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NONPROFIT

FTD

Confidential

by Sarah Oxford, Executive Director, FTLDA

The Frontotemporal Lobar Terri’s sister Patsy was always gregarious and rassment. But Patsy didn’t seem to give it a
Degeneration Association was outgoing, intelligent and a conscientious, lov- thought. Who does that? Why? She once de-
founded in San Antonio by ing mother. But her extraordinary loss of em- cided to get out of the car WHILE Terri was
Terri Bratton in 2009. pathy, whacked out judgement, and bizarre driving on Loop 410. She was able to grab her
Terri lost her sister, aged 55 dis-inhibition raised a giant red flag. Patsy arm to keep her from exiting at 60 miles an
and her brother, aged 51 to a walked through her bedroom one night and hour. At the same time, Terri’s brother, a for-
disease she had to learn about used her sister’s bathroom (leaving the door mer SAPD detective had retired and moved
on her own. While trying to open), much to her and her husband’s embar- to his house at Lake LBJ. Sounds ideal, doesn’t
find a doctor who could tell
her why her sister was
behaving so badly and why
her brother who loved his
family had withdrawn from
everyone, she did a little
“light reading”. With a
laundry list of symptoms
she did some reverse
engineering of the disease
she discovered to behavioral
frontotemporal dementia.

28 San Antonio Medicine • December 2015