Re: fatal error

Yes, ALS is a living nightmare. It is, I think, the most cruel disease there is. You go from normal, healthy and vibrant (at least in my Mom's case) to a complete quadrapalegic in a nursing home - unable to move or use any voluntary muscle - all the while your brain is sharp as a tack - and you know what's happening. It was a very humbling experience for my Mom who was very proud and in the end could do nothing. God blessed her, though, and she unexpectedly went into a coma and she died peacefully. The end is very frightening because so many things can go wrong and the anxiety of it all is overwhelming. She talked about contacting Dr. Kevorkian for help, but when she finally decided to actually do it, it was too late. So, as I said, the coma was a blessing. My mom was 56 when she died. I feel terrible for DBAL - the disease is awful enough without adding guilt over the feeling you caused it yourself. I can see it's possible Humaworm or the release of toxins or something along those lines contributed, and I can see wanting to know how and why it happened, but with ALS, there is so little research into the disease, and there is still so much unknown about non-familial cases, it's just hard to say for sure. It's a good reminder for us all that we are in the drivers seat making choices - for better or worse.

Thanks for asking about me. It's been a long 10 days - lots of testing - I had 28 tubes of blood drawn this week, plus an EMG, a series of stool samples, and more testing last week - only a handful of tubes of blood. The infectious disease doctor and the neurologist are "fishing" since my brain MRI was normal to find something to clue them in to what's going on. The infectious disease doctor today said that I may have an organism that has not been named, or that he's simply unaware of. He said he believes I've gone through an ordeal that can't just be in my mind. So, I appreciated that. I still think I have one of the filarial type nematodes - the one in your lymph system. I'm hoping that they will do antibody testing depending on what all shows up from this round. Who knows... Thanks for asking, though. I hope you are well. I think of you often! Katherine Tweet