13:28:10
there was no beautiful background.
13:28:12
So I made one.
13:28:13
Yeah, she put her
13:28:13
own coat because the pillows
13:28:16
were so drab and covered this
13:28:16
pillow with her coat and then
13:28:20
with the flowers we'd like with
13:28:20
there's no vases here none at
13:28:23
all. So you know the the art
13:28:23
director Susie ended up using a
13:28:29
Kleenex box cover a big plastic
13:28:29
water bottle and ice bucket. I
13:28:34
suspect it was in the room for
13:28:34
as volunteers in the back and it
13:28:38
looked great. So anyway, you do
13:28:38
what you got to do content
13:28:43
rules. That's the magic of of
13:28:43
movies. Anyway. So what we do
13:28:48
Speaking of
13:28:48
magic, we have a really magical
13:28:50
person today that I just got
13:28:50
really fond of her like from
13:28:55
this interview that we did for
13:28:55
the documentary and I and both
13:28:59
Rick mountcastle said you got to
13:28:59
have her on your podcast. So
13:29:03
here she is, and why don't you introduce her?
13:29:05
I'm going to today
13:29:05
our guest is Gail Weatherill and
13:29:08
Gail is a registered nurse, a
13:29:08
Board Certified Alzheimer's
13:29:12
educator and the author of the
13:29:12
caregivers guide to dementia
13:29:15
practical advice for caring for
13:29:15
yourself and your loved one. Her
13:29:19
career has spanned four decades
13:29:19
from an intensive care head
13:29:23
nurse in Saudi Arabia to the
13:29:23
director of nursing in a
13:29:26
Virginia nursing home Gail has
13:29:26
done it all. For the last 20
13:29:30
years she has focused on the
13:29:30
care of people living with
13:29:32
dementia and the education of
13:29:32
their caregivers. She practices
13:29:36
as her professional alterego the
13:29:36
dementia nurse, her ability to
13:29:41
hear hearts instead of brains
13:29:41
gives her a unique understanding
13:29:44
of those with dementia and the
13:29:44
people who love them. Gail's
13:29:47
irreverent approach to the
13:29:47
American Health Care machine
13:29:50
makes her an effective and
13:29:50
sought out advocate for those in
13:29:54
the deepest need. And she has
13:29:54
participated in the nurses take
13:29:57
DC movement for safe staffing
13:29:57
ratios in our hospitals and long
13:30:01
term care facilities. Through
13:30:01
her writing, speaking and
13:30:04
coaching Gail lives to educate
13:30:04
Dementia Caregivers, one heart
13:30:08
at a time, and we are honored to
13:30:08
have her with us today. So let
13:30:12
us not wait another moment and
13:30:12
say hello to Gail Weatherill.
13:30:16
Hello, Gail. Yeah, hello.
13:30:19
Let the games
13:30:19
begin!
13:30:25
Absolutely,
13:30:25
Absolutely.
13:30:25
Oh my gosh, I love Gail, I love
13:30:30
that you listen to hearts and
13:30:30
not brains. Because that's
13:30:34
that's the key. That's such a
13:30:34
nice way to frame it about word
13:30:39
you know, living and and
13:30:39
caregiving for, and loving
13:30:42
somebody with with Alzheimer's
13:30:42
and dementia. And you know that
13:30:46
that's the biggest, the biggest
13:30:46
obstacle I've found is people
13:30:50
not understanding that there's
13:30:50
other ways to communicate. So
13:30:55
tell us a little bit about how
13:30:55
how did you you start as a
13:30:59
nurse, but how did you shift
13:30:59
your focus onto dementia? What
13:31:03
What attracted you to that?
13:31:05
Well, it was I
13:31:05
kind of fell into it more by
13:31:08
accident than then by design. I
13:31:08
had worked in intensive care for
13:31:17
17 years. And I just wanted to
13:31:17
do something different. And I
13:31:23
started doing home care. And
13:31:23
most of the people I worked with
13:31:27
in home care were people who
13:31:27
were ill elderly. And a large
13:31:33
proportion of people who are
13:31:33
elderly have some degree of
13:31:37
cognitive impairment, whether
13:31:37
it's from Alzheimer's or other
13:31:40
kinds of dementia. And so I just
13:31:40
started working with these
13:31:46
folks. And what I found was, I
13:31:46
had a way of communicating with
13:31:52
them. And it really did go back
13:31:52
down to communicating Heart to
13:31:58
Heart rather than brain to
13:31:58
brain. Because with Alzheimer's
13:32:03
disease and other diseases that
13:32:03
cause dementia, basically,
13:32:08
you're having brain failure. We
13:32:08
talk about heart failure, we
13:32:12
talk about kidney failure. We
13:32:12
talk about failures, but we
13:32:18
don't necessarily hear people
13:32:18
say brain failure. And that
13:32:22
really is what dementia is its
13:32:22
brain failure. So all the
13:32:28
chatter and the language that we
13:32:28
normally use to communicate
13:32:32
with, if you've got brain
13:32:32
failure, it's not going where it
13:32:36
needs to go. And so the
13:32:36
challenge is to find another way
13:32:40
to communicate. And I absolutely
13:32:40
found that the eyes are the
13:32:46
windows to the soul. And so it
13:32:46
really was I'm watching you, and
13:32:50
you're watching me, I and that
13:32:50
is how I got into that sort of
13:32:58
arena. And I found that I love
13:32:58
doing it. I found that I could
13:33:03
help families to look at things
13:33:03
in a different light. People
13:33:08
just need a different
13:33:08
perspective than than what
13:33:11
they've traditionally been told
13:33:11
to do. So that was the way it
13:33:17
took off. And then it just went
13:33:17
from there. And everywhere I
13:33:22
went to work I was always that
13:33:22
was the first thing I want to
13:33:25
know is how many people here
13:33:25
have dementia or Alzheimer's
13:33:28
because those were the folks
13:33:28
that I really enjoyed working
13:33:30
with the most.
13:33:31
So how did
13:33:31
you discover that though?
13:33:33
Because, I mean, I just from my
13:33:33
own story, I just I had my
13:33:37
mother was diagnosed with mild
13:33:37
cognitive impairment and then
13:33:41
you know, turns into
13:33:41
Alzheimer's. And she's the only
13:33:45
person I knew at the time that
13:33:45
had Alzheimer's so I was making
13:33:48
Every mistake in the book, you
13:33:48
know, I was trying to remind her
13:33:51
I was going to fix it, I was
13:33:51
going to keep keep repeating,
13:33:55
because instead it would learn
13:33:55
she'd learned, you know. And
13:33:58
then and then it took me a very
13:33:58
long time to realize I needed to
13:34:02
communicate with her a different
13:34:02
way. But it sounds like you had
13:34:04
it instinctually like you just
13:34:04
were intuitively connected?
13:34:11
You're correct,
13:34:11
you are correct. And I often say
13:34:16
that one of the great side
13:34:16
benefits of having grown up in a
13:34:22
really difficult household,
13:34:22
where you had to take the
13:34:26
temperature of the environment
13:34:26
at all times as a self
13:34:30
preservation feature. So I did I
13:34:30
honed those skills, I can with
13:34:39
the slightest change of a face
13:34:39
muscle, or when someone their
13:34:45
eye shift in a certain way, or
13:34:45
they're tapping their fingers
13:34:49
are 1000, other nonverbal ways
13:34:49
of communicating. That was it, I
13:34:56
spent 18 years practicing with
13:34:56
the best. And so I've had an
13:35:03
opportunity to sort of use those
13:35:03
difficult times, and turn that
13:35:07
into an asset in working with
13:35:07
these people with dementia, and
13:35:11
it has been the pleasure of my
13:35:11
life, it really has
13:35:17
Wow,
13:35:18
Do you think that's
13:35:18
something that can be taught?
13:35:21
Oh, yes. Oh,
13:35:21
yes. And well, I almost want to
13:35:25
say it's something that can be
13:35:25
untaught, what we need to be is
13:35:29
untaught, to use language. I do
13:35:29
a lot of work with nurses in
13:35:37
hospitals and talking to them
13:35:37
about how to manage people with
13:35:40
dementia when they're in the
13:35:40
hospital. And what I say to them
13:35:44
is, if somebody had heart
13:35:44
failure, you wouldn't try to
13:35:48
talk them into having a better
13:35:48
cardiac output. So why do you
13:35:54
think you can tuck someone in
13:35:54
with brain failure into having
13:35:59
better synapse connections? You
13:35:59
can't. And that's sort of the
13:36:05
unknown teaching of our reliance
13:36:05
on language. To communicate what
13:36:10
it is we want somebody to do or
13:36:10
what we don't want them to do.
13:36:15
We just have to take off the old
13:36:15
hat and put on a different set
13:36:20
of glasses to be able to do
13:36:20
that.
13:36:23
It's an odd
13:36:23
stigma that occurs with humans,
13:36:26
because we adapt to our pets,
13:36:26
right? We look for physical cues
13:36:32
and different kinds of cues that
13:36:32
aren't verbal, right? And we do
13:36:35
it with our children. And you
13:36:35
know, before they can speak, and
13:36:39
we we we allow them to we look
13:36:39
we investigate what does that
13:36:45
mean? What does that cry mean?
13:36:45
What is that? Is that a happy is
13:36:48
That is sad? Are they in pain?
