ALS Clinic - Part I

I'll try to capture as much about the new clinic in this one update, but we'll how it goes . . . I loved the physical and occupational therapists! They were very upbeat and extremely helpful. They gave me a new leg brace (just gave it to me!) that should fit in almost all of my normal shoes. I can't try it until my foot heals, but if it works- the ugly shoes are going back immediately! In addition they recommended all kinds of things like: 1) A transport wheel chair, which is very light weight. We'd keep it in the car so Bob can push me into work or into stores where there is a lot of walking, etc. Like my past PT, they said my strength is pretty good but my falls are bcz I'm fatigued from doing too much. 2) A power wheel chair for the house, bcz I am not strong enough to push my existing one on carpet. They said that as my belly grows I'm going to need to use it more and more so I don't wear myself out. 3) A walker to use at home, work, etc to make sure I don't fall (I knew this one would be coming) 4) An eject recliner so I can stand up from a sitting position, which I haven't been able to do from our furniture for some time. We had priced these on craigslist and they run about $300 used. 5) They also recommend several other smaller items to help turn the washing machine knob, and do other household chores that I'm having trouble with. Later we met w/ Kim, the social worker from the ALS Association, who is going to give us all of the items listed above - including the recliner! I can't tell you how grateful I am that we met her at my last dr.'s office, which coincidently, she hasn't been back to his clinic since she met us back in March. She said we should have everything within two weeks and they deliver! I can not say enough about the ALS Association (ALSA) and can't wait to get our team going for the Oct. walk, especially since we are seeing first hand where the money goes. Well, that's about all the hand can handle for now (typing), so I'll post more updates from the clinic later.