Getting weaker as time progresses. I am now confined, maybe confined is too strong a word, to a power wheelchair and the hospital bed. I need help with about everything I do, this includes eating, bathing, even drinking liquids and scratching any itch I have, which seems to be too often. Lifting my arms or extending my legs out straight while I’m sitting has become almost impossible. I was told by the doctor that swallowing becomes difficult as the IBM progresses, which I found to be true. Choking, if you don’t sufficiently liquefy the food you are eating, becomes common. Talking while eating can exacerbate the problem. I have an appointment to check my swallowing at UC Davis Med clinic next month.

I ran across this on the internet about Bayer lawsuit. I took Baycol for a short time in the late ’90s, prior to any muscle problems; I wonder if there could be a connection? “Regarding Baycol, a lawsuit claims that Bayer knew about the drug’s risks of triggering rhabdomyolysis and yet downplayed the risks. Rhabdomyolysis involves the breakdown of muscle tissues which causes the release of muscle fibers into the blood.” I forwarded the article to my Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or DO doctor, at UC Davis and have yet to get a response.

I use speech to text and an on screen keyboard and index finger on a mouse to write articles and send text messages. Thanks to my family, mainly my wife, my spirits remain relatively high as I get weaker. I have all the equipment I need, but the one thing I need more of, is patience. Having to wait for assistance to have anything done, that previously, when I was healthy, I could do, requires a lot of patience. One thing patience has afforded me, is that my waiting time is spent sometimes, in prayer. I am a firm believer in prayer and pray often; a benefit from patience.