Columns

It’s become exceedingly difficult for my husband, Todd, to leave our home now that he’s in an advanced stage of ALS. His neck is weak because of disease progression, and he uses noninvasive ventilation nearly all the time. To make matters worse, we live in a northern climate with…

Lines from a Shania Twain song have been running through my head the past few days: “You’re still the one I run to/ The one that I belong to/ You’re still the one I want for life.” The lyrics remind me of how my husband, Todd, and I…

Before ALS entered my life, I barely noticed how easily I completed simple, everyday tasks. But living with ALS can be tiring, and it makes everything — including the little things, our run-of-the-mill habits — feel difficult and tedious. I reached the point where I contemplated giving them up…

It’s been a rough couple weeks since my husband, Todd, came down with a respiratory illness. The first weekend was the worst, with nausea, fever, chills, body aches, and chest congestion. By day four, he was able to eat a bit, and he spent longer stretches of the day…

A photo I came across this week from when my late husband, Jeff, was living with ALS flooded me with emotions. It was taken in November 2019, the month we moved into an accessible home. His ALS was advancing rapidly at the time, which prompted our move. He could…

“I’m not going to write a column this week,” I told my husband, Todd. “All I can think about is that you’re sick, and I don’t know how it’s going to turn out.” Todd came down with a bug a few days ago. He’s had body chills, aches, and congestion.

Who would’ve guessed that wearing a pair of ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) while on a simple haircut trip would turn into a near disaster? But with two mini-miracles and one big lesson about living with ALS, the day was saved. Although I can tell this story in many ways, I…

This afternoon, I loaded our household trash into the back of my husband’s accessible van. After opening the rear hatch and lowering the ramp, I simply dragged our three 33-gallon trash cans up the ramp to where Todd would normally park his power wheelchair, then I drove to the transfer…

Over the past six years, I’ve welcomed over 2,000 people to the ALS News Today Forums. It’s one of my many duties as a forums co-moderator. The other things I do include being alert for spammers, adding interesting topics to spark group discussions, and answering members’ questions. Although a high…

Moments of daily life with my husband Todd’s ALS frequently put both of us in panic mode. It makes me wonder if we should take more precautions — but there are trade-offs. The other day, for example, food got stuck in Todd’s throat while I was feeding him chicken…