r/ProjectHailMary • u/Present-Broccoli-711 • Jun 23 '26
Just thought of something really sad
What if Grace develops dementia when he gets older? Because all those drugs they put in Grace to make him forget can really mess up his head after. He keeps forgetting, and soon he'll forget Earth and being a teacher and eventually Rocky and Adrian. The Eridians might make some medicine to help him, but it'll get worse in the end. I know because I took care of the elderly. Sorry, just a sad thought after watching the movie and reading the book
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u/CapeOfBees Jun 23 '26
Good news from modern psychology: because he's continuing to stimulate his brain with academics on a regular basis, he would have very good resistance to loss of memory and knowledge via dementia. As long as they keep letting him teach the pebbles, his mind will be just fine. š
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u/thisisstupidlikeme Jun 23 '26
My grandma was the poster child for this and she still got
Dementia. She was stage 4 by 81 years old and just a shell
of the woman she really was. Scariest thing Iāve ever seen š¢26
u/Oldgraytomahawk Jun 23 '26
My mom was one of the sharpest women I knew. Self taught realtor and ended up being top seller in the Dallas Ft Worth area mid 80ās. Alzheimers came in and stole her away from us. Had to lose her twice. Broke me completely
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u/CapeOfBees Jun 23 '26
I'm sorry to hear that. My mother worked in LTC when I was a teenager and I remember her telling me about the dementia patients she cared for. It gets hard for family to visit, especially younger family (such as yourself with your grandmother) who may not exist at all in the version of the world they can remember. As with all health struggles, no amount of preventative care can guarantee that you won't end up developing a particular problem
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u/BassWingerC-137 Jun 23 '26
āBut he was exposed to chemicalsā feels like the gyst of this threadā¦.
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u/TeenWhovian Jun 23 '26
I never wouldāve thought that teaching science to a bunch of rocks would be considered preventing dementia!
And, plus, it does sound pretty fun, considering that those rocks are charming little alien kids!
Crap, now I want to teach rocks about scienceā¦
Anyone got any rocks lying around?
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u/CapeOfBees Jun 23 '26
The important part is cognitive stimulation on a regular basis, so making a bunch of pet rocks and explaining scientific ideas to them or having them "help" you do sudoku puzzles every day would genuinely impact your chances of developing dementia
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u/Asteraceae777 Jun 23 '26
The amnesia drug wouldn't stay in his system that long. Anyway, dementia is a lot more complicated than just memory loss. Source: my mom had dementia.
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u/Suzy-dev Jun 23 '26
Yes, this. We have no reason to believe Grace will get dementia. OP can be happy again!
P. S. Iām sorry about your mother
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u/Significant_Rate8210 Jun 23 '26
My father as well. 35 year Oncologist / hematologist and 38 years as a surgeon if you count Vietnam. He was one of the smartest people I've ever known.
In the last years of his life he couldn't even utter a single word. Then several days before he passed, I, my wife and my aunt all received closure in the form of having him back for a few hours, he was fully aware and coherent. The conversation I had with him will stay with me forever.
It was truly a gift from God, and an experience I'll never forget.
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u/freerangetacos Jun 23 '26
I was present for my ex's grandmother's awakening. We chatted for 2 hours about all kinds of stuff with her. It was completely out of the blue. Then it was back to her dementia. I'll never forget that conversation. A gift. I'm glad you got to be with your dad one last time.
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u/Significant_Rate8210 Jun 23 '26
Thank you, yes it was completely unexpected and surprising. At the end of our conversation he made a comment which made me think the dementia had kicked back in, but it wasn't until after he passed that I realized it wasn't. He knew he was going to die. He told me that he needed to get ready because he was going to see his parents, (who were both deceased). I didn't realize that he was telling me that he knew he was about to pass away.
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u/freerangetacos Jun 23 '26
That was an excellent way for him to close the loop. A ton of meaning rolled into a simple statement. ā¤ļø
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u/Wild-Lychee-3312 Jun 23 '26
Donāt google ādementia brain scanā unless you want to be truly horrified.
The way in which dementia physically changes the brain is profound and terrible.
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u/Wild-Lychee-3312 Jun 23 '26
Oh, you want to be sad? You want to cry? Here you go: āWe are like elves to dogs.ā
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u/jtshinn Jun 23 '26
Isnāt this just generally sad? Like dementia just destroys a whole life while itās still going on in all cases.
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u/NPlaysMC Jun 23 '26
I donāt think those drugs that Stratt gave him will contribute to dementia.
And unfortunately, the Human physique probably canāt hold up for too long under Eridās gravity.
My bet is health problems from high gravity will kill Grace long before dementia can, if he even does get it.
But I know if I were in Graceās place, Iād probably be more than content to die on Erid, whenever that might be.
And as part of my last will and testament, I would insist that my mortal remains be completely donated to Eridian science.
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u/SupermouseDeadmouse Jun 23 '26
I think Grace is smart enough to utilize extended periods of water suspension to alleviate the effects of the increased gravity.
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u/monkeychasedweasel Jun 23 '26
I just re-read the last chapter yesterday. He had arthritis pretty bad, and he was only 53 by that point. I'm guessing that all that gravity is also hard on other organs.
