- Joined
- Nov 20, 2018
- Messages
- 236
- Reason
- Lost a loved one
- Diagnosis
- 02/2018
- Country
- US
- State
- VA
- City
- --
Hi all,
My partner was diagnosed w. ALS in February (2018). He might have noticed the first signs in Oct. 2017 in his right foot.
He got a leg brace for drop foot. His right arm/had and foot/leg are very weak. Now he has significant pain in his right wrist. I got him a brace and it's best if he does not move his wrist.
His left side is rather weak too, not very far behind the right side but he can still hold a plastic fork or spoon in his left hand.
He is now using an electric wheelchair and needs it.
Eating and speaking is difficult and energy consuming too. He eat mostly soups, soft things like mashed potatoes and gravy, concentrates on swallowing, and pretty much only chooses food that goes down easily.
He is also losing his ability to taste food and his increasingly harder to understand.
We are thinking of remodeling a bathroom so that we can use it more easily with the wheelchair that as of now does not fit through the door.
Also, we are thinking of buying a car so that we can take him with the wheelchair to places.
His ALS seems to progress quite rapidly (for us?) and we are not sure if we would be spending quite a bit of money for things that he might be using 2-6 months (?) and then no more.
Any input on anything that I wrote here is very much appreciated. Is anybody in this group who has/had similar symptoms/progression and could share about what to expect in the next months and year(s)?
I have spent quite a long time reading around and hope this is a good thread for a first post.
Thanks a bunch,
Ina
My partner was diagnosed w. ALS in February (2018). He might have noticed the first signs in Oct. 2017 in his right foot.
He got a leg brace for drop foot. His right arm/had and foot/leg are very weak. Now he has significant pain in his right wrist. I got him a brace and it's best if he does not move his wrist.
His left side is rather weak too, not very far behind the right side but he can still hold a plastic fork or spoon in his left hand.
He is now using an electric wheelchair and needs it.
Eating and speaking is difficult and energy consuming too. He eat mostly soups, soft things like mashed potatoes and gravy, concentrates on swallowing, and pretty much only chooses food that goes down easily.
He is also losing his ability to taste food and his increasingly harder to understand.
We are thinking of remodeling a bathroom so that we can use it more easily with the wheelchair that as of now does not fit through the door.
Also, we are thinking of buying a car so that we can take him with the wheelchair to places.
His ALS seems to progress quite rapidly (for us?) and we are not sure if we would be spending quite a bit of money for things that he might be using 2-6 months (?) and then no more.
Any input on anything that I wrote here is very much appreciated. Is anybody in this group who has/had similar symptoms/progression and could share about what to expect in the next months and year(s)?
I have spent quite a long time reading around and hope this is a good thread for a first post.
Thanks a bunch,
Ina