Mr Alzheimer's and Me My Life

You ready?

Right, young Joshua, Operation Greenhouse.

This is my grandad, Derek.

He's a big part of my life.

It's like a jungle in here.

It is, yes. In fact, your mother refuses to come in here.

JOSHUA CHUCKLES

We have a really close bond.

Pull.

'He enjoys talking to me.'

He's always happy when I'm there.

She's got eight.

One more go, Nan.

-No.

-Two more goes, Nan.

My nan is my bestest friend ever and I love her.

-It's you, isn't it?

-Yeah.

My grandad's name

is Charlie,

but everyone calls him Dez.

What did you do to your head?

What did you do?

What did you do to your head?

HE MUMBLES

Did you fall?

My grandad's got vascular dementia.

Dementia is a disease which affects the brain.

So this means the part of the brain that makes and stores memory

doesn't work as well

and you get confused really easily.

-That's definitely a Spitfire.

-Yeah.

-That's a Hurricane.

-Yeah.

And that's a...

'Cos dementia makes my grandad forget stuff, sometimes I feel like'

one day I'll walk in and he'll look with a worried face

and ask who I am.

My grandad left his house in the middle of the night

and started walking.

And then he was found by the police collapsed in a ditch.

He can't really get his words out.

He doesn't know what's going on really.

'Nanny has Alzheimer's.'

Nan, you forgot your glasses, take them off.

If it wasn't for you, I'd forget my head.

Alzheimer's is a type of dementia.

Night-night, Hope. Love you.

-Night, Nanny.

-Night-night.

'She needs lots of help from me and Grandad.'

It is hard sometimes,

cos I don't want anyone else going through what my grandad has.

Nanny has to take special pills to make Alzheimer's go away.

Have you taken your tablets?

Yes, sweetheart, I have.

Good.

Me and Nanny do the washing and cleaning together

and I make sure she doesn't forget anything.

Hope, do you want to help Nana look for these biscuits?

Erm, erm... the toothpaste.

I've checked everywhere.

So you've checked in the fridge?

In the fridge? It's not in the fridge.

Toothpaste.

Aren't I stupid?

HOPE GIGGLES

I hope that these tablets are going to make Mr Alzheimer's

go away forever.

-That looks like an elephant to me.

-Where?

Oh, yeah!

-I can see a dragon.

-Where?

Oh, yeah, there, there!

So how is your nanny doing?

Do you find it a bit scary sometimes with your nan?

Yeah.

Mr Alzheimer's is like an angry cloud.

It feels like he clouds Nanny's brain

and stops it working.

We'll just add it to it.

Now, now, squeeze again with your one hand and roll.

OK? You know what's wrong with Nanny, don't you?

Mr Alzheimer's has come out, hasn't he?

He's come out a bit worse, hasn't he?

This is why Nanny is teaching you these things. All right?

For your future.

It's not as hard as it looks, is it?

-It is as hard as it looks.

-No.

On the grill, oh, that's your favourite.

When I was seven...

..my mum passed away.

This box helped me with all my sad times.

This is...

when Mummy and Daddy got married.

That's one of Mummy's hair bobbles.

I was scared...

..and it was frightening.

The hardest thing was I wouldn't see my mummy again.

Nan's forgotten that we've had an ice lolly.

'Daddy wants me to stay with him but I've chosen to stay with Nanny.'

Get away!

Shall I do this bit?

It's Grandad's birthday soon

and I've got a special plan to help save his memory.

This is, um... Well, it's a box, as you can clearly see,

but it's a special kind of box.

It's like a memory box.

I'm going to get the most important memories from my grandad's life

and put them in the box to keep them safe.

I'm a bit scared that one day he won't remember me.

You just... I'm, like, praying that it will just work.

I'm going to visit Grandad today.

It's his first Christmas being in a care home.

It was getting too dangerous for him to be on his own in a flat.

-Aren't you lovely.

-You all right?

THEY MURMUR

'It is hard sometimes.'

'I worry about what he's thinking.'

'If he's happy or if he's upset, cos he's in his own world.'

'I wish I could have a normal chat with him, but I know that I can't.'

'You can't just make the illness go, because it won't.'

'But you can try and put money towards medicines

'and the care homes.'

I have decided to do a sponsored walk.

Talk right into it.

This morning we are joined by a very special guest.

