Core issues

Until recently, I've thought of myself as an arm and leg man when it comes to ALS,  despite having been shown through an April EMG test there was some activity in my gut. Now I   can feel some core infiltration taking place. When sleeping, I can no longer roll from my back to my right side, my left side long impossible due to my painful shoulder. If I need to turn, Amy has devised a method to roll me. As my right arm weakens, she has also learned how to lever me to a sitting position.

Yesterday I delved into my mental battles; today I focus on my physical battles.

Specifically, my remaining good arm and hand is following the course of the other. I have trouble with rotation, both ulnar and radial, my grip and dexterity are diminished. My posts are assembled now using the middle finger of my right hand only. Once I get Dragon running again I can speak the text provided the program can adjust to my now slurred, nasal speech pattern. Often with ALS, speech becomes difficult as the muscles involved are weakened. This is beginning to happen to me. I am acquiring lazy speak. I'll likely appear to be slow or dimwitted to strangers.

I find myself sagging to my left side when I sit and  my left arm is merely an appendage to carry around. While I can force myself to a standing position, walking  unaided has become a road less travelled. I am comfortable in my chair but a fish out of water when otherwise challenged. By my guess, stairs will be impossible for me within a month.

While generally my breathing feels normal, leading me to believe my diaphragm is so far unaffected, my swallowing has become strange and worrisome. I can eat and drink normally but at least once a day I might, for no reason, aspirate, even without food or liquid as a cause. I swallow, I aspirate, I cough a while and I'm OK. Something is lazy in my throat. None of this is strange  to ALS, however it is strange to my ALS.

I will soon need to be fed. I hold out hope that it will be solid food fed through my mouth  rather than puree poured down a port in my gut.

Earlier, I  challenged that I would put out there all that is going on. By and large, I have. I do spare the masses details of toiletry drama that spot the narrative but don't make the post. Funny, yes. Inappropriate, of course. Printable, always. Maybe some day I'll write a post, timeless and gross, to be archived until which time that I couldn't care less about propriety, thereby releasing it in a splat upon the world. Meanwhile, I will continue to provide a steady diet of tribe for as long as I can.