13:36:48
Is that this? And and yet we for
13:36:52
some reason, we are so
13:36:52
disrespectful, or, you
13:37:00
know,dismissive
13:37:01
And uneducated.
13:37:04
Uneducated,
13:37:04
for sure. But but but that comes
13:37:07
with, you know, there's a desire
13:37:07
to want to learn, like I wanted
13:37:11
to learn, and because I wanted
13:37:11
to stay in contact, and and
13:37:16
before you answer, I just want
13:37:16
to say I love I love that. I
13:37:21
love that realization that you
13:37:21
had about your childhood,
13:37:24
because I had a very difficult,
13:37:24
a happy and a difficult
13:37:29
childhood, because I lived with
13:37:29
a very dominating father, who
13:37:34
was very brilliant, but also was
13:37:34
very demanding. And I learned to
13:37:37
read cues like no other. And I
13:37:37
think that's probably why I'm so
13:37:42
intuitive with people. And and I
13:37:42
was able to, to read my mom's so
13:37:47
well, that I think you're right.
13:37:47
That's an interesting
13:37:51
observation.
13:37:53
It's true. And
13:37:53
I think, part of what makes it
13:37:56
so hard for us to whether you
13:37:56
want to call it you know, it's
13:38:03
not so much to disrespect as it
13:38:03
is a an being entrenched in the
13:38:10
way that we've communicated with
13:38:10
that person for decades. You
13:38:15
know, when it's a toddler,
13:38:15
you're used to him not using
13:38:19
language because that's the way
13:38:19
they started out. And so this is
13:38:22
nothing true when they're two
13:38:22
years old, and they're throwing
13:38:25
a hissy fit. You know, when
13:38:25
you're 80 years old, and your
13:38:29
father has, you know, you've
13:38:29
spent all those decades
13:38:33
communicating with them in a
13:38:33
certain way. It's, it's a matter
13:38:37
of again, unlearning what we've
13:38:37
learned over the years and
13:38:42
knowing that we just have to
13:38:42
come at it from a different
13:38:44
angle. And the absolutely the
13:38:44
analogy of have young children
13:38:49
who don't have language. It's
13:38:49
not that we want to say that
13:38:55
these people are children,
13:38:55
because they're not their minds,
13:38:59
right? Function, their hearts
13:38:59
function as an adult who's had
13:39:03
all these life experiences. So
13:39:03
no, they're not children, but in
13:39:07
the way that they don't rely on
13:39:07
language or can't rely on
13:39:12
language to communicate their
13:39:12
needs is an important analogy. I
13:39:17
always say that all behavior has
13:39:17
meaning. So when grandpa
13:39:22
swinging from the chandeliers,
13:39:22
it's not because he sat in the
13:39:27
corner all day and said, let me
13:39:27
see what I can do to really
13:39:30
irked the heck out of them. It's
13:39:30
because something's wrong. And
13:39:36
he doesn't have the ability to
13:39:36
communicate what it is. And it
13:39:40
goes back just like with a
13:39:40
toddler, are they wet? Are they
13:39:43
hungry? Are they in pain, and
13:39:43
you just tick off the different
13:39:47
things. But you have to
13:39:47
understand that talking to them
13:39:52
and telling them they're okay.
13:39:52
Or asking them to tell you is
13:39:58
not going to get anywhere. And
13:39:58
it's just going to increase your
13:40:01
frustration, which in turn
13:40:01
increases their frustration
13:40:04
because they very much mirror
13:40:04
the emotional state of the
13:40:08
people they're engaged with.
13:40:10
I agree
13:40:10
with you. Yes. Do you think so?
13:40:13
And I thank you for correcting
13:40:13
me, because I don't I, you're
13:40:17
right, it's the fact that there
13:40:17
is a good very good point, the
13:40:19
fact that, that we have to look
13:40:19
at the people that we've
13:40:23
communicated with, in a certain
13:40:23
way for so many years, and now,
13:40:26
and now adjust how we
13:40:26
communicate with them. What I
13:40:30
think would be interesting, I
13:40:30
just want to throw this out to
13:40:32
you is that if if these if these
13:40:32
life changes were more
13:40:37
incorporated into our culture,
13:40:37
and in terms of acceptance, and
13:40:41
understanding and education in
13:40:41
terms of how the lifecycle goes,
13:40:46
then we wouldn't be so shocked
13:40:46
by it. And we wouldn't be so
13:40:49
thrown off balance. And and
13:40:49
maybe the loss wouldn't be as
13:40:53
great, you know, because it
13:40:53
takes an adjustment. It took me
13:40:56
an adjustment to go, Oh, I'm
13:40:56
losing my mommy. Okay, now, I'm
13:41:00
Mommy. And so, and I embraced
13:41:00
it. And it made me feel good.
13:41:03
But you know, that's not to say
13:41:03
that, that, from that, from that
13:41:07
point to the to the other point
13:41:07
wasn't a difficult journey. It
13:41:11
was because we don't learn about
13:41:11
it.
13:41:14
No, we don't
13:41:14
worry about it. And, you know,
13:41:17
there are different reasons for
13:41:17
that. Part of it is in the grand
13:41:23
scheme of things, Alzheimer's
13:41:23
and other diseases that cause
13:41:27
dementia, are relatively new on
13:41:27
the world stage. Yes, it's been
13:41:34
decades and decades and decades,
13:41:34
Alzheimer's was named after a
13:41:38
woman in the 1800s, early 1900s.
13:41:38
And but back when I started in
13:41:46
my career, 40 years ago, you
13:41:46
never heard of Alzheimer's, you
13:41:49
heard of people with what brain
13:41:49
from drinking too much, which is
13:41:54
one, eight. And now we call it
13:41:54
wernicki Korsakoff syndrome,
13:41:58
because that's what it is, is a
13:41:58
syndrome. But you didn't hear
13:42:02
about it. So we didn't grow up
13:42:02
watching our mothers take care
13:42:06
of our grandmothers, with this
13:42:06
particular problem. We don't
13:42:10
have role models to follow is
13:42:10
very much and that is one reason
13:42:15
why I got into this whole focus
13:42:15
on education and coaching in
13:42:21
counseling, with caregivers.
13:42:21
Because, you know, who tells you
13:42:27
this stuff? How are you supposed
13:42:27
to know you were born knowing
13:42:30
then you're, you know, you can
13:42:30
read a lot of books, but that
13:42:33
doesn't mean you're going to
13:42:33
know, you know what to do in the
13:42:36
moment when emotions are high
13:42:36
and things are going wrong. And
13:42:41
you're just have been sleep
13:42:41
deprived for the last three
13:42:45
weeks, and it's just a lot to
13:42:45
take in. But once we understand
13:42:51
that we're unlearning the way we
13:42:51
used to communicate, and we're
13:42:55
coming into new ways of
13:42:55
communicating, then it becomes a
13:42:59
bit of an adventure. But you're
13:42:59
right, that we're not supported.
13:43:03
And we certainly aren't
13:43:03
supported in the health care
13:43:05
system. That's for doggone Sure.
13:43:05
And very much of that boils down
13:43:11
to two factors. It's ageism, and
13:43:11
it's ableism. And the stigma and
13:43:18
the penalty for falling into the
13:43:18
wrong category on those two
13:43:24
spectrums is tremendous,
13:43:24
tremendous. They're all you
13:43:31
know, we're gonna put our money
13:43:31
over here and it's something
13:43:34
else. It's a real challenge.
13:43:34
It's a real challenge.
13:43:40
It is it.
13:43:40
You are been an advocate that
13:43:45
you've been advocating for for
13:43:45
this kind of change, for a
13:43:49
shift in consciousness, you
13:43:49
know, in terms of our providers.
13:43:55
I mean, how talk, can you talk a
13:43:55
little bit about your advocacy
13:44:00
and, and your frustration or
13:44:00
your or your, you know,
13:44:06
successes I mean talk about
13:44:06
that, because I'm, I'm in the
13:44:09
trenches of it. And I find it
13:44:09
daunting, the process,
13:44:14
Right, Well, I'll give you a quickie success story, I did have a gentleman
13:44:16
who had some dementia, but it
13:44:20
was relatively mild. And what
13:44:20
was happening was, he had met
13:44:26
this young lady who immediately
13:44:26
fell madly in love, it didn't
13:44:32
have anything to do that he was
13:44:32
the former CEO of a major
13:44:36
international company. And
13:44:36
loaded to the max, it was
13:44:41
because she really loved him.
13:44:41
And so he was going to the bank
13:44:47
every other day, and pulling out
13:44:47
literally 10s of 1000s of
13:44:51
dollars in cash and giving it to
13:44:51
this girl, well, oh, my
13:44:56
goodness, everybody knew what
13:44:56
was going on. But because his
13:45:00
doctor would not certify him as
13:45:00
being incompetent, no one could
13:45:06
do anything about it. And when
13:45:06
all was said and done, and he
13:45:10
finally came to his senses, and
13:45:10
realized what was going on, and
13:45:15
his family went to try and take
13:45:15
some action against this
13:45:19
individual, what we found is
13:45:19
there was nothing criminal, in
13:45:25
terms of criminal law on the
13:45:25
books, to prosecute someone from
13:45:31
doing this to a person who was
13:45:31
so vulnerable, and so broken.
