In 2010, Gerda Saunders learned she has dementia. She was 61-years-old at the time, and a professor at the University of Utah who was already recognizing symptoms in herself. Gerda has been writing about her experience, and has agreed to let RadioWest follow her on her journey with the disease.
It happens to me sometimes that I just hear the words, but it’s as if it takes time to translate it into meaning.
It happens to me sometimes that I just hear the words, but it’s as if it takes time to translate it into meaning.
Chapter 01 -
meet gerda
Gerda Saunders was diagnosed with microvascular dementia in 2010. This short film is the first in a series of portraits about Gerda and the family and friends that surround her with love.
I think that objects play a part in the continuity of lives.
It happens to me sometimes that I just hear the words, but it’s as if it takes time to translate it into meaning.
Chapter 02 -
the body that is left
When the time is right, Gerda Saunders is going to take her own life. Gerda has a progressive form of dementia and we’ve been following her during this process. Of course, identifying the right time is going to be difficult, but she knows her family will support her when she makes the call. Life is over, she told us, when you stop having the ability to make your mark in the world.
There's some feeling of relief, that, OK, I'm really not making this up.
It happens to me sometimes that I just hear the words, but it’s as if it takes time to translate it into meaning.
Chapter 03 -
downhill from there
We went with Gerda and her husband to the doctor for her latest evaluation, a series of memory tests. The results gave her a sense of urgency, and oddly, relief. As Gerda told us, “I’m really not making this up.”
Isn't letting go of the things of the world, part of the transformation I must undergo as I enter zombiehood?
It happens to me sometimes that I just hear the words, but it’s as if it takes time to translate it into meaning.
Chapter 04 -
dementia field notes
Gerda Saunders has a fabulous sense of style. She also has a progressive form of dementia, and lately she’s been asking herself whether all this effort she’s putting into her appearance will be worth it once she can no longer manage it herself. She documents this and other experiences in what she calls her Field Notes on Dementia. This is the fourth film in our series with Gerda.
Chapter 05 -
LIKE A PUZZLE
In 2010, Gerda Saunders learned she has a progressive form of dementia. This latest in our series isn’t about her though, it’s about Peter, her husband of 46 years. Peter says Gerda was the one who always looked after their relationship, but that dynamic is starting to shift.
Chapter 06 -
Isolation and Connection
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Gerda’s symptoms have worsened as she is no longer able to physically connect with friends and family. See episode six in our series with Gerda as she contends with increasing isolation.
