Hal
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Botox Shots For My MND
I received Botox injections for my MND on June 16th and I had a total of 20 injections in my neck, shoulders and legs. The pain I was having is somewhat relieved, but I am now experiencing weakness in my legs and get fatigued easily. The stiffness in my shoulders is still there and will probably have to increase the dosage of the Botox. I was given the lowest dose of Botox and will continue to have this done for at least a year. I was off from work most of that week due to the shots and am starting to get some of my strength back. My next appointment is in October and will wait to see if I will have any injections in my legs. At the same appointment, I did have my regular exam with my Neurologist. He said that things were about the same as the last appointment with the exception of more weakness in my legs and shoulders. I think that the weakness will be what I will have to deal with in the immediate future. Cindy and I have already looked into getting a motorized scooter/wheelchair to help compensate for the continuing weakness. I want to let you know that I feel like I am a walking pharmacy and the Walgreen's that fills my prescriptions knows Cindy by sight and by her first name. I am taking 32 pills per day, 11 different medications, prescription and non-prescription and they help me with my FTD/MND. If I wasn't on this many different types of medications, I wouldn't be able to function on a daily basis. Again, thanks for reading my blog and will have another post soon about how my FTD/MND has affected my partners and staff at The Springs Funeral Services.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
An Introduction To FTD/MND
This is the first post on my blog and I want to give a big thank you to those who are reading this. I want to give a short introduction on FTD and MND. I think this will help you understand what is going on in my life.
Frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) is a disease process that results in progressive damage to the anterior temporal and/or frontal lobes of the brain. It causes a group of brain disorders that share many clinical features. The hallmark of FTD is a gradual, progressive decline in behavior and/or language that often has a relatively young age at onset (mid-50s to 60s), but has been seen as early as 21 and as late as 80 years. As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to plan or organize activities, behave appropriately in social or work settings, interact with others, and care for oneself, resulting in increasing dependency.
FTD represents an estimated 10%-20% of all dementia cases and is recognized as one of the most common dementia's affecting a younger population. It is estimated that FTD affects approximately 50,000-60,000 Americans. FTD occurs equally in men and women. In a minority of cases, it is inherited.
While there are currently no treatments to slow or stop the progression of the disease, FTD research is expanding, producing greater understanding of the disorders. We anticipate that this knowledge will result in a growing number of potential therapeutics entering clinical testing within the next few
years.
In about 10-15% of patients with FTD, the disease also involves the nerve cells controlling voluntary movement, called motor neurons. When this occurs, the syndrome is called FTD with motor neuron disease (FTD/MND) or FTD with ALS.
Patients with FTD/MND may present with the same behavioral and/or language changes seen in other subtypes of FTD. In this syndrome however, these changes are accompanied by a deterioration of motor neurons that manifest as weakness in the muscles with stiffness, difficulty making fine movements, atrophy (shrinkage) of the muscles, and fine muscle twitches and cramps. Muscle changes can affect the arms and/or legs on one or both sides of the body, or the face, tongue and mouth, depending on how the nervous system is affected in that individual. As the disease worsens, more parts of the motor system become involved. Patients with this diagnosis usually experience a rapid decline in both physical and cognitive abilities. The course of FTD/MND may be as quick as 2-3 years, as opposed to the 5-10 year course more commonly seen among other FTD patients.
This information was taken from the AFTD.org website. I hope this has provided valuable insight and now you will have a better understanding of my blog.
Hal
Frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) is a disease process that results in progressive damage to the anterior temporal and/or frontal lobes of the brain. It causes a group of brain disorders that share many clinical features. The hallmark of FTD is a gradual, progressive decline in behavior and/or language that often has a relatively young age at onset (mid-50s to 60s), but has been seen as early as 21 and as late as 80 years. As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to plan or organize activities, behave appropriately in social or work settings, interact with others, and care for oneself, resulting in increasing dependency.
FTD represents an estimated 10%-20% of all dementia cases and is recognized as one of the most common dementia's affecting a younger population. It is estimated that FTD affects approximately 50,000-60,000 Americans. FTD occurs equally in men and women. In a minority of cases, it is inherited.
While there are currently no treatments to slow or stop the progression of the disease, FTD research is expanding, producing greater understanding of the disorders. We anticipate that this knowledge will result in a growing number of potential therapeutics entering clinical testing within the next few
years.
In about 10-15% of patients with FTD, the disease also involves the nerve cells controlling voluntary movement, called motor neurons. When this occurs, the syndrome is called FTD with motor neuron disease (FTD/MND) or FTD with ALS.
Patients with FTD/MND may present with the same behavioral and/or language changes seen in other subtypes of FTD. In this syndrome however, these changes are accompanied by a deterioration of motor neurons that manifest as weakness in the muscles with stiffness, difficulty making fine movements, atrophy (shrinkage) of the muscles, and fine muscle twitches and cramps. Muscle changes can affect the arms and/or legs on one or both sides of the body, or the face, tongue and mouth, depending on how the nervous system is affected in that individual. As the disease worsens, more parts of the motor system become involved. Patients with this diagnosis usually experience a rapid decline in both physical and cognitive abilities. The course of FTD/MND may be as quick as 2-3 years, as opposed to the 5-10 year course more commonly seen among other FTD patients.
This information was taken from the AFTD.org website. I hope this has provided valuable insight and now you will have a better understanding of my blog.
Hal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)