Dementialand™

Suzka's producer Radek Wegrzyn discusses why he decided to produce Dementialand as a movie.

TOMA: DRUMROLL please.... Welcome to Episode 3 of The Republic of Toma  podcast presented by ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME magazine! I sit down with German Producer, Director and Writer Radek Wegrzyn and American Author, Artist and Podcaster Suzka Susan Collins  to discuss their upcoming film Wonders in Dementialand. Coming from 3 different locations — me in Venice, Radek in Berlin and Suzka in Los Angeles — we discuss how life in the times of the Coronavirus feels like an altered reality. Wonders in Dementialand is the name of Suzka’s book, which discusses the other side of dementia. Suzka writes in her book, “Dementialand is a topsy turvy place of secrets and discovery where I often found myself in the mirror of dementia. Its sense of reversal showed me the other side of everything and the other side of myself.” I draw comparison to this time of the pandemic as an opportunity to reveal us to ourselves as we’re faced with a new way of living. Meet TOMA: https://www.republicoftoma.com/about Producer: Radek Wegrzyn: http://www.magical-realist.com Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to  Dementialand Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-_h6Dr_ivYEob-F4pvqIgA The Republic of Toma Podcast: https://www.republicoftoma.com/podcasts ‘Wonders In Dementialand’ BOOK Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wonders-Dementialand-Suzka/dp/0692795243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478277633&sr=8-1&keywords=dementialand  

It’s been a very strange year. Christmas is just not Christmas. So appropriately, this podcast is about foot baths, friendships made over fences and a dragons fly who became the galaxy’s newest comet.

Head talk is not always bad – those voices that seem louder than the outside noise when needed. I have two voices in particular that visit me often. This podcast is dedicated to my two mentors, my intimate friends, and creative counselors. Picasso and Gulley Jimson. Picasso Voice: Steve Heyl Gulley Jimson Voice: Marc Biagi Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand available on Amazon Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE and check ‘thumbs-up’ Check out the Dementialand video on YouTube  #Picasso #paintings #storytelling

Let me introduce myself. My name is Suzka. I am an artist, a painter and author, obsessed with a story that needed to be written. A story that begins the day I left my converted warehouse in California and moved into Dementialand located in Chicago where my mother lived. I moved myself to a place where I was no more a daughter but rather part of an oddball cast one would expect to see in a Fellini movie. That time was extraordinary. But it was actually during my flight back to the states when I first realized the enormity of the subject and how important it is to tell this story. There's another side of dementia that no one is talking about. I wrote the book I needed to read during that time caring for my mother titled, ‘Wonders In Dementialand’ and now it is a serial podcast.  Today more than 47.5 million are living with Dementia worldwide. Multiply that number by the family members and caregivers affected by dementia directly, day in and day out and you have a universe of people living in or near Dementialand. This is my story.

Everyone thinks about this day. Where you’re going to be, how you’re going to react, and under what circumstances will that phone call be made. A parent has an accident and you’re forced to make decisions that change everything. For myself, I remember clearly one night. I painted into the morning. I was deliriously happy and super creative. The call came at 6:27 am. My mother fell and I needed to get home. This episode follows the physical trip as well as my head trip from my studio to the front door of my mother’s home.   Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast ALSO: YouTube Channel: Dementialand   Enjoy

I replayed that night a million times over in my head.  Did I miss something? How sick was my mother.  All I know is, she wasn’t quite the mother I remembered.  And between you and me... I think liked this one better. Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel And don’t forget to subscribe. Enjoy  

Botticelli's Birth of Venus is one of the most treasured artworks of the Renaissance.  It is a painting of a goddess named Venus. Venus emerges from the sea sitting on a shell.  Her shell is pushed to the shore from winds produced by the wind-gods in a shower of roses.  As Venus is about to step out of her shell and onto the shore, a Nymph reaches out to cover her with a cloak.  Suzka realizes her new role at this point might be a Nymph. Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel And don’t forget to subscribe. Enjoy

Thank you for listening to this podcast ‘She Cannot Live Alone’. For me, it is the most important episode, the turning point in my story.  My life in Dementialand started in 2007 and after a decade, I still remember the weight of those 4 words – 'she cannot live alone'. It was devastating to hear. I was scared to death. But I must tell you, moving in with my mother to that place I called Dementialand was more amazing than horrifying. There is a certain amount of freedom that comes with memory loss. I wrote a note on a paper napkin during that time, "I learned to see my mother with my eyes opened and not curtained by her motherhood or my ego. I let go of that daughter I thought I was suppose to be.  We met each other for the first time ....almost daily.”  To this day I try to carry a little bit of Dementialand with me.  My name is Suzka. The writer and producer of the Dementialand Podcasts Voice by Doctor: William McCray Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast ALSO, check out YouTube’s Dementialand’s Channel.    Enjoy

