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Continued prayers and vibes for your mom, AD. BTW, I love the idea of piano lessons at 91 to keep her brain sharp.

What a "late diagnosis" is probably referring to is that FTD is typically an "early onset" dementia. So most people with it are developing it in their late 50s, early 60s which when you think it through is pretty devastating. These people are at their prime in life, still working, raising family, physically healthy, but with a mind that is betraying them and they don't realize it.

That said, it has been diagnosed in people as young as 20 and as old as 80 something. So "late" probably doesn't mean that your mom is being diagnosed later in the progress of the dementia than anyone else*, more that she's a bit older than others with FTD which from my perspective is a blessing since you and your siblings have more maturity and experience to deal with the difficulties you're being presented with.

*Since one of the characteristics of FTD is called "insidious onset" meaning the signs creep up on you, FTD is hard to diagnose and at this point is usually confirmed only with an autopsy. So while looking back you might say, "Wow, she was showing signs here, here and here and we missed it," that's precisely the nature of the disease.

Hope this helps. Again, I am not a doctor, just a researcher that's spent time with FTD families.

Vibes to all y'all.

lawgrad91 wrote:Continued prayers and vibes for your mom, AD. BTW, I love the idea of piano lessons at 91 to keep her brain sharp.

Thanks for the prayers and vibes! My mom is only 70. I believe it's capt mojo's mom that's 91.

bluebutton wrote:What a "late diagnosis" is probably referring to is that FTD is typically an "early onset" dementia. So most people with it are developing it in their late 50s, early 60s which when you think it through is pretty devastating. These people are at their prime in life, still working, raising family, physically healthy, but with a mind that is betraying them and they don't realize it.

That said, it has been diagnosed in people as young as 20 and as old as 80 something. So "late" probably doesn't mean that your mom is being diagnosed later in the progress of the dementia than anyone else*, more that she's a bit older than others with FTD which from my perspective is a blessing since you and your siblings have more maturity and experience to deal with the difficulties you're being presented with.

*Since one of the characteristics of FTD is called "insidious onset" meaning the signs creep up on you, FTD is hard to diagnose and at this point is usually confirmed only with an autopsy. So while looking back you might say, "Wow, she was showing signs here, here and here and we missed it," that's precisely the nature of the disease.

Hope this helps. Again, I am not a doctor, just a researcher that's spent time with FTD families.

Vibes to all y'all.

Thanks, bluebutton! Your did correctly interpret what I meant by "late diagnosis". I think she may be in fairly early stages of FTD, assuming that's what the final diagnosis is. So, we're thinking (hoping) that we're dealing with late diagnosis (in terms of her age) and early stages of FTD. If this is true, and medication slows the progression, that would be good. We just don't know what we're dealing with in terms of rate of progression.

My sister and I had the "insidious onset" conversation last night. Our other point of discussion is concern because both of us exhibit one key symptom that's similar to Mom's: we get in the middle of a sentence and forget what we're saying, and we both inadvertently combine/garble words. She has always attributed this to the fact that she has MS, and her lesions are in the part of her brain that affect visual and cognitive skills. I have no such excuse. Now it's hard to say if it's something to be concerned about or a bit of paranoia given the current situation.

Still vibin' away for ArkieMom. And a shout out to Capt Mojo ---- How's yours doin' ? As Mothers' Day nears they are all naturally on our minds.

Love, Ima

Just heard from my sister that we have a definite diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia for my mom. They'll monitor and do repeat testing in a few months in order to get a better idea of rate of progression. I'm very sad for all of us, but at least we know what's going on.

ArkieDukie wrote:Just heard from my sister that we have a definite diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia for my mom. They'll monitor and do repeat testing in a few months in order to get a better idea of rate of progression. I'm very sad for all of us, but at least we know what's going on.

So sorry, AD, but as you said, at least you know and can start to take action.

lawgrad91 wrote:

ArkieDukie wrote:Just heard from my sister that we have a definite diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia for my mom. They'll monitor and do repeat testing in a few months in order to get a better idea of rate of progression. I'm very sad for all of us, but at least we know what's going on.

So sorry, AD, but as you said, at least you know and can start to take action.

What law grad said. Sending you lots of virtual hugs.

Hugs and prayers and vibes to you and your family - and most especially to your Mom.

(((HUGS))) to you, AD!

Oh, man. I don't know what I was hoping you'd find, but this certainly wasn't it. Many of us her age are just waiting and wondering what the hitch in our get-alongs will turn out to be. I bet she has lots of good friends who will understand and be invaluable to her as she rolls up her sleeves and handles this. Of course your terrific family team will be giving her encouragement and love and many fun days ahead.

Try and keep in mind that all any of us has for certain is right this minute. Just don't waste any of them. Events like this remind us all not to take things for granted, so I bet your times together will be all the sweeter now.

Hugs and big ol' vibes to all of you.
Love, love, love, Ima

Ditto what Ima said. Hugs to you, AD!

ArkieDukie wrote:

lawgrad91 wrote:Continued prayers and vibes for your mom, AD. BTW, I love the idea of piano lessons at 91 to keep her brain sharp.

Thanks for the prayers and vibes! My mom is only 70. I believe it's capt mojo's mom that's 91.

Yep. 91.

Ima Facultiwyfe wrote:Still vibin' away for ArkieMom. And a shout out to Capt Mojo ---- How's yours doin' ? As Mothers' Day nears they are all naturally on our minds.

Love, Ima

She's still on the liquid diet for now. The Drs are being very cautious with her, because of her age and condition, and in order to cover their own butts. Any surgery on one of her age requires caution. So, I understand.

Hope all turns out the best for yours AD.

Anyone interested in a general and personal overview of FTD, there's an article in the Sunday Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/healt ... se.html?hp

bluebutton wrote:Anyone interested in a general and personal overview of FTD, there's an article in the Sunday Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/healt ... se.html?hp

Thanks for the link, bluebutton.

I've been reading the book that you recommended earlier as well. There's a discussion of genetics (small percentage of cases inherited), but there's also a genetic predisposition/environmental trigger discussion. My brain latched onto this idea, and I started wondering if my mom's semi-recent bout with shingles was somehow connected, since the really dramatic changes started appearing shortly after the shingles flare-up. Being a science nerd, I did a lit search and found a paper in a clinical neuropsychology journal that reports just such a link.

Hugs, prayers and vibes for you mom, your family and you.

Continued best wishes for everyone.

Vibes from here will continue indefinitely for you and your mom, hon. You're getting complete understanding from these quarters. My mother suffers from NPH. It was determined that in her case a shunt wouldn't solve her problem.
It's amazing all of these classifications of what used to be just lumped together as simply dementia. I think we just weren't designed to live as long as folks are these days.

Meanwhile, it's a spectacular morning here. Hope it is where you are and that you can stay in the moment long enough to appreciate it. Make it a good day.

Love, Ima