Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum - looking around the internet for some moral support and a place to "air" my concerns.
My husband is the love of my life. We met on June 4, 2005 and he told me that he had a doctor's appointment at the end of June due to a pinched nerve in his arm. He was the nicest, sweetest, kindest man I had ever met and I thought nothing of his doctor's appointment.
June 29th, 2005 - 24 days after we first met, he called me on the phone at work - crying, telling me that he couldn't meet me for lunch because he had just gotten some really bad news from the doctor. I booked the afternoon off from work and immediately went to see him - he told me he was diagnosed with ALS.
When "they" say: "ALS, three letters that will change your life forever" - they're not kidding!
We both continued to cling to a wrong diagnosis, after-all he was originally told by more than 1 doctor that he suffered a mild TIA (stroke) and/or had a pinched nerve in his elbow which caused the weakness in his right arm.
September 2005, after several trips to an ALS Doctor, and SEVERAL tests later, it was confirmed, the diagnosis... A.L.S.
Our world spun out of control, and we were faced with having to make decisions that most couples never have to make! We immediately got everything in order and flew to Hawaii (the place in this world that we both wanted to see), and got married.
Life wasn't so bad in the beginning of our marriage... we had to live through some nasty falls, weakness, and a feeling of being tired - but he was still able to get around and do things for himself.
All of that came CRASHING down around us though when I came home from work on Monday, March 19, 2007 and found Wayne unconscious in our bed. He was yellow and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head... he had over-dosed on his pain medication and spent a week in the psychiatric ward at the hospital after that.
This is now 6 months later... he has progressed so quickly now - and it's horrible to watch. I guess I never saw the progression before, but now I REALLY notice every little thing. I think back to our trips and times together when I didn't want him to use his cane or his wheelchair - I wanted him to be STRONG and do it on his own.
I feel like I am being punished (call it Karma) for something that I have done in this life or maybe one previously. I finally meet the man of my dreams and he's being taken away from me. Yes, he is the one with the disease, but it may as well be me who has this terrible disease. The more he loses, the more I lose.
This is one SAD life-lesson that I have to learn... Things will never be the same in my world. Not ever again...
I'm new to this forum - looking around the internet for some moral support and a place to "air" my concerns.
My husband is the love of my life. We met on June 4, 2005 and he told me that he had a doctor's appointment at the end of June due to a pinched nerve in his arm. He was the nicest, sweetest, kindest man I had ever met and I thought nothing of his doctor's appointment.
June 29th, 2005 - 24 days after we first met, he called me on the phone at work - crying, telling me that he couldn't meet me for lunch because he had just gotten some really bad news from the doctor. I booked the afternoon off from work and immediately went to see him - he told me he was diagnosed with ALS.
When "they" say: "ALS, three letters that will change your life forever" - they're not kidding!
We both continued to cling to a wrong diagnosis, after-all he was originally told by more than 1 doctor that he suffered a mild TIA (stroke) and/or had a pinched nerve in his elbow which caused the weakness in his right arm.
September 2005, after several trips to an ALS Doctor, and SEVERAL tests later, it was confirmed, the diagnosis... A.L.S.
Our world spun out of control, and we were faced with having to make decisions that most couples never have to make! We immediately got everything in order and flew to Hawaii (the place in this world that we both wanted to see), and got married.
Life wasn't so bad in the beginning of our marriage... we had to live through some nasty falls, weakness, and a feeling of being tired - but he was still able to get around and do things for himself.
All of that came CRASHING down around us though when I came home from work on Monday, March 19, 2007 and found Wayne unconscious in our bed. He was yellow and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head... he had over-dosed on his pain medication and spent a week in the psychiatric ward at the hospital after that.
This is now 6 months later... he has progressed so quickly now - and it's horrible to watch. I guess I never saw the progression before, but now I REALLY notice every little thing. I think back to our trips and times together when I didn't want him to use his cane or his wheelchair - I wanted him to be STRONG and do it on his own.
I feel like I am being punished (call it Karma) for something that I have done in this life or maybe one previously. I finally meet the man of my dreams and he's being taken away from me. Yes, he is the one with the disease, but it may as well be me who has this terrible disease. The more he loses, the more I lose.
This is one SAD life-lesson that I have to learn... Things will never be the same in my world. Not ever again...