Howdy folks!

John Pollman

Member
Messages
1,332
Location
Rochester Hills, MI
Long time, no talk.
I can't remember the last time I logged in here. I've gotta start checking in more often. Things haven't been going so well lately on the health front. I may just be hyper-sensitive to some of the symptoms I've been experiencing but it seems like my problems may be taking a turn for the worse. It may not be and I may be reading too much into what's been going on since I got the final diagnosis of what my issue is back in January.

The scary part is that there is apparently no cure or treatment for what I'm dealing with. My doctor said that about all I can do is try exercise and physical therapy to try to slow the progression. Unfortunately, exercise has been tough lately due to a bad knee. It's kind of a vicious circle because my ortho tells me the knee problem is caused by the weakness in my quads. On the other hand, I have a hard time exercising my quads because of the bad knee.

I don't know what's going to happen at this point but it looks like I may have to find a new line of work eventually. That really stinks because starting over at 48 is not going to be an easy task. I don't even want to think about it, but I've had several people tell me that I should be thinking about starting the process of filing for disability. Oh well, at least I can be thankful that they've ruled out ALS. What I do have is not fun and is pretty serious business, but my doctor said that it's MANY times better to be dealing with this than ALS.

Well I just thought I'd drop in and say hi. I'm going to try to check in much more often and get to know you all again. I've missed this place!

Take care

John
 
Glad to see you John. You are right about the vicious circle. Loafing around leads to aches and pains which make us want to loaf around, etc. etc. The thing about regular exercise is that it needs to be regular to do you any good. I struggle off and on with the "regular" part. It is curious that I always feel better when I am in the "regular" cycle but, am able to fall out of it so quickly. Exercise seems to be the one habit that is hard to start and easy to stop. Hope you have better luck with it going forward. I'm working at it right along with you.
 
You're right there Glenn, it's got to be regular. It's tough because the disease they've diagnosed me with is VERY rare and they don't know a lot about it. I did some research on it back in February, and from what I could find out they say that there are only about 100 cases of it in the entire country! The scary part of it is that in a lot of the cases (not all but it it looks like quite a few), the people end up in a wheel chair. At this point, I can hardly go up and down stairs anymore because of the weakness in my quads. About three times in the last couple of months, I've had my leg give out and I fall and can't catch myself and I end up on the floor. I did get with my doctor a week or so ago and he gave me a prescription for some Motrin 800's. They work better for me than the over the counter stuff. The knee is feeling a bit better now and I'm just about ready to start a daily routine on my stationary bike and total gym. I've got to try to stay positive and not think about what could happen. It just leads to more worrying and stress.
 
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Hey, good to hear from you John. Sorry to hear about the health problems, but it does sound like you've got a good attitude going for you.
 
Good to hear from you John:) health issues are rough to deal with at times but we have to deal with them. So the best to you to handle yours as best as you can. Check in here as often as you can for laughs, support, what ever you are looking for:thumb:
 
Thanks Tom,
dealing with this situation on a day to day basis is starting to wear on me. This all started back in September with the initial diagnosis of ALS. It took about three months until they could rule it out. Ever since then though, I've been trying to deal with knowing that I have something that has no treatment and they know very little about. The past month or so it appears to be progressing and getting worse. I was just discussing this with my wife earlier today but I think I'm going to have to install some grab bars in some areas of the house to help me get up and down the step between my family room and kitchen/breakfast nook as well as the laundry/mud room and back door exit. I'm not crazy about how that's going to look, but you've got to do what you've got to do. I need to make it SAFE for me to get around here!

I've got a couple projects in mind and maybe I'll take some pics of them in process and post them here. It'll give me something creative and constructive to do.

John
 
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