Progress Report

As you know, ALS is an incurable disease with no known successful treatments. Some people experience periods where the disease plateaus for periods of time, but I have only known a steady decline. We are approaching a date two years ago when I started feeling tired, and we decided to sell our home where we lived for 27 years, 22 of them with my parents in the in-law suite. It was time to downsize to a smaller property, with less maintenance, and no stairs. It was a stressful time for us, and for my parents. I didn't know that I had ALS at the time, but God knew, and He directed us to a very suitable bungalow with all the living space on one level.

I am beginning to have problems with eating and drinking, with the risk of choking and aspirating. I like eating and tasting food, especially meat, so that is going to be another big loss for me.

I am still able to bear weight on my legs when my care givers stand me up. But my legs are beginning to buckle under in the morning and after taking my evening medications. That will be another loss.

I use my thumb to click a button which works as a mouse for my computer. By the end of the day, my thumb is fatigued, and I can hardly use it. The day is approaching when we need to use another way of clicking, called the hover method, which is much slower.

The good news is that I was privileged to hold our 11th grandchild today, Lucas George. I cried when my daughter told me she was expecting, because I didn't expect to live long enough to see him. Today I cried again, that God has been so good to allow me to hold Lucas in my arms.

Another name to add to my prayer list. Another covenant child privileged to have a Christian upbringing and a Christian education.