187: The Good Listening To Show with Chris Grimes - Episode 187187: The Good Listening To Show with Chris Grimes - Episode 187
UK Health Radio Podcast
Sue Garrett talks with Chris Grimes about her life as a nurse, her family story, and caring for her husband Andy through dementia. The conversation reflects on resilience, regret, humour and the hope that their experience might ease the path for others facing similar struggles.
39:59•26 Sept 2026
Legacy Life Reflections with Nurse Sue Garrett: Family, Dementia and Keeping the Glass Half Full
Episode Overview
- Choosing to "swim" rather than "sink" in difficult situations can shape a whole life of resilience.
- A long nursing career can provide powerful skills and perspective when caring for family members at home.
- Moving away to start afresh may ease one burden but can create lasting tension with children, so decisions need careful thought.
- Humour, small rituals and staying "glass half full" help when dealing with ongoing stress, grief and illness.
- Engaging with dementia research and support groups can turn personal hardship into practical help for future families.
“You can sink or swim. You've got two choices. You either swim out of this horrible situation or, I'm afraid, you just sink and wallow.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction, illness and family strain? This UK Health Radio episode follows Sue Garrett, a lifelong nurse and devoted grandmother, as she shares "legacy life reflections" with host Chris Grimes on The Good Listening To Show.
You'll hear Sue talk through the big forces that shaped her: a strong-willed grandmother Ethel and grandfather Sid, whose experiences in the First World War put everything into perspective; her parents, who doubted she’d qualify as a state registered nurse; and the sheer determination that proved them wrong. Her nursing career threads through hospital wards, district roles, practice work and emergency responding, all of it leaving her with a deep instinct to look after others.
The emotional heart of the episode is Sue’s fierce love for her husband Andy as he lives with dementia.
She explains how her nursing skills help her care for him, yet also how powerless she feels: "It's been a hard battle, a long battle, and I hope people don't have to go through half that Andy and I have." She’s actively involved with a rare dementia group and hopes Andy’s brain can be studied to spare future families some of their pain.
There’s humour, too: tales of table tennis scars, red squirrels in the Lake District, famous patients like Tommy Cooper, and a tongue-in-cheek look at her local "gin club" and late-in-life first curry at 40. Through it all, Sue keeps returning to one simple mantra given by a psychotherapist colleague: "You can sink or swim." This conversation lands well for anyone juggling care, grief, complicated family dynamics and their own wellbeing.
It’s about staying "half-full", holding onto kindness, and asking honestly: how do you keep swimming when life feels like troubled water?
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