Galen

[Guest guest]

Galen,

I will agree sometimes I feel like a baby

can do what I can't and it makes me so angry. I fell last week and hurt my toes and

foot. Today I fell again just like before except it was my other foot. I know when I

am going to fall but can not stop my self.

So I am going through some terrible times

now hope I snap out of it soon.

Jane Anne King

My theory

It isn't really known why PLS does what it does, or even what it is. Wecan at best agree that it is a degenerative affliction that involvescommunication between the brain and the rest of the body. Our brains havegone on for many years with the expectation that when an order is sent outthe body part will comply promptly. Now it finds some orders are not beingcarried out correctly, or not at all, and it is getting worse! We all knowthe frustration of not being able to do things we feel we should accomplishwith ease. It's like trying to change a burned out light bulb. Should beeasy, right? But the bulb is stuck in the socket, then it breaks, then youmangle the socket trying to get the base of the bulb out, and instantlywhat started off as a minor project is transformed into major and costlyrepair. It's enough to make you want to sit down and cry. (Well, meanyway). Think how your brain must feel when it undertakes something whichhas been trivial for it for years and years!Now your brain isn't dumb, it's pretty shrewd. It tries other work-aroundsand patches to get things to work. Maybe it can't get the right leg towork via it's normal signals, so the brain tries another set.Unfortunately, feedback isn't always reliable in this case either, so thebrain may well think it has figured out the way to make the right leg work.To an observer, not to mention the inhabitant of the body, however, thislooks rather like uncontrollable twitching. Or maybe your brain hassuccessfully figured out a way it can send signals for you to stand up froma sitting position. But the very same resourses needed for support ofshort-term memory are required for you to stand. The result? You may wellget up, but entirely forget why. What I call "multi-tasking" is damagedtoo. Whereas I used to get up for the door in one fluid motion, I now haveto break it down into steps like stand up, stop, find my cane (didn't haveto do that at all before), stop, walk to the door, stop, turn to face thedoor, stop, open the door -- well, by that time whoever was at the door hasgiven up and left -- miss a lot of Jehovah's Witness types that way.Anyway, the gist of this all is that PLS results in all of us coping indifferent ways, which is why we all react in different ways. In otherwords, I think the symptoms are merely a secondary effect of the problem.Face it, you've got a frustrated brain with impaired communication. It's awonder we can function at all! Hey, it's just a theory... Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA ghekhuis@... We'll cross that bridge when it rears its ugly head