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Mine and my brother Neal's friend Nick has colon cancer at 38. He sent this to us and I had to share it. Although, he has Cancer and there are treatments, it is not guaranted and he is not doing well. 'Lotto'

Trish, my wife, was a witness to alot of people. A woman so full of life that when she walked into a room it would crackle with electricity! That energy did not diminish when the ALS came her way. We prayed so hard for her healing and I believe with all my heart that God is a healing God! They speak of an ultimate healing. 'To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.' She is in His presence! I would like to share a poem I wrote for her during her fight: Rise Up and Deliver Lord The painful night begins anew Rise up and deliver LORD In faith she reaches out to You

Today we do our 5K walk for Mid Island in Parksville. Lots of family and friends going to be there. Should be great and quite an experience. Just charging up camera battery right now. The new digital camcorder didn't arrive in time...knew I should have ordered it sooner. Anyways, not much of a blogger, just thought I would write about something nice and positive.

Cyberchondria is a relatively new term that refers to people who tend to look up medical information on the Internet, and who may already be suffering from hypochondria. A hypochondriac is a person who believes that he or she is ill but who does not upon medical examination appear to have any medically obvious reasons for such feelings. Hypochondriacs are often truly suffering, but their illnesses are of a psychological origin and not related to the diseases they think they may have.

I had a PEG installed Jul 17, 2007. Several months before my FVC was 30% and I was having extreme trouble swallowing and was getting nervous about my condition. Since I was not getting any support locally we went to a major centre and talked to a respiratory surgeon, he tested me and found my FVC had improved and was 40% (according to his test), he pushed for a PEG ASAP before breathing got worse. I agreed to have it done.

. We were interviewed in January (2009) and the article just came out in the Vancouver Sun and the Province newspapers Feb 17th. It was done by the ALSA in BC as part of an ALS awareness campaign. Here is the content: “I try to be a positive voice”

I took a few pictures of our setup in our bedroom. I will explain what is happening in each picture, hope it will help clear up some misconceptions about caring for someone with a vent. In addition to what I have tried to explain in each picture we have another vent mounted on my powerchair and 1 of everything in a packsack we take with us when we go out.

Your Safety and Comfort The following is a review of some of the supplies and procedures required to help ensure your safety and comfort. Ventilators BACK-UP SUPPLIES Always have the following available in case of an emergency: • Bacterial filters (front) • Bagging unit • Circuits, including exhalation manifold • Flex hoses • Gloves • Intake filters (back) • Spare exhalation valve (balloon) • Spare tracheostomy tube • Suction catheters • Tracheostomy adapters • Water traps Circuit changes and cleaning Replace your entire circuit (except the exhalation

Hi Everyone.

You might find the following information helpful: Patients with neuromuscular diseases who are developing progressive respiratory failure due to respiratory muscle weakness will die unless mechanical ventilation is used. The rate of progression is often hard to predict. Some patients seem suddenly to experience life-threatening hypercapnic respiratory failure. They may not have been aware of gradually increasing symptoms and signs, particularly since they are often not physically active and are often not being regularly monitored with simple pulmonary function tests.