The words that doctor told me regarding my mother.... 'she cannot live alone' piled up on top of each other and stuck in my head. I could not breathe. I felt faint and damp. I blinked fast as not to cry…. "If your name is chosen, there is no turning back. As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."   – Albus Dumbledore My name is Suzka. The writer and producer of the Dementialand Podcasts Voice of Doctor: William McCray Voice of Dumbledore: Albert Cristy Voice of Nurse Lucy: Precious Mizell Voice of Miss Blanchard: Crystal Welch Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast ALSO, check out YouTube’s Dementialand’s Channel.    Enjoy

“My mother’s name was Violet. She was the oldest of four children. Two girls came first and then two boys born twelve and thirteen years later. The first boy’s birth was difficult. According to my mother, the midwife had to use two gallons of lubricating oil.  My mother’s baby brother didn’t slide out like a pound cake from its pan, fresh out of the oven.” Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel And don’t forget to subscribe.

GUILT:  This is not good. I signed all the the papers that condemned my mother to a nursing home for ten days. It was the hospital and my mother’s insurance company that made that decision. I was assured that she would be in good care. They told me it was the best place for her treatment, the infusion of antibiotics needed for her meningitis-encephalitis. But that didn’t make me feel any better.  For me, it was going to be ten days in hell. She’s gonna kill me. My name is Suzka. The writer and producer of the Dementialand Podcasts Voice of Charles Dickens: Albert Cristy  Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel Enjoy

#memories #painting #mentor A picturesque story about Suzka, the painter, whose struggle with life and its unpredictable conditions, led her decades later to Dementialand. Episode#9 Voice of snowplow engineer and Mentor: Albert Cristy Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel

#caregivers #dementia #memory The transfer for Violet from the hospital to The Aged Oaks Pavilion begins. Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel

The Aged Oak Pavilion from the linoleum side. Not sure I ever told you how I started the Dementialand podcast. It is my version of the audio book Wonders In Dementialand. Episodes are short 10-15 minute in length created for the very, very busy listeners. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section or email me directly. Thank you. Suzka   Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel

#wheeloffortune #gameshows #dementia Activity Night at the Aged Oaks Nursing Pavilion takes a dark turn that banned Suzka from all social activities. Enjoy.  My name is Suzka. The writer, narrator and producer of the Dementialand Podcasts Voices of Residents:  Albert Cristy and friend inside myself.   Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand™ Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast Check and Like on YouTube: Dementialand Channel

My thinking: Something happened to me during the time when I was living with my mother’s dementias that I can’t explain. Maybe it started when I dropped my daughterness and met this woman who use to be my mother.  Written and produced by Suzka. Check and Like on Facebook: Dementialand Channel And don’t forget to subscribe.

For the past month I have been reorganizing the Dementialand podcast. Some previous episodes got merged into one and I added images to the early podcasts. I think you like them. The timing is perfect. In the following episodes, we will be moving officially move into Dementialand.  I’ll keep you posted. Check back and even better... subscribe. It’s easy, just click the button. See you in Episode #14 

I brought my mother home from the nursing home.  She had finished the 10 day antibiotic treatment for the meningitis-encephalitis.  We were now committed roommates.  I slipped off my shoes and sunk into the sofa, resting my head on the back cushion. My mother hardly noticed that I had surrendered myself to her stories and the tiny breath that separated them. We were unplugged from the world. What I thought was real just minutes ago had lost its grip. I allowed myself to be cradled in the nonsensical, cockeyed rhythm of my mother's chatter. The crazy babbling and chopped up sentences were more engaging than trying to interpret their meaning.  Written and produced by Suzka. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand available on Amazon Please RATE AND REVIEW this podcast ALSO: YouTube Channel: Dementialand   Enjoy

This was Violet's birthday month and the month her driver's license would expire. But she was more confused these day so I was concerned. She often didn’t remember my name or how many children she had. But she remembered the expiration date on her driver license. It was bitter sweet. This could change everything. She was exceptionally alert this day as if she exercised her brain all night long. Her wits were to be tested. The stakes were high.   Written and produced by Suzka. Voices of The Greeter, Bulldog Man, Lady Eye Tester, Whimpering Man and Frederick the Examiner were by Albert C. Based on the book: Wonders In Dementialand available on Amazon Please SUBSCRIBE and check ‘thumbs-up’ Enjoy iTunes: Dementialand YouTube Channel: Dementialand