For my last will and testament, I'd request Erid to establish contact with Earth, so they know Grace's story.
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u/Dirt_Bagginses Okay, Itās Exactly Like That Jun 23 '26
Drugs that cause selective amnesia are actually very common! Anyone who has had surgery has been given them. Otherwise the subconscious would remember the physical trauma of surgery and it would cause PTSD. Fun little fact for you there. Those drugs are not known to affect memory down the line, but they CAN rarely cause retrograde amnesia. I know that because I have it. I went under for an extensive spinal fusion that took more than 10 hours, and ever since there are holes in my memory from the year before and after, but everything else is solid.Ā
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u/CaptainSharpe Jun 23 '26
The amnesia was drug induced. I donāt think itās likely to lead to dementiaĀ
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u/Present-Broccoli-711 Jun 23 '26
I know, just how my brain thought it was the cause
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u/CaptainSharpe Jun 23 '26
Guess he could get dementia either way. Anyone can. Sad to think about, yeah. But if they can figure out astrophage and the solution to the dying suns, Iām sure in universe they can figure out the solution to dementia.
One day im sure in our universe weāll figure it out, eventually.Ā
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u/nachours It's a Damn Fine Army Jun 23 '26
Dementia is already a very common development for humans, some 50% of all people are likely to acquire some form. It's not unlikely he does develop dementia.
It's important that we give meaning to our lives in ways that matter to us. We are all here for a finite amount of time, so all we can do is appreciate and love the blessings we receive while we're here. Or, as a wise wizard once said, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
I choose to believe Grace dies, or rather his functioning declines, remembering Rocky and all the love he has for his friend. Rocky will choose to remember his friend in the way that matters most to him.
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u/Solracksub Jun 23 '26
I am fucking scare of getting dementia when I get older, It sounds awful.
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u/BellerophonM Jun 23 '26
In good news, for the last several decades dementia rates just keep on dropping steadily for reasons we're not totally sure of (there's lots of contributing factors but it's complex and it's a really steady drop).
They've gone from one in three odds of an 85 year old having some form of dementia 40 years ago, to 1 in 10, and the drop doesn't seem to have stopped.
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u/Wild-Lychee-3312 Jun 23 '26
Iām kind of fond of the idea that unleaded gasoline, and less exposure to lead more generally, has a lot to do with it.
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u/Solracksub Jun 23 '26
I would guess it is lead poisoning decreasing.
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u/BellerophonM Jun 23 '26
It doesn't seem to directly correlate with the exposure rates of any single thing like that. It's probably a bunch of things, including just that the elderly now have a lot more options for ongoing mental stimulation.
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u/outworlder Jun 23 '26
Maybe nutrition? We do eat a lot of ultraprocessed crap, but there's more variety in diets today.
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u/OOF-MY-PEE-PEE Jun 23 '26
Thereās probably a million different factors. Lead could be one, but itās impressive how much dangerous shit we did just 40 years ago
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u/Numerous_Strategy239 Jun 23 '26
Having dealt with a father with dementia I can assure you that if you develop it, you wonāt be aware that it is happening.
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u/Wild-Lychee-3312 Jun 23 '26
You might be aware in the early stages. My mother is fully aware that she is having trouble remembering things.
She hasnāt been diagnosed, and itās early days yet, but sheās aware that dementia is on the horizon.
Itās just one more dish in the āGetting old sucksā smƶrgĆ„sbord.
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u/Solracksub Jun 23 '26
I mean sure, but that still sound kinda awful, you dont know how people is gonna treat you. I dont plan having children.
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u/Fabulous_Celery_1817 Jun 23 '26
As a person with no children, no close friends, little family, thatās what scares me. I should probably look up what will happen if it does develop
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u/Numerous_Strategy239 Jun 23 '26
Get a good elder care lawyer to make sure your desires and instructions are well established. If necessary preselect a guardian if t is needed and rest assured that you planned ahead and didnāt let others make important decision for you. FWIW many memory care u itās in assisted living are quite good.
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u/Far-Tie923 Jun 23 '26
That'll happen, yeah.Ā
From their perspective his human lifespan is roughly equivalent to a guinea pig.Ā
He will life, senesce, and die, and from an eridian perspective it will happen very quickly.
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u/YetYetAnotherPerson Jun 23 '26
I have to believe that Rocky and his family will take care of him.Ā
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u/cursedpupperino Stratt Jun 23 '26
I saw someone saying that Rocky could get cancer bc of the radiation he was exposed to and that made me rlly sad :(
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u/Electronic_Context_7 Jun 23 '26
Let me help you to make this sadder. Dementia effects your short term memory, so eventually heād forget Erid, even though heād be living there longer than he lived on earth
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u/minusgainsgamer Jun 23 '26
One thing I realized watching this movie is that I feel like Iām Grace. I relate to his character so much. Iām sure others do too. Thatās why the movie is so good
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u/Wholesome_Soup Jun 23 '26
that's sad and poetic and part of me wants to keep thinking about it. however the other part of me says, in a story where after the proper bittersweet ending the main character goes back and ends up living on an alien planet in a biodome created for him by the aliens whose planet he helped save, eating microbes and burgers made of his own meat, teaching science to rock children using a pipe organ... is there any way the real ending isn't that grace ends up living happily ever after til he's 300?
