Pivot: A Caregiver’s Path With Frontotemporal Dementia

Have you ever walked away from an ordinary conversation wondering what just happened?

A familiar routine becomes difficult. An outing takes more effort than anyone sees. An argument stays with you long after your person has moved on.

In Pivot, Heather Robbins writes from life with her husband, Rob, and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). The stories hold frustration, dark humor, love, and the everyday work of adapting. Rob contributes his own perspective throughout.

Each chapter pairs a real scene with a plain-language explanation and three practical reflections:

• What helped in the moment
• What I stopped expecting
• When safety or professional help matters

Read from the beginning, or start with the chapter that sounds most like your day.

Inside the book

• Seven story-led chapters exploring changes in inhibition, motivation, empathy, awareness, routines, eating, and completing everyday tasks
• Notes on boundaries and caregiver safety
• Prompts for preparing for a medical appointment
• A plain-language glossary, explanatory visuals, resources, and research references

Included companion downloads

• Free Dementia Observation Checklist for recording changes and preparing questions for a medical appointment.
• Neurological Patient ER Visit Checklist for organizing information for an emergency visit.

These resources are also available separately for free from Robbins Nest Alliance. They are included here for convenience alongside the digital book.

Who it’s for

Partners, adult children, family members, and caregivers living with bvFTD who want recognition, language for what they are seeing, and ideas to discuss with their care team.

By Heather Robbins · The Pivot Series
Digital PDF edition. No physical book is shipped.

Personal experience and educational information. This book is not a diagnostic tool or a substitute for individualized medical advice. Strategies described reflect one family’s experience.

How your download arrives: After checkout, use the download link in your email to save the ZIP bundle. Open the ZIP to access the book and both companion PDFs. On an iPhone, tap the ZIP in the Files app to extract it.