Recent content by TomsSIL

Re: A blanket of snow We are having to make these decisions now, so that Tom won't go into treatment that he doesn't/might not want. It's so heart wrenching! But, I know that he will go to be with God and his parents when he is ready. He doesn't want to be artificially prolonged as that is...

I have no idea of what to tell you. My BIL's step-father (I use this term loosely; mostly the butthead was married to my loving MIL who passed last September) doesn't do anything for Tom. They live in the same house and he NEVER asks if Tom needs a drink, ice, can of Jevity, etc. It's like if...

Daphne, my sincere condolences on the loss of your brother. Stress can do some really terrible things to the body. I hope your symptoms calm down in the next few weeks. Try deep breathing when you go to bed. Focus on something very pleasant that has nothing to do with your brother. Just try...

I hear you! I've been in the caregiver world for only a few months, but it might as well be longer. It's constant, overwhelming and maddening. Everyone who offered to help hasn't. We've had the people from the church try to tell Tom that if he just accepted Jesus into his heart, he'd be...

Goodness, Mary! The VA is a trip, isn't it? Is your husband a Gulf War Veteran? My husband is, and is having lots of neuro symptoms, but has been assured he does not have ALS, which was a relief. People keep asking me if my BIL, Tom, is a veteran, but alas, he is not. We are winging this...

Tom's voice and swallowing started to get bad, but he didn't go to the doctor until his left foot was going numb and ice cold. He went to a chiropractor first thinking he had pinched a nerve in his back. The chiropractor had an MRI done, but he didn't see anything wrong. Then, he went to a GP...

I'm not sure there is so much laziness going on as difficulty processing the situation? My brother-in-law was always a fairly thin guy, but is now fairly skeletal. He is getting better about eating, but for a while he just didn't want to. He made comments about "speeding the process". I...

Hi, Barbie, my name is Amy. My brother-in-law was diagnosed in April, but has symptoms for about 18-20 months before he was diagnosed. Your question about plateau is a good one. I have been wondering that myself. Tom has gone precipitously downhill in the last 10 months. I hope he can even...

Awwww, thanks. That's so sweet.

Tonight at the ER, the check-in nurse said, "So, besides the fever and the cough, do you have any other health concerns?" I said, "He has ALS," with a rather incredulous look on my face. It wouldn't be a dumb question on the nurse's part if we hadn't just been discussing the fact that Tom has...

I took Tom to the ER tonight because he had a fever of 101.5 and has had a cough for a few days. I apologized profusely for being a giant pain in the a$$, but I love him and I care about him. The doctors were great. They said they were glad he came in now and got a baseline xray. He got a...

I honestly don't know, AKjo. It's such a strange thing. When you're in the middle of it, it's like swimming in a pool of quicksand. When people ask if there is anything they can do, it's probably just because they feel helpless and really don't know what they can do. There also aren't really...

I get a lot of, "How is Tom doing?" Well, why don't you get your tushie up to his house and talk to him for 10 minutes to find out for yourself? Also, "Well, I hope he gets better." Yeah, I'd love that, too. And, "If you need anything, just call." Right. People seriously don't get this...

My daily walk has become sacred. No one can go with me, no one can bother me with stuff going on in the house, etc. My husband is in here to make sure the kids are okay. If he doesn't like it, he can lump it. He's by himself all day long. Once I'm in it with the kids, and with Tom, I'm not...

Yes, that's true. Thank you for remembering that. As if we don't have enough stress to live with, we have this boob, too! We are hoping that he will just move to wherever the lady-friend is and we can be done with him. If there are any more issues, I will have to call someone because he's...