A man whose wife is dying of early-onset dementia has revealed the “unbearable” reality of the illness.
The 45-year-old said his wife began experiencing signs of dementia in 2022, when she was 51 years old. The couple, who remained anonymous, worked together and the husband noticed that she was having trouble completing her normal tasks.
The man said: ‘She was failing at a job she was very capable of doing. That’s what made me realize.’
Eventually, his wife was fired and shortly afterward his personality changed and he began “acting very erratically.”
A series of tests and MRIs revealed that she had frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the same form of dementia that Wendy Williams and Bruce Willis have.
FTD causes the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, located behind the forehead, to shrink. These areas are responsible for behavior, problem solving, planning, and recognition of familiar faces and objects.
In an Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread On Reddit, the man wrote while his wife, now 53, knows what is happening to him, it will probably be only a year before he has to move into a nursing home.
While the family has not been given a life expectancy, most patients live less than 10 years after diagnosis, and the woman’s father died of the same disease at age 58.
In an Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit, a man described his wife’s struggle with frontotemporal dementia at just 53 years old.
Wendy Williams (pictured left) and Bruce Willis (right) were diagnosed with FTD before the age of 65.
The man, who lost his first wife to cancer, said: “Everything is a struggle.” Time management at home and at work. Our financial situation is terrible. The stress can sometimes be almost unbearable.
‘It’s destroying me. “The future is so scary.”
Although other forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, mainly affect people over the age of 65, FTD can appear between the ages of 40 and 60, with an average life expectancy of only seven years after diagnosis.
FTD accounts for approximately one in 20 cases of dementia, which represents approximately 50,000 to 60,000 Americans.
The Alzheimer’s Association states that “behavioral changes are often the first noticeable symptoms” in FTD because the disease damages areas of the brain responsible for personality.
However, Alzheimer’s usually causes this after the disease progresses.
Dr Susan Dickinson, medical director of the Frontotemporal Degeneration Association, previously told DailyMail.com that FTD can “damage” relationships due to the patient’s erratic moods and behaviours.
She said: “With family finances, for example… due to errors in judgment, patients may have spent the children’s college fund on a sports car or two.”
Patients may also be more apathetic, meaning they lack feelings or emotions and may not show concern for others or motivation.
The Reddit poster said she is worried that her 11-year-old son, who is adopted, doesn’t fully understand what his mother is going through.
‘He knows something is changing with her. I don’t think I fully understand it,’ he said.
He also noticed that his wife becomes “very angry and bitter” with frequent mood swings and outbursts.
Although he can handle basic care like dressing and showering, he “has a hard time doing simple tasks” like doing laundry and often forgets to turn off appliances. He no longer drives and “really likes to reorganize the house.”
Her husband said: ‘She was once a fabulous cook. Now he has trouble even using the stove.’
However, she still recognizes us. There are days when you wouldn’t think anything was happening.
Over time, more and more areas of the brain deteriorate in patients with FTD, causing symptoms to resemble late-stage Alzheimer’s, including difficulty eating or swallowing, problems walking, and being vulnerable to infections. due to the weakening of the blood-brain barrier.
Dr. Keith Vossel, a neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, previously told DailyMail.com that patients with FTD tend to need full-time care within three to five years of diagnosis.
The disease itself is not fatal, but it causes other problems that are serious or life-threatening.
These include problems swallowing, which is medically called dysphagia.
Problems eating and drinking also increase the risk of developing pneumonia or respiratory failure.
The unnamed woman’s husband believes she will be able to live at home for another year before having to move into a nursing home.
He said: “She is terrified of what the future holds.”
For now, he said the family is focusing on staying afloat financially, since their job is “barely enough to cover their needs and those of the home.”
She also wants to travel while she can.
Her husband said: ‘She has a lot she still wants to do. He wants me to see where he grew up. I hope to at least do that for her.