I am so saddened to tell everyone that the world lost a great man, my husband, Richard Bay, on January 8, 2016. His horrendous battle with Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Degeneration (bvFTD) is finally over. He is out of pain and for that we are all grateful. Rich battled this beast for eight …
depression
THE FTD Warrior
Rich wrote this a couple of days ago. He rides an emotional roller coaster all day long. It is often tortuous for him. It is really hard to watch and I often feel helpless to stop his pain. As I have said before, "FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration) is NOT a floral delivery." This is what Rich …
Music sometimes helps Rich to recenter when his emotions are all over the place.
Video honoring Rich and increasing awareness of FTD
Rich and bv FTD (Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Degeneration) Hi Everyone, I know I have needed to do some more posts in my blog. I'm sorry, but FTD has become a huge issue of time, exhaustion and uncertainty. I made this video because something really cool happened: I got into my car and my …
Allison’s Story: “My Papa and FTD”
My Papa and FTD My granddaughter, Allison (age 7), loves to write stories. Click on the title above to read the story she wrote about Rich, my husband and her Papa, who struggles with Frontotemporal Degeneration. …
THE NEW NORMAL
Many people have been asking me why I haven't posted anything on the blog in awhile. I've been giving that some thought and decided it is because I am working hard at accepting the "new normal." The irony of the "new normal" is that it is way beyond the stresses of the average family. When a …
EXCITED FOR OUR DAUGHTER, TARA
We Can't Do This Forever (Click on the above song title to take you to Amazon to purchase the song.) Our daughter Tara, has produced her original song, "We Can't Do This Forever." My husband, Tara's dad, is the drummer for the production and that means so much to all of us. The song is amazing and …
POST BY RICH: The Power of Prayer, Meditation and Positive Thinking
I am not a "formally religious" person, however I follow a spiritual path and believe in a higher power. Since I have been struggling with this illness, family and friends have told me with extreme sincerity, that they pray for me. They do this in a formal religious manner, a spiritual manner and …
A POST WRITTEN BY RICH: “CHALLENGING”
I am regularly asked, by many caring people with sincerity, compassion, concern and love, "how are you doing?" My response is, "things are challenging." However, "challenging" fails to even come close to describing the struggle of dealing with the depression, anxiety, mania, anger, agitation and …
THE DRAGON
Rich wrote a profound email to me this morning. He calls me "Trishie" and he signed it with my nickname for him. I love it when he calls me Trishie. He has done that since we first met in 1977 and is the only person who ever calls me that. I like that part of it. I asked him if he was okay with me …