Columns

The other day while watching TV, I heard the newscaster announce, “We’re in the ‘new normal’ folks, and everybody wants to get out and travel again!” “Well, I don’t,” I thought, and just as quickly wondered, “Am I the only one who doesn’t feel comfortable yet to go out…

My husband, Todd, came down with a cold last week. At this stage of his ALS progression, any cold is life-threatening. His lungs fill up with mucus, and he needs me to push on his abdomen so he can cough it out. Todd had a sore throat and a runny…

“He wants to give the answers but his words are only Answers to nothing … They think this is the answer, But their thoughts are only Answers to nothing.” — Midge Ure “And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence.” —…

To help me get through the ups and downs of living with ALS, I’ve created several mental games. Perhaps they’ll help you, too. For example, when life around me isn’t cooperating, I imagine I’m in a driver’s ed training film. When my body isn’t following orders, I tell…

“Can you believe our little Fafa finished ninth grade?” I asked my husband, Todd, as I flushed his feeding tube. He laughed, and we took a trip down memory lane. Our daughter, Sara, gave herself the nickname. Before she was even 2, she said something like, “Fafa wants that.”…

“Welcome to my nightmare, whoa, “Welcome to my breakdown, “I hope I didn’t scare you …” If there were a “Welcome Wagon” function in the ALS community — whereby incumbent residents indoctrinated new arrivals — surely the introduction would resemble those lyrics from Alice Cooper. Grim statistics and personal…

Lately, I’ve noticed a strange trend happening in several online ALS communities I belong to. I’ve seen an increase in posts from people who haven’t yet been diagnosed with ALS asking members of the group to essentially offer medical opinions. A typical post begins with a list of physical symptoms,…

On occasion, I’ll page through the photo books my husband, Todd, made for me as Christmas gifts. I feel a sense of gratitude as I look back on all we’ve been able to do since his ALS diagnosis. Family game nights. Outings to sporting events. Family movie nights. Several…

“No one knows what it’s like, “To be the bad man, “To be the sad man, “Behind blue eyes.” – The Who Last week, it was time for the annual agency performance audit of my aides. Actually, owing to COVID-19, the one for 2020 hadn’t taken place. Consequently, the…

On one of my recent daily walks, I listened to an “Office Ladies” podcast in which Jenna Fischer shared her ongoing struggle with anxiety. She used the analogy of a backpack to describe the burden she lives with. Some days it weighs her down, while other days she…