For as long as I can remember I loved shoes ... really hot shoes ... shoes that rocked ... and I wore them well! Then I guess about 2 years ago there was an occasional stumble and maybe a fall ... and we all laughed that I touched a voodoo doll or the bottom of my shoe stuck and tripped me! Who could have imagined then what the road ahead had in store for me!
Because none of my doctors could figure out what was wrong with me they decided I needed an MRI. When I reported for the MRI it was actually 4 MRI's ... 2 hours I was asked not to move ... no small task for me! Thank goodness, I was told I did have a brain. Then the doctors wanted an EMG/NRV study ... shooting electric shocks through me and sticking needles into my nerves ... I asked the doctor to please never do that to me again! So that more tests could be done I was admitted to the hospital and in September 2009 I became a human pin cushion. I was poked and prodded ... every day for 15 days. All the tests said I was negative and unremarkable. Hmm! Unhappy that they were still unable to diagnosis my problem a nerve & muscle biopsy was ordered. Finally, in February 2010 my doctor gave me the diagnosis of ALS. With that said, I am still reading about this disease because I have so many things that contradict ALS.
The road to discovery has not been grim! I can not walk, so transfers from wheel chair to car and vice versa are all too often "where was the video/camera" situations! Questions to me about if I have fallen ... get turned to have I been dropped! Laughing is all we can do ... and trust me we laugh hard. When a normal transfer is out of the question (riding in a SUV) I get thrown head first and shoved in or hoisted and thrown in. To those that take me places it is always a learning, growing and laughing situation. Marcia & I always have to laugh when people see us get into her car ... a Lexus 2 door coupe ... they do a double take.
It was last week when I finally went through all my shoes and gave them away for a garage sale I realized it would not get better and I would not be wearing those shoes again. I can; however; shop, buy and wear sandals that rock!
