Nearly a decade ago, I noticed things that my husband did that seemed different, sometimes bizarre, often different than the man I fell in love with and married. He was a sweet man, hard working, thoughtful, and loving, who sometimes did things like grab waitresses, disparage family members, drink more than he should, began having a hard time keeping a job. As time went on, these things got more frequent and out of character. I worried and my husband wondered sometimes what was wrong with him. Fast forward years and with a lot of fighting for medical care (misdiagnosis, non belief by the medical community, fighting for referrals, etc.) and finally some NeuroPsych Cognitive Testing coupled with many neurologists, we have the diagnosis of Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD). These are scary waters we're faced with.
So, this is my journey, my husband's journey, our journey, as we try to navigate this new reality with bvFTD. By sharing personal experiences and our life, I hope that others who are facing a new reality will find comfort in knowing that there are others out there who are dealing with this difficult and challenging disease, both those with the diagnosis and their caregivers, partners, and families.
