max1536
New member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2014
- Messages
- 3
- Reason
- Loved one DX
- Country
- US
- State
- Florida
- City
- Jupiter
Hello,
First off I was glad to find this community. I've been reading some of the advice and the stories and it's already given me some great ideas about to handle what may be coming.
So my family consists of my mom and dad, who are in their mid-fifties, myself in my mid-thirties, and my two teenage sisters. My mom and I live at home, I run a small web business and she runs the family, my dad works and lives in another state, he is home most weekends, and my two sisters live at boarding school. Despite the distance, we are a pretty tight family.
It looks, however, my Dad is about to diagnosed with ALS. He has some of the symptoms and his last doctor may have already diagnosed it. This has coincided with an allergic reaction he was having to his blood pressure medication, we were hoping that's all it was, but his new doctor seems to think it may be ALS as well. Not good.
Words can't describe what this is going to do to my family. This is going to be a living nightmare. My dad is going to get sick and die, my mom, losing her life partner very early in life is going to destroy her, and my two sisters have never had to face anything like this. They don't know anything about it yet, it's just known to my mom and dad and me.
Like I said, there has been some great advice to read here, and that has helped. I guess my question is, what else should I be doing? I am completely unprepared for this. Are there pitfalls to avoid? My dad is going to go from an active, athletic guy to a person with a serious disability. Do I keep shooting the breeze about ESPN with him like nothing is wrong? My mother is going to lose her best friend, likely after years of watching him get sicker. My two sisters are going to have to come to terms with the cruelty of the world far to young. How do I support them? Giving my mom hugs and telling her everything is going to be fine is the only arrow I have in my quiver right now. It's not going to be enough.
For my Dad and me, our current approach is to treat this as that it isn't true until it is true, if that makes any sense. And I do have faith that everything is going to be fine. But I'm not going to get wrapped up in wishful thinking, I want to be ready if the worse happens.
If anyone has gone through this with a loved one and can share their thoughts and advice I would really appreciate it.
Thanks and God Bless.
First off I was glad to find this community. I've been reading some of the advice and the stories and it's already given me some great ideas about to handle what may be coming.
So my family consists of my mom and dad, who are in their mid-fifties, myself in my mid-thirties, and my two teenage sisters. My mom and I live at home, I run a small web business and she runs the family, my dad works and lives in another state, he is home most weekends, and my two sisters live at boarding school. Despite the distance, we are a pretty tight family.
It looks, however, my Dad is about to diagnosed with ALS. He has some of the symptoms and his last doctor may have already diagnosed it. This has coincided with an allergic reaction he was having to his blood pressure medication, we were hoping that's all it was, but his new doctor seems to think it may be ALS as well. Not good.
Words can't describe what this is going to do to my family. This is going to be a living nightmare. My dad is going to get sick and die, my mom, losing her life partner very early in life is going to destroy her, and my two sisters have never had to face anything like this. They don't know anything about it yet, it's just known to my mom and dad and me.
Like I said, there has been some great advice to read here, and that has helped. I guess my question is, what else should I be doing? I am completely unprepared for this. Are there pitfalls to avoid? My dad is going to go from an active, athletic guy to a person with a serious disability. Do I keep shooting the breeze about ESPN with him like nothing is wrong? My mother is going to lose her best friend, likely after years of watching him get sicker. My two sisters are going to have to come to terms with the cruelty of the world far to young. How do I support them? Giving my mom hugs and telling her everything is going to be fine is the only arrow I have in my quiver right now. It's not going to be enough.
For my Dad and me, our current approach is to treat this as that it isn't true until it is true, if that makes any sense. And I do have faith that everything is going to be fine. But I'm not going to get wrapped up in wishful thinking, I want to be ready if the worse happens.
If anyone has gone through this with a loved one and can share their thoughts and advice I would really appreciate it.
Thanks and God Bless.