Tom Swift
My blogs
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Location | East Flat Rock, North Carolina |
| Introduction | I was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in February 2007. I was working as a hospice chaplain and served several dying ALS patients until I had to retire in October 2008. For a little over a year, I lived on my own (I am divorced) in my home with the help of friends and home health care. In November 2009 I moved into a nursing home. I cannot walk, talk, or eat by mouth. I use a BiPAP machine at night but otherwise breathe on my own. My daughters, my friends, writing, music, my church, and my faith fill me with gratitude. I am a better person than I was before I had ALS. ALS is a terrible disease, but there are worse things. It would be horrible not to love or be loved, to have faith only in myself, to be unable to enjoy beauty, to have no hope, and to be indifferent to truth. Compared to these things, ALS is minor. |