-Ella. Good morning, Ella.

-Morning!

-Whereabouts are you from?

-Kidderminster.

-Old Kiddy!

Tell us about your grandad to start.

Well, he's got dementia. He's had it for a few years now.

He used to take me to the park and play with me on the swings,

but he wouldn't be able to do that now.

So I'm doing a ten-mile walk

and I'm collecting sponsors for it.

All the money will go towards Dementia UK,

who do a lot of research.

All this money raised is going to go to a great cause.

Thank you for coming in this morning. Ella, everybody.

THEY CLAP

I hate walking. I prefer to ride instead or round the track.

-Go and take selfies!

-Yeah. We'll sponsor you. I'll sponsor you.

£20.

What did you do on the weekend?

Today is my last day at primary school.

Basically, I'm a grown-up.

Well, almost.

ALL: Good morning, Mrs Hanson.

My grandad's come to watch my leavers' assembly.

And our sportsman-of-the-year is going to Josh.

APPLAUSE

CAMERA CLICKS

We're proud of you, son.

The boy done good.

You've been to the bank and everything?

'This is one of my favourite memories because my grandad

'was so proud of me. I really don't want him to forget it.'

How was your weekend with Daddy?

It was amazing.

Well, Mr Alzheimer's wasn't very nice on Saturday.

So I'm glad you went away.

SHE YAWNS

Oh, that's a big yawn.

HOPE SINGS

NANNY LAUGHS

Your hair won't go straight if you don't eat the crust.

It's curly, that's fine.

NANNY LAUGHS

Oh, yes. I'm going to take my tablets.

Hi.

-OK, good girl.

-Good girl.

That's for blood pressure.

What's that one for?

To defeat Mr Alzheimer's.

To defeat him? No, darling, I can't defeat him.

No, no, no.

That's one thing, I... Hope.

Hope, look at Nana.

Nanny wishes she could, but I can't.

Mr Alzheimer's is a lot stronger than Nanny.

All right?

But those tablets there...

..slows him down.

He's not going to go away, sweetheart.

Did you think that?

No, darling.

I didn't realise you thought that.

Honestly, you've shocked me now today.

Nanny wants me to understand more about Mr Alzheimer's,

so we are going to a daycare centre.

-Hello!

-Hiya, Mary.

-Nice to see you.

-This is Hope.

-ALL: Hello!

-Hello!

THEY CHATTER

When Mr Alzheimer's comes out, what do you feel like when he comes out?

It's hard to explain, really.

Yeah, we get through it because we are all strong,

-because we're all together.

-Yes.

-Now you understand why I come here and I come home happy?

-Yeah.

Because I'm with nice people and I have fun here, don't I?

Even though the pills won't make Mr Alzheimer's go away forever,

I still hope Nanny feels better.

I make her happy by doing silly things

and I tell her how much I love her.

And we forget about Mr Alzheimer's.

-Hello, Grandad.

-Hello, son.

-You all right?

-What are you doing here?

-Is dinner nearly ready?

Oh, you'll have to ask the cook about that.

Can you just come upstairs with me, please?

What do you want me for?

I've got my stick here so I'm all right.

That's better. Off we go.

I've put, like, Grandad's memories on it.

So basically, Grandad, Nana.

Don't know who that is. Don't know who that is.

Love to Uncle from Bill, 1940.

There, Grandad was eight years old.

Grandad has so many memories I don't know about,

and they're all disappearing because of his dementia.

Oh, I think it is that. Can you see it?

Ah, yes.

You see him wearing it?

Oh, yeah. Looks very smart.

'Grandad, I've been on the radio.

'Do you want to hear it?'

'A round of applause for our special guest, Ella, everybody.

'She's in this morning.

-'What does your grandad suffer from?

-Dementia.

'Right, and what exactly is that?

'You start to forget things and you get your words mixed up.

'Now, one of the challenges you have... Cos you've to try and raise

'a lot of money, aren't you? What's the...'

'The people who would say, "What's the point in going to see him

'"if he can't understand anything?"'

It's better to try than not try.

It makes a difference.

-HE MUMBLES

-This body...

And I breathe.

You will do it.

Yeah, come on, ride.

You love your dad? Good girl.

Come on, ride fast, then. There we go.

'Nanny's still taking her medication,

'but it's still getting a bit worse.'

