rbeer
New member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2017
- Messages
- 5
- Reason
- Loved one DX
- Country
- US
- State
- CA - California
- City
- Alamo
Hello to all. I am thankful for having a forum like this.
My dad was dx with bulbar ALS nearly 3 years ago at the age of 72, and I am grateful for every day he remains with us. He is presently on a ventilator but still has control of his arms to write, so he comunicates with us very well.
Me, I am a 52 year old married man with two wonderful teenage daughters. I am a white male with our family being of European descent. We have performed no testing for FALS, since there was no prior Hx and relatives including my father's parents lived into their 80s and 90s both dying of heart failure.
The reason I am posting is frankly because I am scared. Two months ago I began having numbness and occasional pain in my toes, and nerve pain in my feet (left primarily), and burning sensation on my shin. I have constant fatigue. My calf muscles always feel tight and I feel occasional spasm in my upper legs. Something of a neurologic nature is occurring, but I did not think ALS from what I know of the disease. That is until Monday.
While sitting at my desk I began experiencing fasciculations in my calf muscles. Very light but in multiple places. These are almost constant now. Sometimes a random one will happen in my feet, upper leg and on rare occasion in my arms. I have perceived feeling of weakness but I can't tell if there is any marked atrophy, since I don't spend much time looking at my legs. Even with all this, I wouldn't be thinking ALS except that my dad has it.
I am scheduled for my first EMG later this month. I have all the blood tests imaginable to discount other conditions, especially immune system disorders as well as Lyme. I am writing to more or less get this off my chest as my primary worry is my wife and children, and the burden I could become to them.
Doctors so far are of little help as they are going through the process of elimination. We are now getting to the neurological stage to see what is wrong.
I guess my main question is: Is there any cutting to the chase? To those of you who have gone through this, what do you recommend?
My dad was dx with bulbar ALS nearly 3 years ago at the age of 72, and I am grateful for every day he remains with us. He is presently on a ventilator but still has control of his arms to write, so he comunicates with us very well.
Me, I am a 52 year old married man with two wonderful teenage daughters. I am a white male with our family being of European descent. We have performed no testing for FALS, since there was no prior Hx and relatives including my father's parents lived into their 80s and 90s both dying of heart failure.
The reason I am posting is frankly because I am scared. Two months ago I began having numbness and occasional pain in my toes, and nerve pain in my feet (left primarily), and burning sensation on my shin. I have constant fatigue. My calf muscles always feel tight and I feel occasional spasm in my upper legs. Something of a neurologic nature is occurring, but I did not think ALS from what I know of the disease. That is until Monday.
While sitting at my desk I began experiencing fasciculations in my calf muscles. Very light but in multiple places. These are almost constant now. Sometimes a random one will happen in my feet, upper leg and on rare occasion in my arms. I have perceived feeling of weakness but I can't tell if there is any marked atrophy, since I don't spend much time looking at my legs. Even with all this, I wouldn't be thinking ALS except that my dad has it.
I am scheduled for my first EMG later this month. I have all the blood tests imaginable to discount other conditions, especially immune system disorders as well as Lyme. I am writing to more or less get this off my chest as my primary worry is my wife and children, and the burden I could become to them.
Doctors so far are of little help as they are going through the process of elimination. We are now getting to the neurological stage to see what is wrong.
I guess my main question is: Is there any cutting to the chase? To those of you who have gone through this, what do you recommend?