No News From The ALS Clinic

I went to the ALS clinic today. I really don't care to go to the clinic anymore. First, the appointments are in the morning; this morning I had to wake up at 8:00 AM to get an Access Calgary bus at 9:10 AM for a 10:30 AM appointment. Second, the transit logistics are terrible; I finished my appointment at 1:00 PM, the Access Calgary bus was scheduled for 2:00 PM, it took 2 hours to make the 45 minute trip. And third, I learn very little that I already don't know, if anything at all.

This marathon effort today produced very little news. My lung volume is low while my breathing is fine. My diaphragm is a lot weaker, but my CO2 output is normal. Oh, and I gained 1 pound a month over the last year, all on my belly. It was interesting. On hearing the weight gain, the respirologist said "Oh, that's good." I'm not sure if it is good because I gained weight or good because I didn't gain a lot more weight.

I've come to the place where I am now comfortable with the fact that I am going to continue to gain weight until I stop eating. I plan on eating and drinking for as long as possible! After all, I am in no position to exercise it away. I am the most sedentary of sedentary people, immobile from the shoulders down. As to when I stop eating, I'm fairly sure that event is well on it's way. I'm having plenty of trouble getting the fork to my mouth these days, and it's only going to get worse.

When it comes to my breathing, I've got a long way to go yet. There are plenty of people out there with only one lung; that means a lung volume capacity of 50%. I can get well below that before it becomes serious. The same is true with my diaphragm and breathing in general. Yes, I get tired, short of breath. Yet I am still breathing well overall.

All in all, it was a "stay the course" kind of a day; nothing dramatic, nothing exciting, things progressing as one might expect. It really kind of fits in with my general approach to this, that I will let nature take its course. That doesn't mean giving up. I\ll keep living as well as I can for as long as I can. Once that comes to an end, so do I. No fuss, no muss, no bother. It just seems like the right thing to do, living one day at a time.