Dad has just been diagnosed with ALS. He's 73. As all of you have experienced in your lives, we are devastated.
Dad was one of those 'old-school' guys who never showed emotion, no matter what the circumstance. Lately, however, he is prone to fits of uncontrollable crying at times when you'd least expect it. We know it's part of ALS and we make sure we're there for him when he's overcome by it.
My question is this:
Is it normal for the one afflicted to react irrationally or unpredictably (besides the crying) to certain situations? Without being too specific, Dad recently 'lost it' on one of my brothers in a manner which was completely out of character for him. Dad's reaction to my brother seemed angry, short-sighted and mean-spirited. Throughout his life, he was never one to lose control.
Can we chalk this one up to an unfortunate side-effect of ALS?
Dad was one of those 'old-school' guys who never showed emotion, no matter what the circumstance. Lately, however, he is prone to fits of uncontrollable crying at times when you'd least expect it. We know it's part of ALS and we make sure we're there for him when he's overcome by it.
My question is this:
Is it normal for the one afflicted to react irrationally or unpredictably (besides the crying) to certain situations? Without being too specific, Dad recently 'lost it' on one of my brothers in a manner which was completely out of character for him. Dad's reaction to my brother seemed angry, short-sighted and mean-spirited. Throughout his life, he was never one to lose control.
Can we chalk this one up to an unfortunate side-effect of ALS?