Kids Meet A Woman With Alzheimer's

- You told me your name, but I forgot it.
- It's Crystal.
- I know, but I will forget it. (laughs)
(upbeat music)
- Justin, you go ahead.
- Hi, I'm Justin.
- Hi, Justin, nice to meet you!
My name is Miriam.
- Hello.
- Do you know how old I am?
- Uh, 28?
- Oh, 28, oh, I wish!
How old do you think I am?
- Uh, 80?
- Oh. (laughs)
From 28 to 80?
- Sorry.
What do you do at home?
- Well, I'm retired, but I used to be a lawyer.
About seven years ago,
I began to forget things.
- I forget, like, everything.
- You forget everything?
Oh, my.
I've got Alzheimer's, have you heard of Alzheimer's?
- No.
- Alzheimer's is a disease.
- Is it contagious?
- No.
- Can you die from it?
- Yes.
- Oh.
- Yes, what's happening in my brain
is that my brain cells are dying.
Do you know what genetics is?
It's like, it's your genes, you know,
and so, um, I forgot where I was going.
Genetics, I forgot what I was going to say.
Oh, what's that, it's that thing
that goes around eating things?
- Oh, you mean Pac-Man?
- Pac-Man, yes.
Well, there's a Pac-Man in my brain,
going around eating my brain. (laughs)
Yeah!
And there's nothing right now that can stop it.
- Maybe you could just create a ghost in your brain,
and then eat Pac-Man and go bye-bye,
and then the ghost goes away.
- Sure, absolutely, why not? (laughs)
Do you ever forget things?
- When I put the remote down and go to get something,
when I come back in the room, I forgot where the remote was.
(Miriam laughs)
Have to search the entire room.
(Miriam laughs)
- My dad is kinda like that, when my mom asks him
to do something, he doesn't do it.
Every single time, and he always says,
"I forgot, I forgot, I forgot.
"I forgot, I forgot, I forgot, (Miriam laughs)
"I forgot, I forgot, I forgot."
- What else do you forget?
- How old I am, sometimes I think I'm six.
- Uh-huh.
I create a system.
I've got a Google calendar on my laptop,
and on my cell phone.
My calendar is basically substituting for my brain
because my brain isn't working.
Have you heard, you know what Alzheimer's is?
- Yeah, you said that earlier.
- Ah, yes. (laughs)
- It's okay.
It's okay.
- You know, I'm 70 years old,
but I'm becoming... - Wait, you're old?
I'm, yeah, but I'm going to be becoming a baby
because I'm going to forget how to eat,
I'm going to forget how to do things.
A couple of days ago, I didn't know where I was.
It took like five minutes for me
to figure out where I was in my apartment.
What would you do if you got lost?
- There's a trail right by our house.
- That trail could go anywhere, Justin.
- No! - And what happens
- No, not follow the trail. - If there was two!
If he goes along to the trail,
I don't go onto the trail.
- I would just... - Pass our neighbor's house.
Then a left... - Okay, okay.
- Okay, I'm confused. (laughing)
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, I would just rest.
- I am totally confused.
Okay, um, what was I saying?
You know what's happening with me right now?
It's called sundowning.
And sundowning is when somebody who's got Alzheimer's
has a difficult time remembering and following,
and so that's what's happening to me right now.
- Does someone take care of you?
- No, no.
I live alone.
But I've got a lot of friends who check up on me.
- Yeah, me, too.
I have such, so so so many friends,
I can only remember a few of their names.
- Oh, I can't remember names.
Sometimes I get sad.
But not often.
I don't know.
But I try not to get upset because getting upset
just makes it worse, and so...
I have hope that there's going to be a cure
to stop Alzheimer's. (laughs)
- Stop!
- Oh. (kisses) (child mumbling)
Come here.
(clapping)
- Hello, guys.
Thank you so much for watching.
Don't forget to hit the subscribe button,
and go down to the description box,
and there's a link to our store.
You should go buy some merchandise.
Thanks.
Buh-bye.
(upbeat music)

Kids Meet A Woman With Alzheimer's

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