13:45:38
And so we started going to the
13:45:38
legislature, and we went back,
13:45:44
it took us three years to get
13:45:44
there. But you know, my motto
13:45:48
was there is that they had the
13:45:48
laws tucked away under civil
13:45:54
law. And I just kept saying,
13:45:54
There is nothing civil about
13:45:58
what this girl did to this man.
13:45:58
And we need to make this a
13:46:02
criminal offense. And in the
13:46:02
end, we did manage to do that.
13:46:07
Aww, that's fantastic.
13:46:09
It's a small
13:46:09
step, and it's a, it's a drop in
13:46:13
the middle of a pretty big
13:46:13
ocean. But that's how we get
13:46:16
there. Every year, Nurses take
13:46:16
DC as an organization that we
13:46:23
work during the year, but we
13:46:23
definitely every May show up on
13:46:28
the steps of the cat of the
13:46:28
Capitol for a rally for safe
13:46:32
staffing ratios, whether it's in
13:46:32
hospitals or nursing homes.
13:46:38
Right now, the number of
13:46:38
residents or patients that are
13:46:42
assigned to each individual
13:46:42
nurse precludes giving the kind
13:46:47
of care that we nurses know
13:46:47
these patients deserve, and that
13:46:51
we know how to give, but physics
13:46:51
enters into it. And we have to
13:46:55
work within time constraints. So
13:46:55
we've made a little progress on
13:47:01
the staffing ratios, and of
13:47:01
course, the industries, wringing
13:47:05
their hands, but even the ratios
13:47:05
that we've managed to pass so
13:47:10
far have been pretty low. So
13:47:10
which is really, when I go back
13:47:15
and look at it, I don't expect
13:47:15
in my lifetime to shift the
13:47:20
healthcare system. I'm not that
13:47:20
crazy, I'm Yeah, are idealistic,
13:47:26
or all of the above. So what
13:47:26
I've made, my focus is educating
13:47:32
consumers and educating
13:47:32
caregivers and saying these are
13:47:35
what your rights are, this is
13:47:35
how you can exercise them within
13:47:40
the constraints of this broken
13:47:40
healthcare system that we have.
13:47:44
Because that was my gonna be the
13:47:44
quickest, fastest way I can get
13:47:48
to people to make life better, a
13:47:48
little easier to give a better
13:47:55
quality of life to at least a
13:47:55
few people. And as my work has
13:48:00
grown over the years, it's more
13:48:00
and more people. Which has been
13:48:06
really gratifying and kind of
13:48:06
shocking.
13:48:11
What you say is so important, because as we're doing this documentary, you
13:48:13
know, people don't want such a
13:48:15
huge problem. You're never going
13:48:15
to make a difference. It's too
13:48:19
big. It's too big. It's too big.
13:48:19
But that said, it's just
13:48:23
something like you just said if
13:48:23
you change or save the life of
13:48:27
five people have two people have
13:48:27
one person. You've changed that
13:48:32
person's lives, their family's
13:48:32
lives, their friends lives. And
13:48:35
so yes, we have to just kind of
13:48:35
say yes, it's a huge problem.
13:48:39
But there's no reason we
13:48:39
shouldn't chip away at it.
13:48:41
Exactly. I
13:48:41
mean, several years ago, two
13:48:45
other ladies and I started a
13:48:45
closed group on Facebook for
13:48:50
family caregivers of people with
13:48:50
Alzheimer's and other kinds of
13:48:54
dementia. And, you know, we
13:48:54
started out, we wanted to have a
13:48:59
place where caregivers could go
13:48:59
and say the things that they
13:49:02
can't say anywhere else, I'm
13:49:02
gonna kill him. If he does this
13:49:05
one more time and that sort of
13:49:05
thing. People need that outlet.
13:49:09
And they need to know they're
13:49:09
not a horrible person when they
13:49:11
feel that way. They're human
13:49:11
beings. But we started that, and
13:49:16
2016 was the beginning of that.
13:49:16
And in 2023, we have 58,000
13:49:23
members from over 100 different
13:49:23
countries. And not a day goes by
13:49:29
that I don't get a message from
13:49:29
somebody that says this group
13:49:33
saved my life. Because everybody
13:49:33
in there knows what everybody
13:49:38
else is dealing with. There's
13:49:38
understanding there, and even if
13:49:41
I'm having a horrible day, I've
13:49:41
still got a word of
13:49:45
encouragement for somebody else
13:49:45
whose day is going even worse
13:49:48
than mine is. So it's, you know,
13:49:48
Power to the People sort of
13:49:53
thing. It's, it's from the
13:49:53
bottom up, that we're trying to
13:49:56
change minds and change hearts.
13:49:58
I agree.
13:49:58
100%, it is power of the people.
13:50:01
That's that's what we are hoping
13:50:01
to do. You know, it really is.
13:50:05
And I think it's just a shift of
13:50:05
perspective, like you said, and
13:50:09
I and and we're, you know, I
13:50:09
giving I give, I give people the
13:50:13
benefit of the doubt that they
13:50:13
don't know, like, I didn't know,
13:50:17
this system, I didn't know how
13:50:17
bad the system was. And I didn't
13:50:20
realize the ableism and the
13:50:20
ageism, that was so prevalent,
13:50:24
it's so prevalent, it's, it's,
13:50:24
it's really a fatal combination,
13:50:29
in a lot of ways, you know, and
13:50:29
especially if you don't have
13:50:32
your loved one in the home.
13:50:35
Yes. And, you
13:50:35
know, I have a special heart for
13:50:40
people who have had to go into
13:50:40
memory care, which is basically
13:50:46
a subdivision. In most states,
13:50:46
it's a subdivision of assisted
13:50:49
living, long term care
13:50:49
facilities there, there's a
13:50:54
nursing home, then there's
13:50:54
assisted living in memory care.
13:50:59
And then there's home health. So
13:50:59
there's a continuum of how much
13:51:03
care comes from professionals.
13:51:03
And the higher up on that list
13:51:09
you go, the farther away you are
13:51:09
from home, the farther you are
13:51:13
away, you are from family, and
13:51:13
the more vulnerable you are to
13:51:18
broken systems. And I mean,
13:51:18
we've all heard the horror
13:51:23
stories, you know, you never
13:51:23
have to look very far about the
13:51:29
instances of abuse in nursing
13:51:29
homes. And people use nursing
13:51:35
home as kind of an umbrella term
13:51:35
for long term care. But even
13:51:40
with these folks in dementia
13:51:40
care, all the all the company
13:51:44
has to say is all they have
13:51:44
dementia, they're just making
13:51:47
that up, that never happened.
13:51:47
But there are ways to look at
13:51:52
our loved ones and to keep track
13:51:52
of you know, are they losing
13:51:55
weight at a rapid rate are they
13:51:55
How's their skin looking?
13:51:59
Different things that we can
13:51:59
learn and know so that even if
13:52:03
we haven't been able to continue
13:52:03
care in the home, that we're
13:52:07
still involved, I always tell
13:52:07
caregivers, you know, you get
13:52:10
this idea that once your loved
13:52:10
one goes into the nursing home,
13:52:14
that okay, my caregiving days
13:52:14
are over? Well, that's, that's
13:52:18
definitely a false idea. Because
13:52:18
you'll still be just as much of
13:52:24
a caregiver, it's just going to
13:52:24
look different than it did when
13:52:27
you had that individual at home.
13:52:27
And you'll have break periods
13:52:31
where you can actually sleep at
13:52:31
night or not have to be worried
13:52:36
that your loved one's going to
13:52:36
have some sort of break down and
13:52:40
have hallucinations and start
13:52:40
wanting to break your arm.
13:52:45
Because those things do happen.
13:52:45
In homes.
13:52:48
Yeah. Yes,
13:52:48
yeah. But so, you know, when
13:52:54
we're talking to a lot of people
13:52:54
about long term, and there are
13:53:00
different it can, you know, and
13:53:00
Alzheimer's can be a very long
13:53:03
disease, and it can be it can,
13:53:03
it can eventually emerge, you
13:53:08
know, managed to bankrupt most
13:53:08
people if they live long enough
13:53:13
through it, because it's just a
13:53:13
long disease. And if you have to
13:53:16
go into a memory care, because
13:53:16
you've advanced, it's very
13:53:20
expensive. And, and the debt so
13:53:20
your money doesn't last very
13:53:25
long. So you know, unless you're
13:53:25
in the 1%. You you're going to
13:53:30
end up on Medicaid and Medicare,
13:53:30
you know, and you're going to be
13:53:35
reliant on that. I, I found it
13:53:35
and I still find it and
13:53:40
everybody I talked to seems to
13:53:40
have a different definition of
13:53:43
what what is Medicaid and
13:53:43
Medicare and what is hospice and
13:53:47
I palliative and the differences
13:53:47
in what your loved one is, you
13:53:54
know, has what what are they
13:53:54
offered in these programs,
13:53:59
what's different and because it
13:53:59
seems like, you know, one person
13:54:03
says, well palliative gives you
13:54:03
this your mom should be in
13:54:06
palliative know your mom should
13:54:06
be in hospice, this is where you
13:54:10
know, you get taken care of and
13:54:10
you get extra care, I found it
13:54:13
the opposite, right? So what's
13:54:13
your take on those, those
13:54:18
different kinds of programs?,
13:54:19
One of the
13:54:19
problems that we have is if
13:54:24
we've gone through an
13:54:24
experience, we think we know,
13:54:27
you know, if my mom was in
13:54:27
hospice, then I think I know how
13:54:31
hospice works. So I'll tell
13:54:31
somebody, but the truth is not
13:54:36
every hospice operates exactly
13:54:36
the same way. Medicaid in
13:54:42
particular, is pretty much
13:54:42
governed. At the state level,
13:54:47
they get funding from the
13:54:47
federal level, but in terms of
13:54:50
regulations, and how the
13:54:50
industry is run, and who
13:54:55
qualifies for Medicaid, and how
13:54:55
you qualify what loot, you know,
13:55:00
hoops you have to jump through,
13:55:00
it varies from state to state.
