mlbugge
New member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2008
- Messages
- 4
- Reason
- CALS
- Diagnosis
- 12/2007
- Country
- US
- State
- il
- City
- waukegan
In October 2006 (just 18 months ago!) my husband was putting an addition on the garage to our recently purchased home. In early January 2007 he took a fall at work (caused by ALS?) and injured his knee enough to require a full knee replacement. That is where our nightmare began. Due to workman's compensation complications, etc., he did not get his surgery until July 2, 2007. His orthopedic surgeon explained that the typical recovery would allow him to return to work in about three months. He went through the customary therapy but not only was he not improving, but he was becoming less and less mobile. His weakness moved from his legs to both arms. We were then referred to a neurologist. I will spare you the details of the countless tests they ran (not uncommon from what I've been reading on this site). But it was not until December that we went to Rush Medical Center in Chciago where he was finally diagnosed. They referred us to UIC (Univ of Ill Chicago) Medical Center where we are now part of their ALS Clinic. Words cannot explain how thankful we are for the medical attention he has received from both Chicago facilities. My husband is now confined to a motor wheelchair, as he can no longer walk at all. He also has very little ability to work with his hands. He can no longer feed himself, etc. His speech is slow and kind of slurry. I am very afraid of how fast his condition has deteriorated. He is still able to eat anything, although he has had a couple choking episodes - very scary! I would like to know what to expect next. I guess there's really no way to know, but if anybody's disease progression has been similar to this, please help me with some insight. I discovered this site a couple days and have been reading non-stop. It took me a couple days to decide that I could be a participant as well as a reader. It was all of your candid comments that gave me the courage and I thank you all.
ML
ML