awransburg
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2006
- Messages
- 12
- Reason
- PALS
- Country
- US
- State
- CA
- City
- San Diego
Hi, I'm new to the forum. I was diagnosed in Oct. 2006 with bulbar and life went smoothly except for my slurred speech. I had to retire from teaching in June 2007 as the speech was really bad. I started walking with a cane last Sept. but life still seemed fairly normal. Started losing lots of weight and by mid-Dec was feeling extremely weak and light-headed. I had the PEG inserted a week ago thinking from everything I had read that it would be a fairly simple operation. I fainted in the elevator heading to the parking lot afterwards and was taken to the emergency room. Stayed there four hours, but fainted again when trying to get into the car. Spent the night in the hospital. I hate the PEG! I can use it OK but trying to find a comfortable sleeping position is impossible with the clamp and long tube taped to my abdomen. Also I seem to feel nauseated if I take more than one can at a time. Trying to work in 5 cans and take Rilutek twice a day on an empty stomach is a challenge. I always felt somewhat optimistic about my life until this week. Now I feel so depressed with this PEG, the wheelchair that has just been delivered and above all that my speech is so so bad since the hospital stay that even my family can barely understand me. I would love to hear some advice about adjusting to this big change in my life--- particularly the PEG. Thanks!