Hi, My name is Mollie and I am trying to raise money for three months of long term care for my husband. He was a deep sea diver in the Navy for 21 years and is a retired Senior Chief. About 4 years ago I started to notice that he would forget little things. It progressed and when we went to the VA they said it was classic signs of depression. His youngest son was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2002. After that initial visit, they had him see a physchiatrist but things did not improve. I finally had to get a patient advocate involved to get him to see a neurologist. That didn't go as planned either. He showed no signs of anything when the doctor saw him. His memory really started to get bad and I finally got him an MRI and EEG and a psychologist  tested him for Dementia. He was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia finally in December 2013. The Mayo Clinic describes it as follows: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frontotemporal-dementia/basics/definition/con-20023876 In frontotemporal dementia, portions of these lobes atrophy or shrink. Signs and symptoms vary, depending upon the portion of the brain affected. Some people with frontotemporal dementia undergo dramatic changes in their personality and become socially inappropriate, impulsive or emotionally indifferent, while others lose the ability to use language. Frontotemporal dementia is often misdiagnosed as a psychiatric problem or as Alzheimer's disease. I have been trying to manage things at home and keep my job but have had to lose pay on days I was afraid to leave him by himself. He is a very proud man who has not accepted the outcome. Several weeks ago he had a breakdown. He has been told multiple times by doctors that he cannot drive anymore, and if he were to ever be pulled over or be in an accident I would be liable not him. We were going to go see his son and grand kids but when we were about to leave he asked for the keys, I reminded him he isn't supposed to drive, but he couldn't remember that. It caused him to seemingly snap and almost all of his personality vanished. In the next two days he decided to move his bed upstairs, our room is on the bottom floor of our rented home. I had experienced this type of response from him before but nothing this extreme. Before this happened he seemed to be content with life, well as much as he could be, to this situation causing him to shut down, not talk to me, not respond to his son, the EMT's, his best friend or policeman. They did finally get him in the ambulance and took him to the ER. After his blood work came back, they discovered that he had had a heart attack at some point but that wasn't why he went in. He was very combative the first few days at the hospital and didn't remember anything he had done to get there. He didn't believe he had had a heart attack either. I knew that I was no longer going to be able to take care of him at home as he does need 24/7 supervision. He has threatened me, my son our dogs and himself. I called the VA to see if I could get him transferred there. When I called the VA and they told me that his Dementia was not service connected and they could not take him. There is evidence that shows that deep sea diving can lead to Dementia so I was shocked to say the least but told them that I would be appealing their decision. I have done research on deep sea diving and effects on the brain and it can cause dementia. See document http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3976349j and appeal similar to the one I will file at http://www.va.gov/vetapp04/files/0404518.txt these are just some of the articles I have found.  If anyone has any research that would help please share. In the meantime I had to place him in a private facility and unfortunately that is why I'm here. I have also been informed that I will have to pay for four days of his hospital stay because we couldn't get him placed when he was supposed to be discharged. They will take his pension and SSI but nothing else. I have to come up with the rest. I need this so that I can get him the care he needs by people that deal with this all the time, 24/7. If you could donate any amount to help me reach my goal it would be greatly appreciated. It will be put towards his medical care until I can get everything in order with our finances. I am liquidating as much as I can now. We don't have much and never needed much. We live pay check to pay check as many others do. Our Veterans are not being taken care of and if I can't win an appeal in his case I may have to ask for more help. Thank you in advance!