Dogs don't belong on the roof.

My friend Shelley and I have talked about, when our adventures are over, writing a book to maybe help others with the journey of an ALS/FTD combined diagnosis. Today I found the title to our book: "Finding the dog on the roof... Living with ALS/FTD"

Went to church and Starbucks like we do most Sunday mornings. Now, you must picture my house.. a split level.. the second story bedrooms look out over the garage roof. As I pull into the driveway I glance up to see my 95 pound, 2-year-old Golden Retriever ON THE ROOF! Talk about another WTF moment! I get the car into the garage, turn off the engine and get upstairs in a time that I did not know I was capable of! Both dogs had gotten themselves locked in the bedroom.. only Baron decided it would be a fun adventure to go out the window! Poor Buffy was VERY stressed when I let them out. You could just hear her saying "This was NOT my idea!"

What, you may be asking yourself, does this have to do with Glen. Well, one of the symptoms of FTD is a disappearing sense of what is appropriate. So to Glen.. it's ok to walk into Kevin's room in the morning without an invitation. This morning, he did just that. When he saw that Kevin wasn't home, he neglected to close the bedroom door. While we were at church the dogs (probably following the cat) went into the bedroom. Most likely somebody's tail knocked the door closed. When asked about going into Kevin's room Glen said yup, he had. Later he left a full package of dog treats on the table and the pantry door open. Time for more baby latches and door knob covers.

Needless to say the whole experience kind of tap danced on my last nerve... especially when I realized after listening to the message from my neighbor that he'd probably been going in and out the window for at least 45 minutes!

So Glen has an actual psychiatrist appointment this week. Aside from tweaking meds, I don't really expect that there is much she can do. His brain is atrophying and that cannot be undone, any more than the nerves can be brought back to life. Stupid disease.