Going To The Symphony

I am in a hurry today, a bit of a rush. I slept in, something I am going to try more often. Then, after I finally got up, I decided to have a shower and get dressed up nicely.  I even shaved! You see, I am going to an outdoor symphony today, a concert in the park with friends. We are having a picnic, with accompaniment. So instead of my normal blue jeans and polo shirt, I put on dress slacks, a dress shirt, and a dress jacket. I look like I am going to work again!

Something good has come of all this extra dressing effort, an effort that included shoes instead of sneakers, a task that actually had me breaking out in a sweat. I discovered that I am not losing weight in my arms, shoulders or belly. Any weight loss over the last few months has confined itself to my legs, and in particular to the thigh muscles in my legs. While the disease progresses, I am not getting skinny yet.

How did I discover this? It would appear that the clothes in my closet are still snug on me. It's either that or they have shrunk in the last six months. You see, it has been almost six months since I last went to work, almost six months since I last put on these clothes. In those six months, the only thing that has gotten looser is the area around my thighs. Everything else fits as it did six months back.

This is a good thing. While ALS is taking me, it is not taking me in a hurry. While my FRS score is falling, I am still capable, able to live an active life. While my loss of diaphragm and loss of legs bothers me, I can still drive, still get out, and still do things like having a picnic while listening to the symphony in an outdoor venue. Plus I get to be with friends at the same time. I am once again reminded that I am not dying from ALS, I am simply living with it as long as I can.