EP 73 :: Living With Frontotemporal Dementia :: Jennifer Lee
Jennifer Lee lives in Alabama with her husband, Chris, and their six children, who are between the ages of 14 and 25. Before her diagnosis with primary progressive aphasia(PPA) in 2017, she had worked as a high school English teacher and media specialist for 17 years.
PPA is a neurological syndrome in which language capabilities become slowly and progressively impaired. It is caused by neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease or Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration.
“I saw four different neurologists and had a series of cognitive tests done in two-hour sessions. In 2018, I was officially diagnosed,” Jennifer explains. “Now, sometimes when I try to speak, nothing comes out. Sometimes it’s a guttural sound that comes out, or nothing at all. Even when the words are in my mind, I can’t get them to come out of my mouth. Sometimes it feels like my mind is buffering.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a common cause of dementia, is a group of disorders that occur when nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain are lost. FTD can affect behavior, personality, language, and movement.
Symptoms typically start between the ages of 40 and 65, but FTD can strike young adults and those who are older. FTD affects men and women equally.
Family members are often the first to notice subtle changes in behavior or language skills. It’s important to see a healthcare provider as early as possible.
“Some of the things I started to experience were that I started to slur my words or mix up the front and back of words. My kids will tell me I talk like Yoda, where my sentences are inverted. I often think of the words, but then I put them in the wrong places,” Jennifer says.
You can find Jennifer on Facebook.
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