Note on "Stages of FTD" post

Tonight I went through this list & quickly highlighted (by putting her symptoms in all caps) all the signs/symptoms Cathy experienced. To give you somewhat of an idea about our journey. This is in no way a complete list of all the signs/symptoms experienced by Cathy or others with FTD. This is just a list used as a tool to help others understand this disease... a brief peek into the world of someone with FTD as told by caregivers. To help people understand how FTD is different than Alzheimer's Disease. (Note: not all 1500 members of the forum posted their loved ones symptoms, this is just a sampling & a beginning to our list)

The list may seem overwhelming. But what you must know about FTD is that everyone's journey is different, no two journeys are the same. It was explained to us as if you are going down a river & one branch is blocked, you find another path, and then another branch is blocked, and you find another path, until there are no paths left. Every journey is different... yet the same. The signs/symptoms vary depending on which parts of the brain are being affected by the disease. The same areas are being affected with everyone, but at different rates & different times. For example: If you send 10 people into a house with all the lights on & tell them to turn off all the lights, each person will take a different path through the house to do so. All the lights will eventually be turned off but in different orders. Somewhat like FTD. (I know... it was the only thing I could think of to explain it, as I sit here looking around my house thinking, "My Dad would be yelling at me for having the kitchen, living, & hall light on right now!")

In some ways it is difficult for me to post this about Cathy. Because Cathy prior to this disease was none of these things. But... the purpose of this is to inform others about what to possibly be prepared for. Although I wonder to myself... if I had known all of this in the beginning would have I been too overwhelmed??? Uffda! (Yes... but I would have wanted to know!)