13:55:04
So I'm always wanting caregivers
13:55:04
in my group, you know, when
13:55:08
somebody else in this group
13:55:08
tells you, Oh, this is the
13:55:11
truth, I'm like, Well, that was
13:55:11
the truth for them in their
13:55:15
state in that year. You know,
13:55:15
that doesn't mean it is for you.
13:55:20
It really, and that's this whole
13:55:20
problem of communication. It's
13:55:25
like, with health care, and I
13:55:25
consider all of this part of
13:55:31
health care, because it is it's
13:55:31
caring for your physical, mental
13:55:36
well being. It's like for
13:55:36
families, we just pick you up,
13:55:41
carry you to the most remote
13:55:41
region in China, where you've
13:55:48
never been to China in your
13:55:48
life, and you don't speak a word
13:55:51
of Chinese and we just drop you
13:55:51
in there and expect you to find
13:55:54
your way. It is a foreign
13:55:54
language. And it does mean a lot
13:55:58
of different things. And that's
13:55:58
one reason that I do so much. I
13:56:06
do a lot of teaching, I also do
13:56:06
a lot of coaching and counseling
13:56:11
one on one. Because if I don't
13:56:11
know exactly how Medicaid works
13:56:19
in your state, I know how to
13:56:19
find out how it works. And
13:56:22
that's what we need. I mean, my
13:56:22
vision is someday it won't be
13:56:26
the dimension nurse, it will be
13:56:26
the dimension nurses, because
13:56:30
nurses are the ones who
13:56:30
understand what the impact is on
13:56:33
a family of these diseases that
13:56:33
can go on for long and long, you
13:56:37
have no idea how long the
13:56:37
money's gonna need to last, you
13:56:41
have no idea how long you're
13:56:41
gonna be able to keep them at
13:56:45
home, talk about anxiety
13:56:45
producing, it's just in all the
13:56:51
years that I've been a nurse,
13:56:51
there is nothing, absolutely
13:56:56
nothing that compares to having
13:56:56
a loved one with Alzheimer's
13:57:01
disease or some other form of
13:57:01
dementia from another illness.
13:57:06
God bless my mother died from
13:57:06
lung cancer, she had a terrible
13:57:11
time, it was a walk in the park
13:57:11
compared to what people with
13:57:16
dementia and their families have
13:57:16
to walk through. Because with
13:57:20
dementia, there is no hope for
13:57:20
cure, you know, they're not
13:57:24
going to get better, they're
13:57:24
only going to keep getting
13:57:26
worse. There are a lot of things
13:57:26
that that are just different.
13:57:31
And that's another piece of of
13:57:31
educating the public that you
13:57:36
know, people are going through
13:57:36
this the people down the block
13:57:39
from you behind closed doors,
13:57:39
you have no idea what these
13:57:43
people are dealing with. So yes,
13:57:43
the language is a big barrier.
13:57:51
But yeah, I will tell you, yeah,
13:57:51
I'm sorry, I will tell you, if
13:57:56
you get a copy of the caregivers
13:57:56
guide to dementia, by yours
13:58:00
truly, I do have an outline in
13:58:00
there the differences between
13:58:05
these different levels of care
13:58:05
and different organizations and
13:58:09
how you can compare and have an
13:58:09
idea for what sorts of things
13:58:14
your loved ones should be
13:58:14
entitled to.
13:58:16
Yeah, that
13:58:16
is a wonderful resource because
13:58:18
I couldn't I could not figure
13:58:18
out what my mom was entitled to.
13:58:22
And it seemed to me that I was I
13:58:22
don't know. No, I still because,
13:58:28
you know, I when I was told my
13:58:28
mom should go into hospice that
13:58:32
came after a horrible experience
13:58:32
where I was like, Oh, good,
13:58:35
safe, she's gonna be safe, and
13:58:35
she's going to get the care she
13:58:38
actually needs now. And instead
13:58:38
they just took away all her
13:58:41
care. And, you know, they were
13:58:41
just basically like, you know,
13:58:45
pushing her out the door and I
13:58:45
was like, Wait, that's not what
13:58:47
you said. And then something the
13:58:47
other doc, the next time she
13:58:50
bounced into hospitals like,
13:58:50
well, she shouldn't be in
13:58:52
hospice, she should be in
13:58:52
palliative. Oh, well, what's
13:58:55
palliative? How's that
13:58:55
different than hospice? You
13:58:58
know, and we just don't know.
13:58:58
And we're and we still were
13:59:01
emotional?
13:59:02
Because everyone has
13:59:02
a different definition. As you
13:59:05
said, there is literally a
13:59:05
completely different definition.
13:59:08
And so you I mean, even if you
13:59:08
know, in theory, no, you still
13:59:13
don't know.
13:59:14
Yeah, yeah, you
13:59:14
don't. And actually, I'll give
13:59:18
Medicare its do they run a
13:59:18
database called care compare,
13:59:24
where you can type in your zip
13:59:24
code and look at what kind of
13:59:28
care you're looking for? Are you
13:59:28
looking for hospice care nursing
13:59:31
home? Are you looking for home
13:59:31
health care, and they keep a
13:59:36
database with information about
13:59:36
the organizations that provide
13:59:41
those services within your
13:59:41
physical area. And there's a lot
13:59:47
of good information in there.
13:59:47
Because a hospice is not a
13:59:51
hospice is not a hospice. They
13:59:51
are not all the same. And yes,
13:59:57
there are organizations that are
13:59:57
like, Okay, well, we'll just cut
14:00:00
off everything, because
14:00:00
everything we do give them is
14:00:03
gonna cost us money. And you
14:00:03
know, we're supposed to be a
14:00:06
profit that will, enterprise
14:00:06
here, but then you go down the
14:00:10
street, and there's a hospice
14:00:10
that will turn themselves inside
14:00:14
out upside down, and blue and
14:00:14
purple, to do anything to help
14:00:18
you and your family get through
14:00:18
such a difficult situation. So
14:00:23
it's, you know, when you say
14:00:23
people still don't know, it's
14:00:26
true, because this group on Main
14:00:26
Street does it this way, and the
14:00:31
group over on Elm Street does it
14:00:31
a totally different way. So even
14:00:35
then, you know, you still have
14:00:35
to do your research and your
14:00:39
homework and who the heck
14:00:39
teaches you how to do that?
14:00:41
Nobody,
14:00:41
nobody. It's really, really you
14:00:46
feel like you're just out on an
14:00:46
island, you know, and and
14:00:50
because nobody really speaks
14:00:50
that language, like you said,
14:00:53
Nobody does. And and all the
14:00:53
people that say they know, are
14:00:57
giving, you're getting bombarded
14:00:57
with all different kinds of
14:01:00
answers, and you don't know
14:01:00
which one is right. And that's
14:01:02
why I say it's like playing
14:01:02
whack a mole, because I don't
14:01:04
know. We go oh, that sounds
14:01:04
good. I'll do that. Well, that's
14:01:08
not what you said it was going
14:01:08
to be I thought you said this.
14:01:10
Oh, no, we didn't say that. And
14:01:10
then you go, Oh, my gosh, you
14:01:14
know, and now you just you just
14:01:14
want to, you want to now you're
14:01:17
you it becomes like Stockholm
14:01:17
Syndrome, because you go well,
14:01:20
it's not as bad as yesterday, so
14:01:20
I guess it's okay. You know?
14:01:24
I see that all
14:01:24
the time.
14:01:26
Yeah. Yeah, when it
14:01:26
doesn't go bad. You think it's
14:01:30
good? Yeah. Something bad didn't
14:01:30
happen. Do you think that's
14:01:34
good, you know, as opposed to
14:01:34
just real care. And really, you
14:01:38
And I've
14:01:38
seen friends like, I've seen my
14:01:38
know, getting the type of care
14:01:38
that the person needs. It's, it's,
14:01:46
my son say one thing, but then
14:01:46
you I'm gonna give you the four
14:01:49
but I've seen my colleagues like
14:01:49
my girlfriend's that I grew up
14:01:52
with whose parents are getting,
14:01:52
you know, in that age range.
14:01:55
And, and one of them right
14:01:55
before my mom passed, the week
14:01:59
before my mom passed, they were
14:01:59
in the same facility, and it was
14:02:02
just decided that she needed to
14:02:02
go into hospice, they didn't
14:02:04
know why her mother was was not
14:02:04
didn't have dementia and was
14:02:08
saying, I'm, am I dying? I'm not
14:02:08
ready to die. And, and but the
14:02:13
doctors were saying she's ready
14:02:13
to move into hospice, and she
14:02:17
died within two days. But you
14:02:17
know, and everybody in that in
14:02:21
the family and I this is no, I'm
14:02:21
not throwing shade on the as a
14:02:24
family. I'm saying I'm pointing
14:02:24
out that it was it was just
14:02:28
accepted, as opposed to
14:02:28
questioning. Yeah. And it kind
14:02:33
of broke my heart.
