New member - information please?

[Jess24]

Hi. My father has been diagnosed with fronto temporal dementia, just last week. He is only 55. He is in the very early stages. My family is devastated. It absolutely breaks my heart.
We are in Australia.
My mum is only 53, I am 24 with two slightly older brothers. I have now read of even younger cases being diagnosed, with much younger children losing one of their parents. But I still feel so cheated. Can't quite comprehend what this means for my family's future at this stage.
Am glad to have found Talking Point so that I can connect with people in a similar situation.
I have a question also - is FTD the same as Pick's disease? From the information I have been reading on the internet, it appears as though they are two different names for the same condition. Could anyone confirm/correct that for me please?

Regards, Jess.

 

[Brucie]

Hi Jess,

Welcome to Talking Point!

I have moved your post into the main forum area where more people will see it.

 

[Grannie G]

Hello Jess

I`m so sorry about your father, he is very young as so of course are you, to have to face FTD.

The following Factsheet might be of help.

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/404

I hope talking Point [TP] will be a source of support for you as it has been for so many.

Love xx

 

[Skye]

Hi Jess, and welcome to TP.

Your father is young to have dementia, but FTD seems to strike earlier tham Alzheimer's. (Generalisation, sorry. That's just the way it appears from members' posts).

Pick's is a specific form of FTD, as you'll have gathered from the factsheet, but there are many different forms.

My husband John has primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which is also a form of FTD, but doesn't have all the symptoms of Pick's. For example, I was lucky in that he never became aggressive, though he very quickly lost all language.

I hope you'll keep posting, and keep us updated. There are many members caring for someone with FTD, and it's helpful for us all to compare notes.

All the best,

 

[blue sea]

Dear Jess
Welcome to TP. I'm sure you will find plenty of support here as you come to terms with this sad news about your father. Hopefully the progression of the illness will be very slow and you will still be able to enjoy many happy times together as a family.
Blue sea

 

[helen.tomlinson]

Hi Jess

I am so sorry to hear about your father having FTD. Of course you are all devastated.

My husband has FTD and when I first suspected, I decided to let life have as much normality as possible. I didn't concentrate on the illness at all (although I would be noticing things that Alan would be doing/saying differently). They were very good days even though there was the devastating fact of FTD in the background.

I am very glad of that decision now. Alan is 77 (78 next month) - I am 58. Although Alan has changed a lot since those early days, he is still able to do many things. He gardens, cycles, canoes, walks, laughs etc. etc. I still think of these as the good days even though the bad days are creeping in a little bit more now.

If your dad is at the early stages, please try to make the most of him - it doesn't have to be devastating for quite a while yet hopefully.

Much love Helen

 

[Margarita]

Hi Jess

Welcome to TP, I don't know a lot about FTD, but you may find this site helpful I found it when I was bowering for something else

http://www.cerebralfunctionunit.co.uk/informationsheets.html