ALS

We have been learning about ALS in our Neurological Aspects class, and this disease has interested (and honestly, terrified) me more than any other. I think it's hard to believe that something like ALS can happen to the body. My dad is a contractor and my mom is a real estate agent. Last year they built a house for a couple in their 50's, and the woman had just been diagnosed with ALS so they needed a very accessible home. When they began building the house the woman was able to walk and talk, but by the time they moved into the house she was using a wheelchair and was having major respiratory issues. She communicated with an eye gaze, and talked about how terrifying it was to be trapped in her own body with her mind still intact. She talked about her respiratory issues and how she would try to take a breath but her lungs sometimes would do nothing. She said it felt like she was suffocating so much of the time. Unfortunately, she passed away only a few months later.
This disease is so heartbreaking because the prognosis always ends the same way. I think working as an OT with someone with this diagnosis would be very hard, but I also think that as OT's, we are very equipped to work with these individuals and their families since we are so client-centered. 

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