14:02:34
Well,
14:02:34
physicians are socialized in
14:02:37
this country and to be gods. And
14:02:37
the general public is
14:02:45
socialized. To consider them
14:02:45
Gods. You don't question the
14:02:50
doctor, my God. He's sitting
14:02:50
here, gracing you with his time
14:02:55
and his infinite wisdom. And
14:02:55
you're going to open your mouth
14:03:00
and question something. He says,
14:03:00
oh, no, no, no, that is not how
14:03:04
proper people behave. We've made
14:03:04
some progress in that arena. But
14:03:12
it's, I mean, it's moving the
14:03:12
needle a hair's breadth, and
14:03:15
that's about it. We are, we're
14:03:15
conditioned to not question
14:03:20
we're conditioned to accept. And
14:03:20
I mean, I recently had a family
14:03:26
say to me, I knew that their
14:03:26
loved one was getting terrible
14:03:29
care. And was basically being
14:03:29
neglected quite a bit. And the
14:03:36
response was, Well, at least
14:03:36
they're not abusing her. And
14:03:43
that just broke my heart because
14:03:43
I was like, okay, that's the
14:03:46
standard we've gotten into, as
14:03:46
long as they're not, you know,
14:03:50
smacking them upside the head,
14:03:50
then whatever else short of
14:03:54
that. And it's the same with
14:03:54
physicians, you know, I, oh,
14:03:58
boy, the horror stories I get
14:03:58
with that is it's the same the
14:04:02
people that you would expect to
14:04:02
be your ally and to be your
14:04:05
educators turned out not to be
14:04:05
that way. And the squeaky wheel
14:04:10
gets the grease, and that's all
14:04:10
there is to it. Which is why I
14:04:13
focus on consumer education,
14:04:13
rather than provider education,
14:04:18
because they're a bit of a lost
14:04:18
cause in my book, at least for
14:04:21
my lifetime, I'm not going to
14:04:21
move that needle before I get a
14:04:25
chance to check out a here so
14:04:25
I'm focused on consumers
14:04:28
learning.
14:04:29
Do you think that
14:04:29
the person that is the squeaky
14:04:31
wheel do I mean, there's that
14:04:31
always that thought in the back
14:04:34
your head? Oh, but if I if I
14:04:34
complain, they might make her
14:04:38
make it worse?
14:04:39
Retaliation.
14:04:40
I mean, yeah, so
14:04:40
Exactly. Their real concern for
14:04:42
that?
14:04:43
Oh, yeah,
14:04:43
absolutely. And it's a real
14:04:45
phenomena. And it really is, I
14:04:45
mean, you go into any facility,
14:04:48
and you ask, Who is that family,
14:04:48
and everybody dreads being
14:04:54
labeled as that family. And, you
14:04:54
know, so the way I look at that
14:05:03
is, you have to pick your
14:05:03
battles, you have to accept that
14:05:08
not everything is going to be
14:05:08
the way that it would be if you
14:05:12
were taking care of him, or if
14:05:12
you had him at home. If you
14:05:15
complain about everything, that
14:05:15
is not the way it should be,
14:05:19
then you completely lose your
14:05:19
voice. You look at the things
14:05:26
that really make a big
14:05:26
difference in your loved ones
14:05:30
quality of life. Are they
14:05:30
getting to activities? No, well,
14:05:34
that's important, because it's
14:05:34
boring as heck to sit around and
14:05:38
watch the paint peel off the
14:05:38
walls, and nothing to do. So
14:05:43
that's an important thing to go
14:05:43
to bat for, is it? You know,
14:05:48
they brought her orange juice
14:05:48
when they know full? Well, she
14:05:51
really wants apple juice in the
14:05:51
morning. Well, I wouldn't break
14:05:55
my neck, trying to advocate for
14:05:55
that, you know, those things are
14:05:59
gonna happen. And we have to
14:05:59
learn to differentiate what are
14:06:04
the things that are really going
14:06:04
to make a difference in our
14:06:06
loved ones life? And if it's
14:06:06
something that's going to make a
14:06:11
difference, then I say squeak
14:06:11
away.
14:06:14
Especially if it's
14:06:14
safety. I mean, anything to do
14:06:17
with safety.
14:06:17
Oh, safety is big..
14:06:19
Yeah, yeah.
14:06:19
Yeah. And I, I felt it my family
14:06:24
felt it my Don being my family
14:06:24
felt it, you know, and I, I, I
14:06:29
say it in my documentary that
14:06:29
it, you know, it doesn't feel
14:06:33
good when you're trying to
14:06:33
advocate, you know, respectfully
14:06:37
advocate, and you're suddenly
14:06:37
become persona non grata. You
14:06:41
are the, you're the pariah every
14:06:41
time you walk in. And if you
14:06:44
say, Hi, good morning, and I've
14:06:44
always been the happy girl, and
14:06:48
you get stone faces. And you
14:06:48
think, what did I do wrong?
14:06:54
Yeah, and it hurts. It's
14:06:54
painful, because it is painful.
14:06:58
It is painful. Yeah, you can't
14:06:58
help but go to bed at night and
14:07:01
think, hmm, I'm wonder if
14:07:01
they're ignoring my mother,
14:07:05
because there are p owed about
14:07:05
what I complained about last
14:07:08
week. You know, it's right.
14:07:08
That's not fair. That's where
14:07:14
the system that is a big issue,
14:07:14
because we shouldn't have to
14:07:17
worry about that. We shouldn't
14:07:17
have to worry that if we see
14:07:21
something bad and we say it,
14:07:21
that were that it's going to
14:07:25
make things even worse. That's,
14:07:25
you know, that's just not our
14:07:29
country. That's not what this
14:07:29
country was built on. And it
14:07:32
doesn't feel right. And that's
14:07:32
why the system really, really
14:07:35
needs a makeover big time
14:07:35
because there are good places. I
14:07:40
know there are good places, but
14:07:40
it doesn't take away from the
14:07:42
bad places. You know,
14:07:44
Is there anything
14:07:44
that can be done if you feel
14:07:47
like that's happening if you
14:07:47
feel like okay, I am the enemy
14:07:50
now. Is there something that can
14:07:50
be done to help smooth that out?
14:07:55
Or was it just you know what? It
14:07:55
is what it is?
14:08:00
Hey, this
14:08:00
is Susie singer Carter, and I
14:08:02
just wanted to take a minute to
14:08:02
talk to you about bed sores. I
14:08:05
know but if you're like I was
14:08:05
you probably don't have a clue
14:08:08
what a bed so really is. Most
14:08:08
people don't. I mean, no one
14:08:12
told me and I really just
14:08:12
assumed it was part of the body
14:08:15
that was like the name says sore
14:08:15
from lain in one position too
14:08:19
long and if you change the
14:08:19
position, all better. Wrong.
14:08:23
bedsore is really a euphemism
14:08:23
for more appropriate names such
14:08:27
as pressure wound, and keep it
14:08:27
as ulcer. Unfortunately, I
14:08:30
discovered what a bedsore really
14:08:30
was. When my mom was admitted
14:08:33
into the hospital last year with
14:08:33
a stage four ulcer, that is the
14:08:37
worst level. You don't ever want
14:08:37
that to happen. bed sores can
14:08:41
develop quickly and worsen
14:08:41
rapidly and can lead to serious
14:08:44
health issues, even death if
14:08:44
they're not promptly treated, or
14:08:47
properly only treated and that
14:08:47
includes cleaning and dressing
14:08:50
the wound, but most importantly,
14:08:50
reducing pressure off the sore
14:08:54
by frequently changing the
14:08:54
position of the person off of
14:08:57
their wounds so it can heal and
14:08:57
that can mean propping the
14:08:59
person up 30 degrees to the
14:08:59
side, far enough to be off the
14:09:03
lower back, but not too far as
14:09:03
to be on the side hip where
14:09:07
there isn't much cushion right
14:09:07
between the skin and the bone.
14:09:09
This is why I'm so excited to
14:09:09
tell you about BEDSORE RESCUE,
14:09:13
which was designed by an amazing
14:09:13
woman Gwen Jewell, a nurse who
14:09:16
was tired of fooling around with
14:09:16
simple pillows, and bulky wedges
14:09:20
that just don't work. The
14:09:20
bedsore rescue positioning wedge
14:09:23
cushions are uniquely designed
14:09:23
to provide ergonomically correct
14:09:26
and comfortable support for a
14:09:26
sustained period of time without
14:09:30
touching the sore and the
14:09:30
curvatures and bilateral angles
14:09:33
and make it possible for the
14:09:33
bedside cushion to be used to
14:09:36
support many other body parts as
14:09:36
well. You can flip the heels you
14:09:40
can put it under the head, you
14:09:40
can put it under the arms behind
14:09:43
the knees, both sides. You can
14:09:43
even use it as a breakfast in
14:09:46
bed table, the curvatures of the
14:09:46
bed so rescue fit the curvatures
14:09:50
of your person's body, and it's
14:09:50
made to meet all the patients
14:09:53
safeties, and bed bound
14:09:53
positioning standards for acute
14:09:56
and long term care facilities. I
14:09:56
wish I had it for my mom, I
14:10:00
really do. So chances are if you
14:10:00
have a loved one in long term
14:10:03
care facility, or at your home,
14:10:03
you may become a pressure injury
14:10:08
soldier too. But bed sores
14:10:08
should never never get to stage
14:10:11
four. And one way to ensure that
14:10:11
they don't is to make sure that
14:10:15
as soon as one begins to
14:10:15
develop, you keep the pressure
14:10:18
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14:10:18
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14:10:21
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14:10:41
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14:10:44
People, which chronicles my
14:10:44
mother's journey navigating the
14:10:47
nursing home long term care
14:10:47
crisis that literally began with
14:10:51
an unreported untreated pressure
14:10:51
wound. So take the pressure off
14:10:54
yourself and your loved one with
14:10:54
the Bedsore Rescue.
