Welcome to Frontotemporal Dementia, Stay awhile, you might learn something.

This post is meant to sort out this WordPress theme I am using and to figure out pages and posts. But I won’t leave you hanging. My sister has advanced dementia and in the 3 months we’ve been caregiving for her, we’ve learned a few things.

Ombudsman – whatever county you live in, search that county with the word ‘ombudsman’ and you will be directed to a volunteer organization that provides great information related to dementia and facilities (nursing homes, memory care, residential board & care) – they should know everything there is to know. And they can point you to other resources when it comes to other issues, such as medical insurance, financial assistance, in-home care. Remember it: OMBUDSMAN. I had never heard of this group until March 2022. I have called them multiple times since then and they have always been patient and helpful.

Memory Care facilities: They do not take most insurances. Possibly long term care insurance but you would have to purchase this years before your diagnosis, so good luck. Most memory care facilities are going to be private pay and can be anywhere from $3k a month and up, depending upon where you live. In California, $5k and up. So if you plan on getting dementia, get rich first.

Project Lifesaver: again, I had never heard of this organization because I had no need to hear of it. Project Lifesaver provides tracking devices so that your local sheriffs office and utilize their resources and find your loved ones quickly should they wander off. There is a monthly fee, but it’s worth. The radio technology is better than ‘off the shelf’ type of trackers like Tile. It’s something to have that hopefully you never need to use. My sister has a project lifesaver bracelet and guess what? She tries to remove it, as some will often do. You don’t want to lose these devices. I just tell her to leave it alone on her arm, that it’s for her safety. He daughter decorated the bracelet, which is by itself pretty bland/ugly, but the bedazzled look only lasted about a month. I am not sure this service is available in every city/county in the U.S..