runnerlynch
New member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2019
- Messages
- 3
- Reason
- Loved one DX
- Diagnosis
- 09/2019
- Country
- US
- State
- NY
- City
- Syracuse
My 76-year old Mom was diagnosed in September 2019 with ALS after 3 years, many neurologists, 2 different states and many different possible diseases before (stroke, Parkinsons, Lambert Eaton, Progressive supranuclear palsy, etc.). Moved Mom to nursing home near me in October and she has been holding her own. She has been gaining a little weight, eating well, drinking nectar liquids, walking with the aid of a walker and writing on a white board. She is non-verbal and that was the first outward sign of her disease. There were minor indications before that looking back but none as alarming as waking up one day pretty much unable to talk More recently she is having trouble writing words and expressing herself. I can see that she knows what she wants to write but cannot put it down. This has been very frustrating for her. Her close-up eyesight is also somewhat effected but I am not sure if it issues from the brain to the eyes or with the eyes themselves. Wondering if anyone has any tricks or tools that would help a non-verbal patient communicate with everyone around her. We are pretty much limited now to a thumbs up or thumbs down or nodding of the head when questions are posed to her. However, she cannot express how she is feeling but she certainly knows everything that is going on around her. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks, Lynn