Man shares moment mom battling dementia forgets who he is

Joey and his mother are documenting her battle with dementia in an effort to help others. (Joe Joe/Youtube )

An Ohio man who has been documenting his mother’s Lewy body dementia diagnosis has shared footage from what he is calling “the worst day of my life.” The video, which features son Joey and his 67-year-old mother whose name was not disclosed, shows the first time that she was unable to remember his name since being diagnosed.

“So you weren’t sure who my dad was, you know who my mom is?” Joey asked his mother in the video.

“No, I guess, I don’t know,” she said. “Tell me.”

Joey asked his mother where they might have met, with his mother first suggesting school and then adding that they could go to court to find out.

“Who am I?” Joey asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.

Joey, who did not disclose his last name, has put together six episodes, each timing more than 20 minutes long, with the first being posted on January 17. He said his mother was diagnosed at 65 and is now in a nursing home as she can no longer bathe herself, use the restroom or remember to take her medication.

“Decided to do a video series of myself picking her up two-to-three days a week just to try to help people out there understand dementia,” Joey said in the first video. “The caregivers, maybe there’s something that I do that might inspire them. I’m no expert, I’m just trying to go through life myself.”

Episode six, which is when Joey’s mother forgets his name, focuses around her asking questions about their family. At one point, she asked Joey if he is her daughter.

“Am I your daughter?” he repeated to her.

“I don’t know,” she said.

Joey is seen growing emotional during the questioning as his mother struggles to remember how many children she has, or who he is.

“I don’t even know if I knew you,” she said to him.

She then struggles to remember what questions she had asked him just moments before. After dropping her back at the nursing home, Joey is seen breaking down in his car.

“Hardest day of my life,” Joey said in the video while sobbing. “When your mother doesn’t know who you are. She knows my name, but doesn’t know who I am.”

“I feel like she just died,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting this when I woke up this morning. I thought this would come a lot later, when maybe she couldn’t talk.”

According to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, the disease affects an estimated 1.4 million individuals in the United States. Symptoms can mimic other known diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Joey said and he and his mother decided to post their videos because she wants to help others dealing with the disease.