The Hermit Poet

This just in from my mother — the neurologists have finished their review of all the MRIs and have changed their initial diagnosis:

My father does not have ALS.

What does he have? That’s the real question. They suggest it’s one of the following three (excuse my lousy non-medical paraphrase):

1. something is attacking the membrane that covers the nerves (treatable with recovery in the long run)
2. some sort of inoperable tumor in the spinal cord (but so far this hasn’t shown up on the scans – it would at least be potentially treatable with chemotherapy)
3. a genetic defect which causes a disintegratation of the nerve covering (treatable, but not reversible).

But in any case, all three offer a brighter outlook than ALS — there’s at least something that can be done regardless of the final diagnosis.

Needless to say, we as a family are very very grateful for all the thoughts, wishes, and prayers of our friends, extended family, colleagues, and fellow bloggers. It’s not over yet, but your strength and warm feelings have been a great blessing to us.

Now, I suspect someone will have to break the news to my father that if he doesn’t have ALS, he won’t be able to keep that really nice lift-recliner that’s on loan from the ALS Society of BC… we all have to make sacrifices.