FTD – Disrespectful in the Extreme

I have been reading and listening to those caregivers who are finding it so very difficult to relinquish the grasp on their long relationships. FTD certainly takes its toll on those.

It’s tough, I know. You live with someone for thirty, forty years and, if there is love, there is some degree of respect. Respect for the person. Not just the outer being that everyone sees, but for the true inner soul that you met, fell in love with and spent at least half of your life with. We have respect in varying degrees for a variety of people in our lives. Parents, teachers, any kind of authority. This is what we are taught if we have good parents and role models. At various points in our lives, we challenge the authority, but in general, we come back around to believing that anarchy just won’t work for us. You can be a hell-raiser for a while, but most people follow a path that holds other people in esteem and tolerates human frailties.

The respect within a loving couple –that indefinable desire to please and honor the other’s wishes and needs –that is a whole different ball game. It begins in the early stages of a relationship when you realize that this person likes you, loves you even, for exactly who you are. Not because they’re your mother, father, sister, brother etc. Not because they have to. Well, they kind of do if they’re your family -right?

This new person that you met, they like you because they think you’re funny, kind, generous, hot. Especially hot if you’re in the throes of teenager/early twenties-hood. Not that hot goes away, just gets replaced by an understanding that it’s not the most important thing. Anyway, respect. Respect is built over the years as you go through triumphs and tragedies together. It is founded on love, bolstered by familiarity and chipped away at sometimes by behavior.

And there’s the rub. Once the behaviors of FTD kick in, that’s when the challenge begins. The respect you built over all those years is stood up to by FTD. The bastard disease is no respecter of anything really. Your love, your strength, your once-held firm beliefs that you could stand together and conquer anything.

FTD respects nothing. Not your heart, love, home or family. The respect that you hold so dear is now so severely tested that you will need to find new ways of holding on to those ideals and values that you have built over the years.

• Stop trying to handle things the same way as you have all your life together. Your joint life is somewhat over. Face it. Your joint life, bank accounts, tax returns, trips, dinners. Joint anything is now so changed beyond recognition that you have to face up to the fact that you are doing this alone. You may have family and friends, but the two of you? That’s done.
• There will be a time, in the early stages, when you can get your ducks in a row, have your loved one sign advance directives as to their wishes, get your other household affairs in order and so on. But as the bastard disease does its heinous work, you will start to notice that your loved one still thinks that they are capable of making those decisions with you. They’re not. Don’t kid yourself.
• The decisions you make will be based on what they told you during those early stages. Those times when you sat and cried together about what was to come. Those times when you were in disbelief about the hand you had been dealt. The times when you respected your loved one’s opinions, choices and decisions. Because you always had.
• The time comes when you have to use that knowledge to guide you through the middle and late stages. And that’s painful. Because you respect them. Or rather, you respect the person they once were and the decisions they did, or would have made. Painful because you don’t want to do it alone. But alone you are, and alone you will decide. You will respect what they wanted. I had a very supportive network around me, family, friends, coworkers, medical professionals. They all respected my decisions because I was very clear about what my husband and I wanted. But I still felt alone.
• The one person you have always relied upon to support and guide you through life’s bumps can no longer help you. But you still respect them. You still need their input. It is very hard to put that aside and make the leap yourself.
• Stop asking their permission. They can’t choose anymore. They will say no to just about everything – day care, home caregivers, travel plans, clothing and food choices. Sometimes it seems they say no just for the hell of it. So, don’t ask, tell.
• Respect their dignity, humanity, personhood. But not their decisions. Five-year-old husbands or wives rarely make good choices for themselves. Drinking, driving, risky behaviors. Reserve the respect for the person you knew. the person you love, but not the choices they try to insist upon.
• Stop second-guessing yourself. You’ll do the right thing. Good old FTD will make your loved one tell you you’re a bitch/bastard, you’re ugly, you don’t care, you’re having an affair, you’re withholding money/food/pleasure from them. They will spend your money, crash your car, upset the neighbors (who cares about that?). They might even try to divorce you, sell your house, grope a friend, try illegal drugs. They’re not them anymore remember? Don’t sweat it. The FTD would like you to give it everything and then some. It’s already taking everything you hold dear, so don’t give it respect, save that for your loved one’s pride and dignity.
• Respect yourself. That’s one of the biggest accomplishments you can make in the FTD typhoon.

I respect that you are making this journey. I respect that each of us is unique, our situations similar but different. I respect the differences and make no judgment as to what is right for you. Respect yourself as a wife, husband, father, mother, partner,friend. Respect yourself as a human being with flaws and an identity. Respect your loved one as the focus of what you do but not what or who you are.

Respect yourself.