I don't like the feeling that my breathing has become more shallow (due to nerve and muscle loss to the breathing muscles), but that is the sense I get. I have found myself catching up on breath after very light efforts such as climbing a couple of flights of stairs, or loading the laundry into the machine. My self-measured inhale volume is still down to 4250-4500 mL despite this long stretch of no respiratory infections, and despite breathing exercises I have been doing. I need some exercises that will strengthen the neck muscles. My doc says the muscles that allow us to hold up our heads are the same that enable us to breathe. He also notes that genuine breathing impairment is indistinguishable from anxiety. There's no way I can prove I'm not anxious, but I sure don't feel that I am.
My experience with ALS had been that the problem arrived in my extremities, and I thought it would progress from there; Sicily, Naples, Anzio. But now there's been a landing in Normandy. I like to think it's a feint. I'll hold the panzers in reserve, ja?
<< Home