My Journey
7/31/23
Life is a journey. We are all on it. The journey of life has distinct phases which most of us follow: Birth to leaving home. The invincibility of the teens and 20’s. The busy working years of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, which seem to fly by. The retirement years followed by death. Most of the time we are on autopilot, engrossed in the day to day events of our lives. Only with impactful events is this journey interrupted: The injury or death of someone close to us or the diagnosis of a serious medical condition.
The diagnosis of ALS abruptly disabled my autopilot. I was 58 years old, healthy and active with many hobbies, working at a job I loved with no plans for retirement, financially secure, in a happy marriage with a beautiful family. I had the life I had dreamed of. I considered myself a
lucky man. Suddenly I was on a new journey, and not of my choosing. How would I deal with it?
This website is an attempt to answer this question. I am 13 years removed from the earliest symptoms. That is a long time in “ALS years”. There is no doubt in my mind that yoga and the Prana it revealed have extended my life and slowed my progression. I have reconnected to the
core musculature and that connection continues to gain strength. I am not short of breath and do not require breathing support.
It remains a fact that ALS is a progressive disease. I am constantly aware of the pull of this powerful disease. I have started experiencing the bulbar symptom of glottic incompetence resulting in minor choking episodes and chronic congestion. My congestion is easily managed at
the present time, and I am still eating a full diet and constitutionally very happy, but the writing is on the wall. Again, ALS is a progressive disease.
Addendum
09/11/23
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This website has been under construction since June. I am very proud of it. It has been a labor of love. We were nearly ready to publish when I suffered a string of serious medical insults. These insults challenged my ability to survive and significantly altered the trajectory of my journey.
Through the miracle of modern medicine and the talent of the physicians caring for me, I am able to update My Journey (as I am still alive). It was not a given. It was a nearly fatal sequence of events.
For a summary of the events, please click on the link below. I intend to continue to update this page with real-time journaling to document the progress of my recovery from this latest challenge. I must be honest, I have even surprised myself with my toughness and will to survive.
The Journey continues.
Contact
I have a very small social media footprint. Avoiding social media was a conscious decision. I viewed it as overly invasive and a time sink. So, this website is out of character for me. Current circumstances dictate a change in tactics. I am convinced that I have found a key to unlock an important part of my disease… my breath. As a physician, I feel obligated to humbly share my discovery. My journey has revealed the power of the breath and the potential to find it. It is REAL.
Thank you for your outreach. My output capacity is severely limited by my disease. I will try to respond. Remember, patience is a valued virtue :)