“Remember Me” Podcast on Caregiver Grief and FTD

Last week, the podcast “Remember Me” posted a video on the topic of grief and frontotemporal degeneration (FTD).  The hosts and guests discuss the grief of diagnosis, of caregiving, and of the journey.  The hosts are former FTD caregivers Rachael Martinez and Maria Kent Beers, who began “Remember Me.”

The guests are from The AFTD (Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration) — Esther Kane (support and education director) and Sarah Lopata (support services manager).  The episode also addresses self-forgiveness.
Excerpts:

“I don’t think that people always understand the amount of grief that they’re actually carrying,” Kane said. “I think it’s one of the hardest parts of about the journey. [People say] I’m really mad that this happened, or I’m really sad that this happened, and is that grief? Yes, you’re grieving.”
“I remember the plastic chairs and just the look in the doctor’s eyes and…I just don’t even remember anything that happened after that moment, like walking to the car,” Beers said about the day her mother was diagnosed. “When the trauma started, the grief kicked in.”