A thread of hope

[monkey]

I have not been on these forums very long only about a month.. I am very thankful for everyones help and the suggestions i have gained from some of you. Those of you with ALS you are true heros in my book, you are fighting a battle that has yet to be won but hopefully someday we will overcome this disease. I may have ALS, but i may also die in a car wreck tomorrow, i am going to let this be my last visit here to the ALS forums. This is a wonderful place that has been developed to help people coup with ALS, however everyday i visit i see more and more negative posts by people who also may have ALS. People come to these forums just like me to help with the anxiety of having some horrible disease wrong with them. Most people that visit have most likely thought they have had some other medical problem and have been proven to be completely healthy, so our powerful minds wonder and find a disease that can almost not be diagnosed and we just get hung on the thought. 80% of the people that visit these forums never post at all they just continuously search for problems that they can identify with, i am also guilty of this. For those of you who are traveling down this path i want to give you some advice.. You must stop now, you will most certainly drive yourself mad and start developing and finding things you never had before. I think alot of people here have Hypochondriasis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia goto this link and read about what your mind really can do to you and the best thing is you can receive help for it! I see a ton of posts that say people with ALS can have clean EMG's, not have twitching at all, have twitching all over their body, and also go undiagnosed up to 10 years.. If you do have ALS there is nothing you can do about it, but i promise you while you are laying in your bed unable to move or talk you would have wished you had lived those days to there fullest. This forum has taught me many things one of them being that muscle spasms, cramps, weakness and muscle pain can be caused by many things which could fill a book. The very last page of that book is ALS and you must turn many pages to get to that point. Never give up hope and dont drive yourself mad thinking you do have ALS, good luck to all of you ! If i find out i have ALS ill will return here, however i will be in a different section of this forum. Thanks for all of you kind thoughts and help when i needed it, most of the people that come here just need some encouragement and thats what i received.

-monkey

 

[vmd]

monkey:

Take care and I will pray for you. Like you, I wonder whether it is not better just to wait until the disease becomes obvious and try to live life as best as I can meanwhile, rather than become obsessed with the diagnostic issues.

 

[ltr]

Good luck to you. I have to say, though, I haven't run across one post that sounded like hypochondria. In fact, with the help that many have received on this forum and the tests that others told them to get, have helped to diagnose them and maybe even save their lives. So, please don't refer to any members as hypochondriacs.....they have enough problems coping with their illness and getting their docs to listen. Like you said, we are here for support, not to judge.

 

[patricia1]

Amen I say to you monkey. You should continue living your life, as we all are trying to do with ALS. I pray you dont have ALS However while you still can walk talk work and live a close to normal life DO IT. I did I am glad I did,because now I am into my 8th year with ALS . Could you imagine me giving into it 8 years ago. I am only on this forum 9 months. I was too scare before .Only after I was sure, did I look for support,and I get that here.Reading everyones post make me happy I am alive I see how everyone is coping and I am not that scare anymore. Take care and be happy. Pat

 

[CindyM]

If you do have ALS there is nothing you can do about it, but i promise you while you are laying in your bed unable to move or talk you would have wished you had lived those days to there fullest.

Monkey, you have said out loud the very thoughts that helped me to form my own philosophy. No good can come from worrying about what might happen, nor will worrying make the answers come any faster, either.

I know you haave decided to leave the forum alone for awhile but inquiring minds want to know: what is the first thing you will do? Cindy

Patricia, you are an inspiration! It is role models like you that keep me tied to this forum.

 

[vmd]

I also thank people like Patricia who serve as good role models for those of us who are possibly facing the same diagnosis down the road. In my case, I am progressing quite rapidly and believe that a diagnosis will be here sooner than later.

Cindy, I agree that not worrying about the future is the ideal, but I have a difficult time living this philosophy on a daily basis.

 

[CindyM]

It takes practice, my friend. Think about how you would change your thinking if you were trying to learn a new habit. You'd remind yourself to think different thoughts, focus on different things, and you'd practice. It takes 21 days, they say, to learn a new way of thinking. Some say visualization and ,meditation work, too. Keep at it and it will come, is what I've heard. Best of luck...Cindy

 

[vmd]

Thanks, I will need many prayers. This will be especially true as the new semester approaches. I may not be able to lecture, given some of my speech problems of late.