14:11:03
Well, those
14:11:03
aren't the only two choices.
14:11:08
One, I always say it's traumatic
14:11:08
for people to move to a
14:11:12
different facility, which yes,
14:11:12
once your bridge is burned to a
14:11:18
certain degree, nothing's going
14:11:18
to fix it short of just moving
14:11:23
on to a different facility and
14:11:23
different group of caregivers.
14:11:27
But there are things that you
14:11:27
can do short of that, because
14:11:30
the move is traumatic to people
14:11:30
with brain failure is not as
14:11:36
traumatic as being left in a
14:11:36
place. That's not safe. But it
14:11:40
is traumatic. So if there are
14:11:40
ways to go to the
14:11:44
administration, and just put it
14:11:44
out there and say, you know,
14:11:49
I've been bringing these things
14:11:49
to you, I've tried really hard
14:11:54
to bring them respectfully. I've
14:11:54
tried to choose my battles and
14:11:59
what things I want to trouble
14:11:59
you with. But now I'm getting
14:12:03
the feeling that I'm just really
14:12:03
worried about my loved one being
14:12:09
snubbed or ignored, or even
14:12:09
mistreated? Because people are
14:12:16
tired of hearing me, hearing me
14:12:16
complain. And I think just being
14:12:22
open and honest about that is a
14:12:22
step. Does that mean I think
14:12:28
they're gonna say, Oh, you're
14:12:28
right. Oh, my gosh, I can't
14:12:31
believe that's happening in our
14:12:31
facility. And we're gonna fix it
14:12:34
right now, they might say that,
14:12:34
they might say that to you. But
14:12:37
we all know what the likelihood
14:12:37
is of that actually happening.
14:12:42
But I don't know, I'm just kind
14:12:42
of thinks, you know, if
14:12:47
something's wrong, bring it into
14:12:47
the light. And if once you
14:12:51
brought it into the light, it's
14:12:51
still wrong, then you can move
14:12:55
on to other other ways of
14:12:55
dealing with it. But I would
14:13:00
start with just acknowledging my
14:13:00
fear to the people that are
14:13:05
taking care of my loved one,
14:13:05
that I'm concerned about this,
14:13:09
I'm concerned that I can't speak up.
14:13:11
Now, of course,
14:13:11
we're moving to another
14:13:13
facility, you don't know what
14:13:13
you're getting into there. Also,
14:13:17
I mean, you could do to be
14:13:17
moving... it could be a lateral
14:13:20
movement.
14:13:21
This is true.
14:13:21
There are ways to do research.
14:13:24
There are ways to do some
14:13:24
research. And but you're right,
14:13:29
but what I see is I see people
14:13:29
staying in terrible situations.
14:13:35
For that very reason. They say,
14:13:35
Well, what if I go through all
14:13:39
this trouble and move them
14:13:39
somewhere and they're just as
14:13:41
bad or worse? Well, yeah, that
14:13:41
could happen or they could get
14:13:47
to a new place. It's Wonderful,
14:13:47
I get that a lot of the time in
14:13:51
my big Facebook group, people
14:13:51
will say, you know, I don't want
14:13:55
to move on because there'll be
14:13:55
just as bad down the street. But
14:13:58
then you get somebody that pipes
14:13:58
up and says, Ah, don't put up
14:14:02
with that. Don't put up with
14:14:02
that. Take your mom out of
14:14:06
there, move her to somewhere
14:14:06
else. That's what I did. And the
14:14:10
second place was terrific. They
14:14:10
cared about my mother and they
14:14:14
cared about me. So, you know,
14:14:14
sometimes you just have to yake
14:14:18
Take your
14:14:18
power back, right?
14:14:20
a leap of faith.
14:14:21
Exactly,
14:14:21
Yeah. And
14:14:21
take your power back. Because we
14:14:24
are, we are the customer. We
14:14:24
feel like we're just so
14:14:28
dependent on the facilities. And
14:14:28
we feel like we need to be so
14:14:32
grateful, which we should be.
14:14:32
But I mean, if they're not
14:14:35
treating your family member,
14:14:35
right, then they don't, then you
14:14:39
need to leave. I agree with you.
14:14:39
Because it because we are the
14:14:44
customer, they and they need us.
14:14:44
So if we're going to look at our
14:14:48
business, then we have to look
14:14:48
at it that way. So be it.
14:14:51
Somebody's
14:14:51
cutting a mighty big check every
14:14:53
month for that facility. You
14:14:53
know, where else would you go
14:14:59
and pay somebody 9000 10,000?
14:14:59
And more a month to mistreat
14:15:06
your loved one? What kind of
14:15:06
sense does that make? You know?
14:15:11
It doesn't.
14:15:12
You wouldn't do it
14:15:12
with your child. If they were in
14:15:13
Or your pet
14:15:13
or your pet... or anything.
14:15:14
a bad no private school, they
14:15:14
wouldn't do it. You wouldn't
14:15:16
Yeah. So tell I'm going to
14:15:16
switch gears for a second and
14:15:17
keep them there. say, talk about your expertise
14:15:20
in communicating with people
14:15:24
with Alzheimer's and give us
14:15:24
Yeah, give us some tips on that.
14:15:28
What. So give us some some
14:15:28
practical ways to connect. You
14:15:32
know, like, I'll give you an
14:15:32
example. One of my one of my
14:15:36
mentors who was Judy Cornish
14:15:36
with the don don method, I love
14:15:40
her, she and I Oh, she said to
14:15:40
me, you know, you have to, you
14:15:44
have to go in and remember that
14:15:44
they that your that your loved
14:15:48
one might not really know who
14:15:48
you are. So help them out. Help
14:15:52
him out. So I did every single
14:15:52
time I go to see my mom, I would
14:15:57
say, you know, go money, mommy,
14:15:57
it's easy. Your favorite
14:16:01
daughter, the one you love the
14:16:01
most, because I'm your only
14:16:05
daughter in a maker. And I'd
14:16:05
make her laugh. And you know,
14:16:09
and I start up always reminding
14:16:09
her who I was. So that's just
14:16:13
like an example that helped me
14:16:13
right. And so why share some of yours?
14:16:17
Well, that's
14:16:17
definitely that's definitely a
14:16:20
good one. Because a lot of what
14:16:20
we see with folks is they're
14:16:24
embarrassed that they don't
14:16:24
know, you know, so when you can
14:16:28
go in and say, Oh, just as you
14:16:28
just explained, this is who I
14:16:32
am. Same thing, if you know
14:16:32
somebody else is coming into
14:16:36
your home to visit, it might be
14:16:36
someone that your loved one is
14:16:40
known for the last 50 years, but
14:16:40
you still introduce them. And
14:16:46
the other thing that you can do
14:16:46
when you're gonna have visitors
14:16:49
come in to see your loved one is
14:16:49
educate that person in advance.
14:16:55
So they don't come in and say,
14:16:55
keep saying Do you remember when
14:16:59
we did x? Because then your
14:16:59
loved one feels bad? Because no,
14:17:04
they don't remember when they
14:17:04
did X and they don't know who
14:17:06
the same here you are anyway.
14:17:06
And why are you asking me all
14:17:09
these dumb questions. We really
14:17:09
have to look at it. And we
14:17:15
always say you have to go into
14:17:15
their world, you have to look at
14:17:18
it through their eyes. Pets are
14:17:18
a great, great tool for
14:17:26
communicating with people with
14:17:26
brain failure. I always said
14:17:31
when I worked in the nursing
14:17:31
home, if we could have pets and
14:17:34
toddlers every day, then we
14:17:34
could take the entire medication
14:17:38
cart and throw it in the bottom
14:17:38
of the ocean. And what's the
14:17:41
reason for that? The reason for
14:17:41
that is that pets and toddlers
14:17:47
don't depend on language to
14:17:47
communicate. And because they
14:17:51
don't use language, the person
14:17:51
who has brain failure doesn't
14:17:57
have to try to decipher what
14:17:57
this child is communicating.
14:18:02
They look at their face. They
14:18:02
look at the big smile and the
14:18:05
big blue eyes and whatever. They
14:18:05
look at the giggle they see the
14:18:10
dog's tail going 1000 miles an
14:18:10
hour wagon. Yeah, that's this
14:18:14
animals glad to see me. So one
14:18:14
of the big things for folks that
14:18:19
I always say is you need to talk
14:18:19
about attempts. You need to if
14:18:25
you use 100 words to explain
14:18:25
some thing to someone, you need
14:18:29
to cut that down to 10 words or
14:18:29
less. We it's it's a natural
14:18:37
instinct, I think. And maybe I'm
14:18:37
just sympathetic because I'm
14:18:41
full of words and other things.
