Disclaimer

This is dementia. It's not just a memory problem.
What you read in this blog is purely my own personal experience in dealing with Lewy Body Dementia every day.

This is not meant to offer any medical or legal advise.
I have no professional training in care giving or experiences in formal writing.
I'm just a woman that loves her husband deeply and wants to provide him with the best quality of life he can and chooses to have.
My prayer though this is "Lord, What am I learning from this; how can I use it help someone else and to glorify You?"
If just one person finds comfort in this public blog. I will feel like it was a success.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Visual Learning about Lewy Body Dementia

It's been 2 years since my husband passed away and I still feel heart led to be actively involved in caregiver support.
I know this will be the first post anyone sees on this blog so I wanted to share this visual lesson I have given on Lewy Body Dementia. If you can understand this, you might understand Lewy and other dementias a little bit more.
This is also a hands on activity for you to do at home and share with others, so here goes

You need
Bubble wrap
Highlighter
This brain photo *Thank you to Stephen Holland at hiddentalents.org for his permission to use it.
Brain Functions
Print this picture out on a regular sheet of paper
Cut a piece of bubble wrap a little less than the size of the paper
Play with the bubble wrap while you're reading the brain functions, you know you want to pop some bubbles!
Turn the bubble wrap to the smooth side and use the highlighter to mark the popped bubbles.
Turn the bubble wrap back over and place it over the picture.
THIS represents the beta proteins of Lewy Body Dementia!
Lewy bodies are diffuse, meaning scattered or spread over a wide area, not concentrated. 
Notice what areas of the brain are under the highlighted bubbles.
Now fill the bubbles back up with air.
What do you mean you can't? Just do it!
You see, the bubbles are broken so the best you can do it try to patch them (meds) or in some cases if the bubbles air was only transferred you might be able to shift some of the air of another nearby bubble into the highlighted one. THAT represents the fluctuations of LBD, seems to decline, now a rebound.
But you realize that over time the air will eventually seep out and the bubble will no longer be inflated.

Lewy Body dementia is a total body issue, not just a memory one.
We give meds to alleviate some symptoms, it's the best we can do.
Even meds for other things might not have the same effects on their intended issues over time.
We're trying to MAKE a dying brain that can not, function normally. Sometimes we can force it for a while but the brain, the mainframe of the body is shutting down totally, the bubbles continue to pop and as of yet, can not be reversed or repaired.

I hope this visual helps you understand a little bit more about what is happening to our loved ones.