So I know you're helping Nanny, and that's what you like doing,

don't you? But you know, if it gets too much living at Nanny's,

you know you can just live with Daddy.

I miss you all the time. You know that, don't you?

Yeah?

We're going to see the man...

the special Alzheimer's doctor.

The doctor now will tell me

if it is progressing.

-Do you know what progress means?

-No.

There you go. If Mr Alzheimer's is getting worse.

Are you nervous?

Yes, I am.

-I'm going into my appointment.

-OK.

-Bye.

-How are you today?

-OK.

-Are you coming, too?

-Yeah.

That was fun at the garden, wasn't it?

Playing ball and bowling and things like that.

That was fun.

But unfortunately, we can't have that fun all the time

because naughty Mr Alzheimer's is coming out a lot more lately.

Are you angry at me?

No, I'm not angry at you at all.

It's not you. I'm not angry with you, Hope.

I'm angry with Mr Alzheimer's.

-OK?

-Yeah.

-You ready?

Now, I don't want you to get upset.

OK?

Mr Alzheimer's is progressing now.

But he told me straight now,

Mr Alzheimer's is out there.

And me and you have got to knock him back.

Have you got any questions to ask Nan?

How are you feeling?

I'm sad.

-But I've got you, haven't I?

-Mm-hm.

So I can't be sad, can I?

I'm always there for you, always.

So we've got to keep on laughing and keep on smiling.

Beep-beep. Here we go.

You're going to find it difficult, Josh.

JOSH GRUNTS

This is why I do athletics.

'We've come to Brighton for Grandad's birthday.'

I think Grandad's going to like this.

I'm going to give him the memory box.

Fingers crossed he likes it.

He probably does not have a clue.

Oh, here he comes. Quick, quick, quick.

One, two, three, down. You landed.

Happy birthday, Grandad.

Thank you very much.

I'm doing my sponsored walk today.

SHE LAUGHS

-A special one.

-A special one?

-"Dear Grandad, enjoy your lovely day and keep these..."

-Memories.

"..special memories.

"Love, Joshua."

Oh, I see.

-Spitfire.

-Yes.

GRANDAD CHUCKLES This, believe it or not, is me.

-My knot tie.

-When did you wear that?

At the wedding. At THE wedding!

-Now that's us on our wedding day, isn't it?

-Yes.

That is us, mate.

-Yeah, it's taking a selfie at my last day at school.

-Oh, was it?

-The last day at the school that you were at?

-St Patrick's.

-Yeah.

-You came along and saw him.

-Remember?

No, I won't kid you that I do. No, I'm sorry.

It was a big assembly, and you came and all the children,

all his year got trophies, but Josh what did you get?

Sportsman award, remember?

Oh, yeah, I do vaguely remember it, yeah.

It was a bit upsetting that, cos I thought he would have

remembered that one, but he didn't, so, yeah.

I was a bit sad because he can't really remember new stuff now so...

Yeah.

HE BLOWS

# Cos I'm on top of the world, ay

# I'm on top of the world, ay

# Waiting on this for a while now

# Paying my dues to the dirt

# I've been waiting to smile, ay

# Been holding it in for a while, ay

# Take you with me if I can

# Been dreaming of this since a child

# I'm on top of the world. #

Oh, lovely.

SHE WEEPS

All, it's come, all, all, all...

Yep, all came.

And it's beautiful.

HE SINGS: # Oh, beautiful

# Beautiful

# It's you

# I can't

# I behold

# I had...I had you

# Do you, and for you

# Having you again

# And a man

# The man is beau... #

THEY CHEER

I know that I have to live with Daddy soon,

so I am going to have as much fun as I can with Nanny while we still can.

I'm going to my secondary school. I feel very ready.

Maybe because sometimes over the summer, by helping Grandad,

yeah, I feel a bit grown-up.

Ooh, look at you!

This letter is for Hope, for the future.

My speech is going now,

so it will tell her

how much she meant to me and she'll always be in my heart.

HE SINGS

'Before it was quite hard for me to communicate to him

'and I really didn't know how to.'

When he laughs and sings,

it makes me happy

because I know then that he is happy.

We're basically fighting a losing battle.

What keeps us going is that I want to keep my grandad going,

so that's basically the main cure.

# We'll go up, up, up

# But I'll fly a little higher

# We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer

# Up here, my dear

# It won't be long now It won't be long now... #