[Sportschosun, Reporter Lee Woo-joo] Broadcaster Ahn Sun-young revealed the decision she made after watching her mother live with dementia.
On the 13th, a video titled "A Day With My Mother, Who Became a Child at 78" was uploaded to Ahn Sun-young's YouTube channel.
Ahn Sun-young headed to the hospital for her mother's outpatient appointment. She said, "Her cognitive impairment keeps getting worse. Last time, I took her out and then brought her to a nursing home, and they said her depression and cognitive decline seemed to have worsened. She has already spent a year there, but she could not even find her own room, so they told me to consult her primary doctor. This is the day each month when she gets psychiatric and neurological evaluations."
Before going to the hospital, the mother and daughter stopped for a meal. Ahn Sun-young said, "She had collapsed from a stroke and could not even get up at all, but after a year of treatment, her physical functions have recovered, as you can see, so I am very relieved." She added, "Still, her cognitive impairment is gradually progressing, even if more slowly than before, so there will come a time when it becomes too severe to take her around. When I think about that, I worry about how we will manage."
Ahn Sun-young said, "When you visit hospitals for patients with severe dementia, it really brings tears to your eyes. They are in very remote areas. I keep wondering what I would do if she ever had to go somewhere like that." She continued, "Do you know what my goal is? To build a nursing home within five years, right in downtown Seoul. I’ll pick her up in a Mercedes-Benz bus." She said she had found a new dream.
After arriving at the hospital, Ahn Sun-young said, "I always feel depressed when I come to a hospital. There are no good memories here, are there? It was like that when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it was like that when I came here crying my eyes out after collapsing from a stroke." She added, "When I was hospitalized for a month after the stroke and surgery, my mother was in really bad shape. I cried every time I came here and left crying."
Ahn Sun-young said her mother's dementia is also continuing to worsen. "She looks fine on the outside, but her cognitive impairment is quite severe. The doctor in charge told me earlier that she is already taking the maximum dose of her medication. There is nowhere else to go from here, but she seems to have become a little more disoriented. I told him that she forgets things within five minutes, even major issues like not being able to find her room, and that she once tore at her stitches until she bled. He said she is already on the maximum dose, so it cannot be increased any further. Fortunately, her physical condition is good, so he said there probably won't be any other side effects. That is why I feel so down."
wjlee@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
