As a degenerative disease robs her husband’s identity, a devoted wife battles caregiver fatigue and heartache, but eventually discovers a new purpose in life.
This documentary follows caregiver Siti as she finds herself on an unmapped course in caring for her husband, while trying to hold her family and her life together. Siti was still a young mother, in her mid 30s, when an insidious disease fell upon her beloved husband Gary Chua, and upended their lives forever. Lady! chronicles Siti’s intimate and bittersweet journey as she takes on the hardest role in her life to care for Gary, who was diagnosed with young onset dementia when he was 50. Dementia, typically seen as an “old-person’s disease”, is now afflicting younger Singaporeans, as early as in their late 30s. Gary was among thousands of such patients in Singapore, and that number is steadily growing, according to the National Neuroscience Institute. There is no cure. Since his diagnosis, Gary’s illness has created unending ripples within the family. Their 15-year-old twin sons have witnessed their father’s regression into a child-like state, where he would talk to himself in the mirror, play with their toys, and be gripped by imaginary fears. While round-the-clock responsibilities drive her into exhaustion, Siti remains the family’s source of strength — even as she watches her husband lose the ability to speak, recognise who she is, and eventually, pass on. Then, a grieving Siti is confronted with new questions: What’s next? Where does life go from here?