I am Leslee and I joined this group over a year ago. I found the group, on a particularly dark day, while googling information on FTD. My mom, Deon, was diagnosed with FTD (behavior variant) and vascular dementia in 2018. I believe she started having symptoms of FTD in 2016, and possibly earlier, though it is hard to know. Mom has slowly gone from an active watercolor artist, hiker and grandmother, to a person who exists in her rocking chair or bed. She requires care in her home. She cannot do any of her own personal care without prompts. She is now very quiet. She will answer questions sometimes, but speaks very little. She is extremely fond of food and thinks about it a lot, which has caused her to gain weight. In short, my mother is almost unrecognizable to me. FTD robbed my mother of her personality and characteristics.
On the positive side she recognizes me and my siblings, smiles a lot, and loves the familiarity of her home. I am very grateful for this.
As for me, my heart is broken. I feel that I have already lost my mother and will still have to face her death at some point. This feels so wrong! I feel guilty when I am not around her and I feel depressed when I am with her. This is so hard and I HATE FTD!
Can anyone relate?
Hi Leslee, this is Diane in Boise. How strange that the first comment I read on this blog is from someone in my own state? Our long journey of caring for my father ended in April of 2022. He died from FTD. The one thing I am most grateful for is that we never had to put him in a home. It was a difficult road the last couple of years, but it was all about love. I would have not have wanted anybody else caring for my dad. It was definitely a team effort between myself, my mother and my husband. If there is anything I can offer in a way of support or ideas for care or anything else, please feel free to reach out: auntofthreekids@gmail.com.