Our Families Journey Caring for a Mom with FTLD-MND

It is important to know as you read this journal that this was Cathy's life post diagnosis...

To know Cathy Truly you must know that she was: a Wife, Mother of 3 boys, Grandmother of 9, Sister, Niece, Aunt, Daughter, and Friend.

Our families journey began with Cathy's diagnosis the week of Thanksgiving 2006, Cathy was 52. Her original diagnosis was Pick's Disease/FTD. Looking back her symptoms most likely began 3-5 years before diagnosis. Most of the Doctors have told us that from onset of symptoms to death... the average timeframe is 4-7 years. (sigh) In the end her brain autopsy showed Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration with Motor Neuron Disease FTLD-MND. (Basically... Frontal Lobe Dementia with Lou Gehrig's Disease)

Thursday, April 19, 2007

2 year's ago...


I found this picture we took on Cathy's 51st Birthday, just 2 years ago. It was taken when we were up in Wisconsin.
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Cathy's 53rd Birthday

We celebrated her 53rd Birthday this weekend.

It went ok. I have to be honest. We all visited & enjoyed spending time together. I got her picture with her cake. We ate supper, & we were still waiting for some family to arrive before eating the cake.... but then looked over and she was cutting it up & eating some. She was in a hurry. It seems that anytime she gets something on her mind she just b-lines it to get it done. This illness makes her lose her social skills. She prefers to eat alone & hurry right back to the recliner to watch a movie. I am Thankful I got this picture of her & her smiling!

On a side note she has been cutting her own hair. It has a choppy look to it. She did get it cut before coming down & the hairstylist tried to smooth it out. For a few years she had been growing it long again. But now she seems to prefer it short.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)