Janet Wendy's progress

Janet Wendy is having a rather miserable time, I'm sorry to say. Her muscle weakness is almost all upper body, including hands as well as neck and face muscles. So she has trouble looking straight ahead even with a bit of support from a neck brace, and her chin is sunk on her chest so she looks down at her feet, rather than straight ahead -- a rather depressing view of the world around her. She can still smile though, and her smile can still light up a room just as it's always done. (This photo which I took in August 1956 was briefly a header for these posts. It shows her smile at its best). She has no pain which is an aspect of motor neuron disease or ALS that makes her condition bearable. Her main complaint is that she is always tired, can't do things she has always done, like getting meals ready, no matter how hard she tries. Instead she sleeps a lot, although when she is awake she worries me sometimes, trying to do things that are beyond her strength. We are greatly comforted and helped by the rich range of support services and the friendly, compassionate people who staff these services. Lately we have been helped and advised by a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist (who has advised us about ways to minimize muscle use and maximize efficiency, while maintaining muscle tone; and has acquainted us with aids and assistive devices of many kinds). We are regularly visited by a community nurse, and by a palliative care physician (a former student of mine) whose help and advice are outstanding. All of this rich array of supporting services and specialized staff come without direct costs to us. We are finding out at first hand that the Canadian tax-supported health care system is excellent, indeed the highest quality personal care service. So we can flatly contradict the slander and lies that are pouring out of the Murdoch media in the USA -- although from the little I understand of it, the Obama health care proposal is an anemic and limited variant of tax supported medical and hospital care. I'm thankful yet again as I have been often in the past, that we chose to stay in Canada, rather than yield to the seductive invitations I used to get to move south of the border.