Graybeard
Distinguished member
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2014
- Messages
- 440
- Reason
- PALS
- Diagnosis
- 12/2013
- Country
- US
- State
- Ca
- City
- Surf City
I was diagnosed last December, so this is a little late. I found this Forum a few weeks ago, and I guess it's time to introduce myself. Because of my 60 lb weight loss, the neuro didn't give me much time; weeks or a few months. You can see how little I knew about the disease back in January when I sent the following to all my family and friends.
Without Good Health ….
When it became obvious I was losing a pound a week last year, I joked that I would write a diet book. Turns out it had already been written, and was one of the few books I had read as a child, “The Lou Gehrig Story.”
Yes, at age 73, I have just been diagnosed with ALS: a death sentence. To prolong my limited health, I have to lose no more beyond the 60 pounds I have lost in the last 15 months.
Those of you who have heard me speak know my voice has turned raspy and weak. That’s one sign. Another is uncontrollable crying, so don’t be surprised if I go silent or cry the next time we talk.
Except for this, I have been in perfect health, with blood tests good enough for a 19 year old, and a good neighbor who dragged me out for a hike and exercises every morning. I had fully expected to be productive another 20 years. Now it may be at most a couple of years before my body becomes useless.
Ronna has always said she wants to go first, so she won’t have to clean out my garage. Our sons, Rex and Ross will help clean out my garage, now that I have a real deadline.
Ronna will still have my voice to haunt her, as Greybeard, our Congo African Grey parrot, is bonded to her. I’m his rival, so he learns all his words from me, and sounds exactly like me.
Advantages of ALS:
No physical pain.
My alleged mind should be intact to the end.
I am under doctor’s orders to eat all I can.
I know about how long I have and how I will go.
I have time to calmly put my affairs in order, and to ease my family’s transition.
I am free to break any law. What can they do to me?
I still have time for a last fling.
Most of all, I get to hear the good things people say to me without the negatives.
Best to you all.
Ralph
Without Good Health ….
When it became obvious I was losing a pound a week last year, I joked that I would write a diet book. Turns out it had already been written, and was one of the few books I had read as a child, “The Lou Gehrig Story.”
Yes, at age 73, I have just been diagnosed with ALS: a death sentence. To prolong my limited health, I have to lose no more beyond the 60 pounds I have lost in the last 15 months.
Those of you who have heard me speak know my voice has turned raspy and weak. That’s one sign. Another is uncontrollable crying, so don’t be surprised if I go silent or cry the next time we talk.
Except for this, I have been in perfect health, with blood tests good enough for a 19 year old, and a good neighbor who dragged me out for a hike and exercises every morning. I had fully expected to be productive another 20 years. Now it may be at most a couple of years before my body becomes useless.
Ronna has always said she wants to go first, so she won’t have to clean out my garage. Our sons, Rex and Ross will help clean out my garage, now that I have a real deadline.
Ronna will still have my voice to haunt her, as Greybeard, our Congo African Grey parrot, is bonded to her. I’m his rival, so he learns all his words from me, and sounds exactly like me.
Advantages of ALS:
No physical pain.
My alleged mind should be intact to the end.
I am under doctor’s orders to eat all I can.
I know about how long I have and how I will go.
I have time to calmly put my affairs in order, and to ease my family’s transition.
I am free to break any law. What can they do to me?
I still have time for a last fling.
Most of all, I get to hear the good things people say to me without the negatives.
Best to you all.
Ralph