
The day began with meeting "Pulmonary". I saw a respiratory therapist who gave me many breathing and lung function tests and then I met with the Respirologist who spoke about what often happens with people living with ALS. It seems that for now, my breathing and lung function are good. Next we saw the Speech Pathologist who is also an expert on swallowing who showed us the foods that may be easier to eat (great that Travis is a chef and I love his soups!). Good news is that she currently has no recommendations. It was daunting to discuss equipment that can help people communicate without speaking, I am sooo not ready for that being someone who definitely talks too much! After that we saw the Social Worker who recommended that we hire a lawyer to validate Travis as my Power of Attorney and to complete a will. From there we went to our family doctor who saw both Travis & I. Travis is still tired and vulnerable due to his heart and the doc recommended that he take it easy at work, take lots of breaks and drink lots of water. He promised me he would but I would much prefer to have him resting at home. I have a referral into a liver specialist as my liver enzymes have been elevated for a number of years. Before we left we both got our flu shots for the season (for those of you who don't get it because "you never get the flu", be aware you could be a carrier and pass it on to vulnerable people like me! Please get your flu shots!!). After that we went to the driver's license issuing office and got my rock star parking pass! After stopping at the pharmacy to get our medication for the trip we went home to meet with Lianne from ALS Canada who does home visits and shared how ALS Canada has a loan cupboard to loan necessary equipment and left us with an ALS manual and a recommendation to file it away until after our Italy trip! The only member of the team I have not yet met with is the dietician, however, I did get an email from Sue our nurse whose recommendation is to eat all the food and drink we like in Italy.
Thanks to Brittany who despite such an overwhelming day, has challenged me to still find the Awesome Things in life, Monday's Awesome thing is that our flights to Italy were booked, no small thing!
Thanks for the Awesome Lunch yesterday to my friends at work.
Today's Awesome: as I'm writing this Heather's photos & video from the ALS walk just came in, check out the gallery xoxo