Hello Again,
Well...where to begin? I am holding on to the above quote, when there are no words, turn to Winnie the Pooh!
Last week Travis was ill with what we thought was stomach flu. After going to the pharmacy, and then later to the walk in clinic where they sent him home with again "just the flu, give it time", it turns out I had to take him to the Emergency room Saturday morning due to painful symptoms. After several hours & blood tests the doctor told me that he had an "episode" with his heart and would need to be admitted. Travis was transferred to the Heart Institute at The Ottawa Hospital where he remains today. The cardiologist believes that Travis has an inflammation of his heart due to Infection. We are still waiting to hear if it is viral or bacterial, however, he did eat a homemade hamburger from Sobeys the day before his symptoms began, and as it turns out Sobeys has had a recall of many of their beef products. Today the cardiologist said that the good news is that there is no damage to his heart although it is still swollen & painful. He is administering antibiotics and hopefully Travis will be discharged in a few days where he needs plenty of R & R. It will be up to me to do the cooking for a change!
Don't you think he could have found a better way to distract me from my issues?
As for me, I had my first visit to the ALS clinic today at The Ottawa Hospital. There have been far too many hospital visits over the past little while to my liking! The staff were great and my parents were with me. The doctor shared that the course & progression varies from person to person and that although there are averages, there is no way of knowing what my timeline and degenerative progression will be. There have been those who have "plateaued" with symptoms meaning the progression pauses for a time, and those who have declined rapidly. There are some who have been able to walk in the end and those who have been able to speak and those who have lost all voluntary muscle control. She stated that those who are well prepared seem to handle things better and of course to live life to the fullest as we all should.
She did confirm that it would be best if we moved as soon as possible. I will continue to attend the ALS clinic as they have a whole team of staff for me to meet.
Right now we are taking it day by day as we need Trav to have a strong & healthy heart before we can make any future plans.
These are trying times...
Still we feel the love, support & prayers of friends and family. One beautiful example is on the link I have added to the events page of Heather & Andy's Hudson Valley Walk to Defeat ALS.
Yet another is a wonderful event being planned by our friends Danny from CMHA and Mark from the Brookstreet Hotel and their wives, to help out Travis & I.
There are so many others to thank and believe me we will be taking you all up on your offers of support!
Well...where to begin? I am holding on to the above quote, when there are no words, turn to Winnie the Pooh!
Last week Travis was ill with what we thought was stomach flu. After going to the pharmacy, and then later to the walk in clinic where they sent him home with again "just the flu, give it time", it turns out I had to take him to the Emergency room Saturday morning due to painful symptoms. After several hours & blood tests the doctor told me that he had an "episode" with his heart and would need to be admitted. Travis was transferred to the Heart Institute at The Ottawa Hospital where he remains today. The cardiologist believes that Travis has an inflammation of his heart due to Infection. We are still waiting to hear if it is viral or bacterial, however, he did eat a homemade hamburger from Sobeys the day before his symptoms began, and as it turns out Sobeys has had a recall of many of their beef products. Today the cardiologist said that the good news is that there is no damage to his heart although it is still swollen & painful. He is administering antibiotics and hopefully Travis will be discharged in a few days where he needs plenty of R & R. It will be up to me to do the cooking for a change!
Don't you think he could have found a better way to distract me from my issues?
As for me, I had my first visit to the ALS clinic today at The Ottawa Hospital. There have been far too many hospital visits over the past little while to my liking! The staff were great and my parents were with me. The doctor shared that the course & progression varies from person to person and that although there are averages, there is no way of knowing what my timeline and degenerative progression will be. There have been those who have "plateaued" with symptoms meaning the progression pauses for a time, and those who have declined rapidly. There are some who have been able to walk in the end and those who have been able to speak and those who have lost all voluntary muscle control. She stated that those who are well prepared seem to handle things better and of course to live life to the fullest as we all should.
She did confirm that it would be best if we moved as soon as possible. I will continue to attend the ALS clinic as they have a whole team of staff for me to meet.
Right now we are taking it day by day as we need Trav to have a strong & healthy heart before we can make any future plans.
These are trying times...
Still we feel the love, support & prayers of friends and family. One beautiful example is on the link I have added to the events page of Heather & Andy's Hudson Valley Walk to Defeat ALS.
Yet another is a wonderful event being planned by our friends Danny from CMHA and Mark from the Brookstreet Hotel and their wives, to help out Travis & I.
There are so many others to thank and believe me we will be taking you all up on your offers of support!
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