Dad still dances

[sanderson]

Hi everyone, I have not posted in awhile, but I just have to share how proud I am of my dad. As you may or may not know, my dad is 84 and was diagnosed in Feb 2009 with ALS. Prior to his diagnosed, he was a very active man with square dancing being one of his many activites and one that he throughly enjoyed. He moved into a Veterans care facilty last fall and has now very limited use of his arms and his legs are failing him and he uses a wheelchair to get around for most things. This past week, his square dance group came up and danced for the facilty that he is in, and they had dad up and "dancing" in the square. One member pushed him in his wheelchair and another was his partner. I am so proud of my dad, he is meeting this awful disease head on and is still finding ways to enjoy life. He is my dad, my hero!

 

[irismarie]

That is just WONDERFUL. How lucky he is to have family and friends like he does..........;;
BRavo and much love

 

[handinhand]

I just love to hear stories like this one.. Thanks so much for sharing, Linda

 

[sanderson]

Your welcome. He has amazed us how he has dealt with this disease. He faces each challenge as it comes with a very pragmatic yet positive attitude. It breaks my heart how this disease is robbing him( and so many others) of his physical abilities and I want to scream STOP, enough already. But then, I realize that doesnt do any good and I try and get back to enjoying him and learning from him while he is still with us. I also want to say thank you to everyone on this forum. I dont post often, but I come in frequently and read the posts and I feel like I have gotten to know some of you and your wisdom, advice and humor is very much appreciated and very much needed.

 

[LauraW]

Thank you for posting that...that was beautiful!

 

[Blubear]

Oh my sanderson, you dad has had a longgggggg progression! Glad to hear that he still has fun and his spirits are high. Did he do anything special to keep this beast of a disease at bay for so many years? I am guessing that his attitude had a lot to do with it, just from what is said here. Give dad a hug from us!
Kari

 

[wanda brittle]

that just make my heart sing that he can still dance with his friends.

 

[sanderson]

I will Blu, thank you. We werent aware that he was dealing with anything until the fall of 2008 and then it just seemed that he was losing strentgh and abilty to use his arms, after Dr visits, neuro consult, a bad report on the emgs and a clean MRI , he received the ALS diagnosis. We were referred tp the ALS clinic and an amazing team of professionals at the Stan Cassidy Centre in NB, who have supported dad and us through this, plus dad is a veteran so he is fortunate to have his health needs covered financialy. In that respect, my dad and us as his children are so very fortunate. The Dr at the clinic repeated the emgs and confirmed the diagnosed.

 

[sanderson]

Wanda, thank you for your post. My heart goes out to you and Glen at this time

 

[kelly]

That is so sweet!