This wasn't supposed to happen

This is the Blog post I never thought I would write.

Today, Pat's outlived his prognosis by one day.   When he was diagnosed on May 24, 2012 the rule of thumb was he would live between 2-5 years.  Now he's at Five Years and one day. He has outlived his handicap sticker, three sets of battery vents, two vans, two speech machines, two nursing agencies and a dog.   He's a tenacious son of a gun.

This is not true of everyone  We know of those who died well within those parameters. This is a tough disease. ALS is hard on everyone.  We know medical professionals who have either quit or are planning on it because they can't stand all the deaths of wonderful people they've grown to know.

Of course, we've had help, I cannot stress enough how important the Duke ALS clinic with Dr. Bedlack and his gang have been.  The Durham VA Hospital comes through every time and their care for Pat has been phenomenal. Duke University Hospital and our local people, Drs. Bennett and McQueen at Alamance Eye Nose and Throat go above and beyond when we need them. The Bayada Nursing team got us off to a great start and we're looking forward to working with Full Coverage Private Duty Nursing now.

Since Pat has been diagnosed our grandchildren have also gone through changes. The oldest went from elementary school to worrying about college choices. And we have three newbies who came down to stay and be loved.

Don't pity us. We are here, still plugging away because of the choices we made.  Compassion,yes- such as you would have for any fellow creature of God - but don't pity us.  We have a wonderful life. As Ann Landers used to  ask, " are you better off with him or without?"  Everyday, my answer is "WITH!" and every day, I silently thank Pat for waking up.


Here's who we were at the beginning of the rodeo. That baby in arms was born after the diagnosis.



And here's where we are now.

 and here are the newbies to the family. The youngest is three. We anticipate meeting his children.

Here's to another five years and beyond.