14:18:41
But when people are trying to
14:18:47
compute what it is you're saying
14:18:47
the fewer words you use. And
14:18:52
then if you combine language
14:18:52
with gestures or showing, we're
14:18:59
going to pull your sweater over
14:18:59
your head. And doing that before
14:19:07
you pull this water over your
14:19:07
head. To combine that, it really
14:19:12
is, if you we go back to the
14:19:12
toddler analogy, you don't just
14:19:17
sit there with your hands folded
14:19:17
and tell this child things and
14:19:23
expect them to understand what
14:19:23
it is that you said and to do
14:19:26
what it is you want them to do.
14:19:26
So we shouldn't expect that with
14:19:30
their loved ones to
14:19:31
Yeah, we can almost
14:19:31
equate that to, let's picture
14:19:34
for, you know, somebody comes in
14:19:34
and starts speaking a foreign
14:19:37
language to you that you do not
14:19:37
know a single word, what you
14:19:41
would just sit there and be
14:19:41
frustrated. And, and, and you as
14:19:46
opposed to them just literally,
14:19:46
you could probably go in and not
14:19:49
say a single word, and just
14:19:49
communicate with, with music and
14:19:53
gestures and facial expressions.
14:19:53
And suddenly they're not
14:19:57
frustrated anymore. They're not
14:19:57
scared. I think it's probably
14:20:01
scary to to not terrified for
14:20:01
them not to be and especially
14:20:05
when they get to the point where
14:20:05
they cannot speak. They can't
14:20:08
say anything. So now they don't
14:20:08
have to there's not that
14:20:11
pressure anymore. So I think if
14:20:11
we can equate that to that,
14:20:14
yeah. And somebody came in and
14:20:14
started speaking French or
14:20:17
Chinese and I don't know, French
14:20:17
or Chinese. I don't want to
14:20:20
react. Yeah.
14:20:21
Well, one of
14:20:21
the big things that people who
14:20:24
are still taking care of a loved
14:20:24
one at home really struggle with
14:20:28
is getting a loved one to take a
14:20:28
bath, take a shower. And, you
14:20:33
know, there are a lot of
14:20:33
different reasons that people
14:20:37
with brain failure resist, you
14:20:37
know, it may be that the drops
14:20:43
of water, stay them when they
14:20:43
hit them, things you wouldn't
14:20:46
think about, we get in the
14:20:46
shower. And then we're thinking
14:20:50
about, you know, what we
14:20:50
shouldn't have done yesterday
14:20:52
and the 29 things we've got to
14:20:52
make sure we get done today,
14:20:55
we're not thinking about this as
14:20:55
hitting me, these drops are
14:20:59
hurting, or they don't see the
14:20:59
water and they think it's just
14:21:04
confusing to them, they get cold
14:21:04
at the drop of a hat. They don't
14:21:10
understand that maybe they've
14:21:10
had some bad experience in the
14:21:15
past with in a swimming,
14:21:15
accident or something. Or for
14:21:21
whatever reason, when they get
14:21:21
in that shower, they think
14:21:23
they're drowning. And so we have
14:21:23
to be able to consider those
14:21:28
things and find workarounds. I
14:21:28
mean, I'm a big believer in
14:21:33
getting all the big towels you
14:21:33
can find and putting them in the
14:21:36
dryer and turning it on on high
14:21:36
heat before you get started with
14:21:40
the shower. So that when you're
14:21:40
done, you've got these warm,
14:21:44
warm, warm towels to wrap them
14:21:44
up.
14:21:48
Ooooohhh! That sounds good. That sounds good .
14:21:50
Yeah! You know,
14:21:50
there's a lot of things like
14:21:56
using lavender, I get a lot of
14:21:56
reports from that, you know,
14:22:00
have a diffuser going in the
14:22:00
bathroom with lavender, or in
14:22:04
the home or anywhere that
14:22:04
they're having a hard time or
14:22:06
they're struggling. It has been
14:22:06
known there are studies that
14:22:11
have proven that that particular
14:22:11
scent does help, yes, decrease
14:22:17
anxiety, and all these other,
14:22:17
you know, different non
14:22:24
mainstream interventions. And
14:22:24
that's, you know, I'm sorry, but
14:22:28
modern medicine just doesn't
14:22:28
have doodly squat to offer.
14:22:32
These folks with brain failure,
14:22:32
they don't have a drug to cure
14:22:35
the condition and the drugs that
14:22:35
they have to minimize the
14:22:40
symptoms. Half of them have
14:22:40
black box warnings, which means
14:22:44
if you're on it, your chance of
14:22:44
dying is higher than if you
14:22:47
weren't on it. So looking at
14:22:47
these alternative treatments,
14:22:52
CBD cannabidiol, CBD, whether
14:22:52
it's oil or gummies, or SAVs is
14:23:00
an excellent alternative. It's
14:23:00
plant based. It's the incidents,
14:23:08
you literally cannot overdose or
14:23:08
die from having too much CBD. It
14:23:14
may wreck your stomach a little
14:23:14
bit, but it's not going to kill
14:23:17
you. Not like the drugs that you
14:23:17
know, we get handed at the
14:23:21
doctor's office every week. So,
14:23:21
not that. I mean, I'm not anti
14:23:28
drugs. I'm really not because
14:23:28
I've seen a lot of people whose
14:23:31
quality of life was immensely
14:23:31
improved through getting some of
14:23:37
these medications, the anti
14:23:37
psychotic medications that have
14:23:40
such a bad reputation. It's...
14:23:40
you've got to cast your net wide
14:23:47
and try a lot of different
14:23:47
things for your loved one,
14:23:50
Right. Right
14:23:50
And just be
14:23:50
willing to go through trial and
14:23:53
error, because that's what it
14:23:53
takes to find what's going to
14:23:55
help them the most.
14:23:57
That's so important. You're right, it's trial and error, because it's
14:23:59
not just one fix, you can't just
14:24:02
say, because we're not one size
14:24:02
fits all, we're individuals and
14:24:06
everybody is different, you
14:24:06
know, and that's, I agree with
14:24:09
you, 100%. And so when, let's
14:24:09
say we get to the stage, what
14:24:14
like my mom was at the end of
14:24:14
law in the middle, right before
14:24:17
she died the last couple months?
14:24:17
Not much words coming out, if
14:24:21
any? How do you communicate with
14:24:21
someone at that stage? What's
14:24:25
What's the tricks that you think
14:24:25
are the best?
14:24:28
Oh, you know, I
14:24:28
have the saying, and I actually
14:24:32
have it on a magnet. And I send
14:24:32
it out to people sometimes,
14:24:35
because I think it's so
14:24:35
important. And the saying that I
14:24:39
use is what the brain cannot
14:24:39
remember, the heart can never
14:24:45
forget, the brain may not
14:24:45
remember who you are, but their
14:24:50
heart is in there and their
14:24:50
heart knows who you are. They
14:24:54
can't communicate that to you in
14:24:54
a way that you understand. But
14:24:58
it's in there, and it feels you.
14:24:58
So for people to say there's no
14:25:03
point in visiting, because she
14:25:03
doesn't even know I'm there.
14:25:06
That's not accurate. And this
14:25:06
came from all my years of
14:25:11
working in intensive care units,
14:25:11
because I worked with so many
14:25:14
people who were right on the
14:25:14
verge with one foot in this
14:25:18
world and one foot and whatever
14:25:18
comes after that. And I just
14:25:23
experienced so many things where
14:25:23
I just felt like, there were, I
14:25:28
mean, people were communicating
14:25:28
on a spirit level, I would
14:25:32
always tell people, if you can't
14:25:32
be here, at the moment, then,
14:25:37
you know, you might want to be
14:25:37
at home sitting in the rocker
14:25:40
that the two of you sat in and
14:25:40
drank beer and talk trash for
14:25:44
the last, you know, 40 years,
14:25:44
that may mean something more to
14:25:48
you, and they're gonna know that
14:25:48
you're there. Because when we
14:25:52
get that close, we're
14:25:52
communicating heart to heart.
14:25:56
Music is huge. What's the music
14:25:56
that meant was meaningful to
14:26:00
that person. Touch is huge. You
14:26:00
know, you don't have to give
14:26:05
them a full body massage, but
14:26:05
boy, just just a tender rubbing
14:26:12
of the face.
14:26:13
Yeah. It's,
14:26:13
yeah, you're so right. And you
14:26:17
just validated everything that I
14:26:17
experienced last year, you know,
14:26:20
when my mom wasn't speaking, and
14:26:20
I could see her she'd been
14:26:24
through so much. And I could see
14:26:24
I would come in and do my dog
14:26:27
and pony show. And I'd see her
14:26:27
looking up to the right. Always
14:26:29
she'd look up to the right like
14:26:29
that. And I go you look, you got
14:26:32
some words for me, don't you?
