‘I just knew something was not quite right’

BARBARA Wild’s experience lays bare the struggles faced by some patients in getting a dementia diagnosis.

Her husband, brother and daughter Denise Wallin took turns accompanying her to the GP and asking repeatedly for scans.

Denise, 46, said: “My mum was first diagnosed with depression but I was convinced it was something more. She did the memory tests but she sailed through them, as frontotemporal dementia affects behaviour more than memory in the early stages.

“Eventually she had a brain scan and she was diagnosed, however she was originally diagnosed with vascular dementia.”

Barbara received her diagnosis in 2012. But when Denise read about the different forms of dementia online, she felt something was not right.

She said: “Mum was referred to a hospital consultant and her diagnosis was changed to FTD.

“It was a relief to finally get the diagnosis, although it was very sad. There aren’t any treatments specifically for FTD, but an early, accurate diagnosis would have avoided a lot of stress and helped us prepare for what was to come.”

Barbara died in 2018 aged 66.