Clinic Day

It will be a short entry today. I am about to head off to the ALS clinic for assessment. This assessment is all the more important in light of my recent decision to leave work. My last day is planned for March 21st. This is not an easy decision; I love my work. This decision is mostly driven by my declining strength and ongoing exhaustion, along with the impact of stress on the speed of my decline.

Of course no decision comes without its side consequences. For example my ex-wife, through her divorce lawyer, is demanding proof that I am no longer capable of working. Apparently having a debilitating terminal illness is not enough to cause me to no longer pay spousal support. So I need to go to the doctor and get an another report. It should be easy; the doctor recommended that I quit work last November when I got the diagnosis.

Proving that I cannot work should be relatively easy. With any luck there will be no demand for an additional medical/legal report. The last one cost more than $1,200. I'm not paying any more for this kind of stuff, I will soon be living on my savings and a handicap pension. My condition has declined and that is impossible to refute.

I am now reduced to using my wheelchair and walker for all ambulation, except for shuffling a few steps with my cane, using the wall for balance and stability, as I make my way from my bedroom to the bathroom each day. There are new signs in my arms, the kind of aching weakness I originally noticed in my legs a couple of years ago. And I am beginning to have trouble with my voice weakening towards the end of the day.

My brother is fairly sure the coughing and increased phlegm is a simple sinus infection. I hope so. The problem is that it has been getting increasingly noticeable for the last month or so. My voice is different enough that people have commented on it.

So we will see what they say at the clinic today. And I will ask them to send an update to my lawyer.