14:26:32
You're looking for those words,
14:26:35
and you're trying to get those
14:26:35
words out. I'm waiting. I'm
14:26:37
waiting. I'd always tell her I'm
14:26:37
waiting. I got all the time in
14:26:40
the world. I'm waiting. Any I
14:26:40
didn't expect anything. I just
14:26:44
knew that she was trying because
14:26:44
I could feel her I know her. And
14:26:47
then she looked at me with a big
14:26:47
smile. She go ah, and then but
14:26:50
one day out of nowhere. Dawn was
14:26:50
in the room. And and this was
14:26:53
two months before she passed.
14:26:53
She just said clearly like it
14:26:56
was my mom from 20 years ago. I
14:26:56
love you. And I and she hadn't
14:27:02
spoken for a couple months, at
14:27:02
least before I speak afterward.
14:27:07
I was floored because I said
14:27:07
Mommy, what a gift that was so
14:27:10
hard for you. That was like
14:27:10
running the marathon. Yeah. And
14:27:14
she had to tell me.
14:27:16
She did have to
14:27:16
tell you and I have seen that.
14:27:19
So many times. I can't even tell
14:27:19
you, somebody who's you know,
14:27:24
they talk about the rally right
14:27:24
before they depart. I had a
14:27:30
gentleman one time who had a
14:27:30
severe nergic degenerative
14:27:34
disease, and hadn't spoken for
14:27:34
years. And the day before he
14:27:39
passed, he suddenly it was like
14:27:39
he woke up and his son's where
14:27:43
they're from out of state and
14:27:43
his family. And he's sitting
14:27:46
there talking to him, telling
14:27:46
them how much he loves him and
14:27:49
how proud he is of him. By
14:27:49
midnight. He was back to not
14:27:52
being able to speak at all. And
14:27:52
the next day he took his leave.
14:27:57
But what a gift that was. That's
14:27:57
,,,
14:28:02
It's a
14:28:02
gift. It's a gift. It is such a
14:28:05
gift. It's funny because I have
14:28:05
dreams about that I dream that
14:28:08
my mom is totally talking to me
14:28:08
and I go wait a minute. You're
14:28:12
all better now in my dream.
14:28:12
She's like, Yeah, why not?
14:28:18
So I had done you
14:28:18
know, we talked about all the
14:28:20
you know, these these things
14:28:20
that we as the family caregivers
14:28:24
can do to communicate with them,
14:28:24
but is there any is there any
14:28:30
hope for training the people,
14:28:30
the medical staff, the nurses,
14:28:34
the doctors to do this? Because
14:28:34
they don't know them? They can't
14:28:38
read cues. They can't you know,
14:28:38
especially a doctor comes in and
14:28:41
sees them once every three weeks
14:28:41
or or a nurse you know the
14:28:44
nurses, the staff change. They
14:28:44
can't read those cues. What can
14:28:48
we do to to, because they're
14:28:48
super important, that's that's
14:28:53
who's around them all day long
14:28:53
every day, they have to deal
14:28:56
with them. And yet they don't
14:28:56
know how to communicate with
14:28:59
them.
14:28:59
It's called
14:28:59
educate, educate, educate. And
14:29:05
then when you're done doing that
14:29:05
sit down and do some educating.
14:29:14
We need to actually approach our
14:29:14
medical schools, our nursing
14:29:22
schools, our programs that are
14:29:22
training people, the people who
14:29:30
spend the most amount of time
14:29:30
with these folks that are in
14:29:38
facilities are the nurses aides,
14:29:38
they are the ones that's your
14:29:47
lifeblood, that's the backbone
14:29:47
of the long term care system,
14:29:55
people don't realize that, but
14:29:55
it's true. So we need to be
14:30:03
educating them and they want to
14:30:03
learn, but they don't want to
14:30:11
learn on a computer module
14:30:11
tucked away, far from the
14:30:18
patient somewhere, it's we need
14:30:18
more education, we need
14:30:26
different methods of educating
14:30:26
people. Because so much of what
14:30:34
they need to learn is more of a
14:30:34
tactile, you know, nonverbal
14:30:43
sort of communication, you can't
14:30:43
teach that in a book or in a
14:30:51
video, you have to be there with
14:30:51
them and tell stories and see
14:30:59
how in those stories, principles
14:30:59
are demonstrated. But if we're
14:31:08
doing that in our medical
14:31:08
schools and our nursing schools,
14:31:10
Yep.
14:31:10
your.... Yeah. Again, you're
14:31:12
right. Again, you're right. And
14:31:12
I keep telling people that it's
14:31:16
and in our programs that train
14:31:16
nurses aides, and then if we're
14:31:17
like, I'm not, you know, some,
14:31:17
some people don't, don't really
14:31:21
want to revisit what they've
14:31:21
been through because it's hard.
14:31:24
doing it in the hospital, doing
14:31:24
it in the facilities, you know,
14:31:26
And, and it feels like, you
14:31:26
know, maybe, you know, it
14:31:30
doesn't like maybe it's not
14:31:30
healthy, that you're still
14:31:33
it's once again, it's a
14:31:33
humongous, humongous problem.
14:31:34
thinking about that once your
14:31:34
loved ones gone. But I feel I
14:31:38
feel differently. I feel like if
14:31:38
I've, I've seen and learn things
14:31:40
And it's tempting to say, Oh,
14:31:40
God, there's no hope for this.
14:31:43
that I can't unsee and unlearn.
14:31:43
And so therefore, I want to, I
14:31:47
feel I feel the responsibility
14:31:47
to pay it forward. I feel a
14:31:48
But that's not true, either. You
14:31:48
know, we have a responsibility.
14:31:51
responsibility to say things and
14:31:51
to and to educate and, and some
14:31:56
people are aren't gonna like me
14:31:56
for it and they're gonna think
14:31:57
Those of us who know and those
14:31:57
of us who are aware, have a
14:32:01
I'm angry. I'm not I'm not
14:32:01
angry. I'm heartbroken for
14:32:05
people. That's all Yeah. And and
14:32:05
I want people to be able to take
14:32:05
responsibility to act. And when
14:32:05
we don't, we're not only letting
14:32:09
power back. And and the only way
14:32:09
is by knowing what's going on,
14:32:14
ourselves down, we're letting
14:32:14
down our children and our
14:32:14
and by sharing what you've
14:32:14
learned, bless what you do every
14:32:18
day. You share what you've
14:32:18
learned, was such an immense
14:32:21
grandchildren. Because I can
14:32:21
tell you that Alzheimer's and
14:32:22
heart. You're, you're a lovely,
14:32:22
lovely lady.
14:32:26
Oh, thank you,
14:32:26
darling. Thank you. I knew that
14:32:29
I needed a big heart would come
14:32:29
in, come in handy some days it
14:32:29
these other types of dementia
14:32:29
are not going anywhere anytime soon.
14:32:33
over the course of 43 years of a
14:32:33
nurse has gotten broken more
14:32:37
than once. But I'll tell you
14:32:37
it's - it gets bigger each time
14:32:40
it gets broken.
14:32:43
I love that. My mom would my mom would love you she would be going,
14:32:45
"Girl. Let's go have a cup of
14:32:47
coffee and talk about things!"
14:32:51
I'm telling ya. We'll drink a little mash and talk a little trash. Let's go.
14:32:53
That's
14:32:53
right. Oh, my mom would have
14:32:55
loved you. My mom would have
14:32:55
either loved her too. Well is
14:32:59
there anything else that you
14:32:59
want to bring up that we didn't
14:33:03
bring it up because we could
14:33:03
talk forever but I just enjoyed
14:33:06
it anything else that we might
14:33:06
have missed? I can assure
14:33:10
everyone that we'll have all
14:33:10
your all of your ways of contact
14:33:14
in the show notes. Where to find
14:33:14
your book, where to find you
14:33:17
where your Facebook pages and if
14:33:17
you want some good support, get
14:33:22
a hold of this lady. She's she's
14:33:22
a she's a gift.
14:33:25
That's it. My
14:33:25
motto? I know everything and
14:33:28
what I don't know I'm not afraid
14:33:28
to make up so go ahead and call
14:33:31
me up...
14:33:34
Barooom chuck! And I love that you I love that your philosophy about
14:33:36
heart. We're all about heart
14:33:39
right, Don?
14:33:39
Yeah. Absolutely.
14:33:40
What gets us
14:33:40
out of bed in the morning? Love
14:33:43
gets us out of bed in the
14:33:43
morning. You know love lets us
14:33:47
lay down at night and put our
14:33:47
head on the pillow and know that
14:33:52
because we were alive that day,
14:33:52
the world is just that much
14:33:56
better than it was if we hadn't
14:33:56
been there. So it doesn't get
14:34:01
any better than that.
14:34:02
Absolutely. And that
14:34:02
is because as we always say,
14:34:06
Love is powerful. Love is
14:34:06
contagious, and Love Conquers
14:34:09
Alz. We thank everyone for
14:34:09
listening and joining and please
14:34:13
do if you if you like what you
14:34:13
heard, you know, like it or
14:34:17
subscribe or tell other people
14:34:17
about it. We got to get the word
14:34:22
out, share, share, share, and,
14:34:22
and Susan, anything else you
14:34:26
want to say before we say bye bye.
14:34:28
I just want
14:34:28
to say have a lovely, lovely
14:34:30
rest of your day night. Whatever
14:34:30
time you're listening to this
14:34:33
middle of the night. Who knows?
14:34:33
Anyway, thanks for listening,
14:34:37
and we'll see you
14:34:39
See you next time
14:34:39
Bye. Bye bye.
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