Living With Alzheimer's BBC2 Documentary

[Kade]

I've no doubt it will be available on the bbciplayer...having just checked it IS there already http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... Episode_1/ but for UK users only though

and what about us poor non UK users... somethings just arent fair

[Tonyblack]

I know how you feel. I usually miss this stuff when I'm in Tucson.

[Dotsie]

I laughed when I saw that the genetic analyser was called Hal. The last lab I worked in, mine was called.... Hex!

Nobody got it but me. They weren't fans

[The_Discworldaholic]

I've no doubt it will be available on the bbciplayer...having just checked it IS there already http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... Episode_1/ but for UK users only though

and what about us poor non UK users... somethings just arent fair

Check out a torrent site, ive just looked and they are there to watch

[chris.ph]

i thought it was very poigniant and had atear in my i when he was reading nation. very brave of him to have exposed himself like that

[silverstreak]

Hi there Discworldaholic,I think that is what Pterry would call atmosphere,
I'm only surprised that there wasn't a stuffed alligator suspended from
the ceiling.

[Tonyblack]

Did anyone else see the stinking review the programme got in The Telegraph?

[Aries]

Yeah i saw it clearly Mr Damian Thompson dosen't understand what it means to be i fan of something, saddos indeed! I thought it was a very brave thing for Terry to show us what he's going through and i'm looking forward to part two.

[PhysioGirl]

Hi everyone I'm new here!!
I fell in love with Terry after reading the Hogfather on a train about 12 years ago. Last night's documentary brought a tear to my eye for more than one reason; my own dear Dad was diagnosed with this disease 4 years ago (aged 51) and it was like looking back at my Dad when he was starting this journey......... losing letters and words, not managing things like ties, but still having a reasonable memory. I miss my Dad terribly, I think Terry is doing an excellent and brave thing making his journey in public. Who cares about reviews in newspapers, we know he's doing a good thing (haven't seen the reviews myself).

[Tonyblack]

Yeah i saw it clearly Mr Damian Thompson dosen't understand what it means to be i fan of something, saddos indeed! I thought it was a very brave thing for Terry to show us what he's going through and i'm looking forward to part two.

Hey Aries - great to see you posting here again.


Well said PhysioGirl! And welcome to the site.

[Jan Van Quirm]

It's the Torygraph - what does it know about stuff. I bet the reviewer's never even read one of Pterry's books

And anyway - critics are hardly worth listening to - if they were they wouldn't be writing such tripe

[headgehog]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, its headge, or claire or whatever comes to your prefrontal cortex. I will prattle on as I want to get this off my chest.

I agree that the telegraph is being close-minded, if the writer thinks that liking books that can make you feel so happy is wrong; then I'm not surprised his writing is so abismal and moody.

I'm a physicist, and so far as I can figure out, alzimers is hereditary, my nanna and great-nanna had it and it destroyed them and thurned them both into vegetables, though theirs was centred around memory and how to do tasks, like boiling an egg, eating, who my parents were, and eventually, who I was. My mum is showing the signs, she knows it and works in a doctors; for the minute she is ignoring the fact. Nothing seemed to stop it, and at the time there was no hope, it was already way too advanced, as it only became noticed when my grandad died.
I have dyslexia by the way, so spellig may be iffy.

I feel that if there is a breakthrough, then everyone should be tested. I worked in a chemist for over 4 years, and I found out that you have a two week window in which to start aricept. Before that and you're not classed as serious enough for it to be cost effective (roughly £30 a box), and after that, you were too far gone for it to be of help. I was ashamed of the NHS when I found out that one of our patients I was close to, was being destroyed by her husbands anger at his forgetfulness and unhesitating belief that everything was her fault. He had just missed the two week window. Her only hope was that he would turn into a vegetable sooner rather than later, as he was telling the family and friends things like she was trying to kill him, because he'd forgotten he'd already taken his tablets.

I wish that peple could be saved from this grief, because it's not just the loved ones, but seeing the terror in their eyes when they realise they don't know who their daughter, son, husband, or any relation is, is excrutiating. They are alone, and don't know what to do. The only relief is when they don't know how to think anymore, and the body shuts down. My nanna had once last instance of coherance before she died, she spoke to my dad, who she had not recognised for nearly a year, then as he went out of the room, she let go.

As Terrys friends said on the program, one day, the three of them will go out somewhere, then later the two of them will go to the pub, it may save him from the terror. I want to hug Terry and tell him it'll be better, many more books will be written before that inevitable fate happpens, with at least 15 years more of happiness. I heard something coming through the pipeline just before I left the chemist. A new drug, avaliable to anyone proven positive at any stage; only problem is, it may be too late. The 5years it takes to legalise it may be too long.

I say keep on writing, take joy in everything, have passion with a fire in your beliefs, get many cuddles; as it has been proven to make you happier than almost anything else, and have a good soft boiled 'chuckie' egg with soldiers, because that many nutrients can't be wrong, especially when cooked by your favourite nanna.

[Tonyblack]

Thank you for sharing that Claire. It is indeed a frighteningly awful condition. I think that fear you talk about was evident during the programme. There was also anger and determination there - but what was also still there was Terry Pratchett. Let's hope that he stays there.

Welcome to the site.

[rissoles]

An observation

The type of "it" affecting Terry relates to optical functionality. I noticed that the comment was made that he was once an able touch typist but that "it" had robbed him of that ability.

The thing about touch typing is that it does not require visual confirmation... I say this because I know it from my own experience, I also had a friend that was afflicted by severe cataracts and he was, until his operation, unable to clearly see his monitor.

We tried an experiment that lasted a week, and resulted in us both realising that it was possible to watch a crap movie and still type reasonably coherently.

Perhaps not watching what you are doing might be the answer.

Just a thought

[Tonyblack]

An observation

The type of "it" affecting Terry relates to optical functionality. I noticed that the comment was made that he was once an able touch typist but that "it" had robbed him of that ability.

The thing about touch typing is that it does not require visual confirmation... I say this because I know it from my own experience, I also had a friend that was afflicted by severe cataracts and he was, until his operation, unable to clearly see his monitor.

We tried an experiment that lasted a week, and resulted in us both realising that it was possible to watch a crap movie and still type reasonably coherently.

Perhaps not watching what you are doing might be the answer.

Just a thought

There was that guy with more advanced Alzheimer's who said much the same. The way he does up his tie is by not thinking about it. These sorts of things are almost second nature to us and it's often not until we try to analyse what we are doing that it gets tricky. Like trying to explain to someone who has never driven before what actions you do when you change gear. It's second nature and we do it without thinking.