It was five years ago when Forest Lake resident Sandra Cournoyer’s husband was diagnosed with a frontotemporal disorder. At that time, it was so rare that there were doctors who had never even heard of the affliction.
“I immediately began to educate myself about the disorder and what our options were,” she said. “I joined a support group at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, and that really helped to provide me with a lot of good information that I probably would not have otherwise had access to.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
Frontotemporal disorders lead to dementia and affect personality, behavior, language, and movement. The symptoms gradually rob people of the ability to think, talk, walk, and socialize. The disorder is typically early onset and often strikes people between 40 and 50 years old. The average longevity post-diagnosis is six to seven years.
“The support group in St. Paul was so helpful for me that I wanted to
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News and other stories about real people, places, and events in Forest Lake and nearby suburbs.