ALS

[sandra.payne]

My husband travels for a living and in Nov. 07 I started noticing when I spoke to him at night, his speech was slurred. I asked him if he had been drinking and he said no. During Christmas holidays, I noticed he was slurring from the time he woke up. He finally went to the doctor in January and was sent to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He was told his left vocal cord was paralysed for some unknown reason. He had an MRI which came back normal. They told him it might clear up. By March, he seemed very weak and tired, fell a few times and his left hand began to shake when he tried to grip. I convinced him to go back to the internist. After examining him, his doctor immediately called a neurologist. He was told it looked like ALS He has had another MRI to rule out a stroke an upper cervical MRI and all the neuroelectron test. He has fasciculations of the muscles in his arms and his tongue. He has trouble speaking, and swallowing. He is experiencing weakness in his knees and ankles now. The neurologist said it could be PSP, but he doesn't think it is ALS because the fasciculations and hyperreflexes are only in two limbs at this time. No one seems to be able to give us an answer. They said we may have to wait a few months to see if any other symptoms develope. It seems like things are going quickly now, and I don't think waiting is the right thing to do. It is very stressful not knowing and I know stress can make the symptoms worse. Any advise?