Beautiful Day

It is one of those beautiful early spring days in New England;the kind that promises warmer days to come. For those of you who haven't seen me for awhile, there have been some changes. I have lost about 50 lbs. since last August....that's a good thing as long as I don't lose too much too fast. I am not walking anymore but I still get around nicely in my power wheelchair. I feel blessed and thankful for my wonderful family and friends. They have helped me so much and have not let ALS and my disability affect our relationships. God has graced me with the best and I love them all.

I continue to write. I just had a poem published in the Annals of Internal Medicine this month. I was honored! Some of my poems relate to my struggle with ALS but I do not write exclusively about the disease. I'll be posting some of my poems to my website soon.

Well, that's all for now...

opening day.....

today is the grand opening day of my website www.janebabin.com

On Saturday, www.janebabin.com will go completely live. I am going to learn how to post to my daily blog and make edits to my website. Key your fingers crossed.

What is ALS?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain (upper motor neurons) and spinal cord (lower motor neurons).

These motor neurons control the movement of voluntary muscles. When the motor neurons can no longer send impulses to the muscles due to ALS, the muscles begin to waste away (atrophy), causing increased muscle weakness. Motor neuron, or nerve cell, death makes it impossible for the brain to control muscles or signal them to move.

Symptoms of ALS include twitching and cramping of muscles (called fasciculation), loss of motor control in hands and arms, impaired use of the arms and legs, weakness and fatigue, tripping and falling, dropping things, slurred or thick speech and difficulty breathing or swallowing.

In most cases, ALS patients do not experience impaired intellectual reasoning, vision or hearing. Eye and bladder muscles, along with sexual function and drive, are not normally affected.

ALS is diagnosed using a variety of tests and examinations, including laboratory tests, muscle and nerve biopsy, spinal tap, X-rays, MRI's and electrodiagnostic tests.