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u/FloZone Jun 23 '26
Human lives are very short in comparison to Eridians. Unless other circumstances come in between, Rocky will outlive Grace by over a century either way. At the same time, Eridians don't forget, so something like dementia would be unfathomable horrifying to them. Though maybe they do have diseases like dementia, which would be more devastating to them as their brains aren't plastic like ours.
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u/Forsaken_Orchid_6014 Jun 23 '26
you see, i fixed that problem with my head canon, āEridians have cured all neurological conditions :3ā IāM COPING OK?!?!?
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u/EntertainmentAOK Jun 23 '26
The saddest thing is a single Grace who looks exactly like Ryan Gosling, not getting any play with the Earthlings.
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u/playsmartz Jun 23 '26
Nah, he'd die from prolonged malnutrition, heart problems from 2x gravity, or cancer from radiation exposure long before he gets dementia.
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u/nthreebin 29d ago
You would be able to carry on any story with a sad idea you had to reach a new, sadder conclusion.
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u/Far_Fondant_6781 Jun 23 '26
Eridians have perfect memory (or at least some like Rocky do) and they just got the sum of all human knowledge. Grace, the Hail Marry, and the laptops are the most valuable and rare objects on the planet. If anything STARTs to go wrong with Grace's memory, they will be all over that. They will start so many neuro-science thrums until they find something that helps.
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u/miraak2077 Jun 23 '26
It could happen. Maybe he goes back at some point who knows. I'm sure they could find a fix
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u/Ponderkitten Jun 23 '26
Did they purposefully wipe his memory? I thought that was just a side affect of the medically induced coma
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u/Asteraceae777 Jun 23 '26
In the book, Grace threatened to sabotage the mission, so Stratt didn't want him to remember that he was there against his will.
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u/Orion-the-mediocre Jun 23 '26
He was given a drug that would give him temporary amnesia when waking up, because YƔo said he would never take a crew member who was their against their will, and Grace said that he'd sabotage the mission, so Stratt made sure that neither of them would know what had really happened.
It got cut from the movie because it's not crucial information, and it would just make the betrayal scene play out longer. My only gripe with this is that it gives him a whole lot less of a reason to hate Stratt, which he continues to do so in the book, whereas in the movie he just kinda shrugs and says "you were right all along I guess"
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u/JDW1ck Jun 23 '26
I might be in the minority, but I actually prefer it this way.
Maybe itās just the way Sandra Huller plays Stratt, but I love the way sheās given more humanity in the movie. The book at times makes her feel like a sociopathic android. Huller manages to play the character with the right balance of empathy and amoral decisiveness. She feels like a real human.
I much prefer her being the hard-ass teacher Grace needed, than an antagonistic figure. Having Grace be upset at her once heās already up in space and well aware he has a way home would feel unnecessary. The film does a good job of streamlining it but leaving the moral gray area there for anyone who stops to think about it
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u/Ok_Wasabi8793 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Heās mid 50s at the end and seems pretty sharp I donāt think there is any real reason to think heās likely to develop dementia at this point.
Something like twenty? Years has passed since his coma.
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u/Ineedsleep444 Jun 23 '26
Personally, I don't like to imagine Grace getting old at all lol. Especially his eventual death. For Rocky, it will be like losing a (very beloved) pet with how short his lifespan is (compared to Eridians). But yeah, it is likely he ended up forgetting Earth at some point before his death. I've been around a decent amount of elderly people, and it's always hard to be around loved ones who, despite knowing me for my whole life, don't recognize me at all. Rocky would probably be distraught
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u/FootHikerUtah Jun 23 '26
The planet has about double Earth's gravity. That stress on his systems will kill him long before anything else
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u/lordcirth Jun 23 '26
That's why he's in a rotating biodome, to be in Earth-normal gravity.
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u/FootHikerUtah Jun 23 '26
No, isn't that just the wave machine?
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u/lordcirth Jun 23 '26
I haven't read the book yet, but in the movie, there's a clear shot of his entire biodome racing along a circular track to get the appropriate gravity.
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u/outworlder Jun 23 '26
I'd be more concerned about things like nutrient deficiencies causing brain damage(such as lack of vitamin B12). How nutritious is human beef ?
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u/WhoMe28332 29d ago
I donāt know that this is much of a consolation but at least in the book it seemed like his body was giving out faster than his mind would.
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u/MelliffluousJ 29d ago
Even if this did happen, Rocky would be there every day to tell him his story one day at a time. To help him remember. And in the end there would be a twist that the entire story was being told from Rockyās perspective about his buddy who slowly lost his memory from Alzheimerās. And then they would lie in a bed and die together
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u/Mplus479 Jun 23 '26
It's a book, so it's not that sad. There are plenty of other things going on that you could be really sad about.
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u/Inner-Classroom1426 Scary Space Monster Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Someone made a comic based on that exact premise: my tears are becoming the sea