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Update on our journey: ---Last week Eric started taking the only medication available for ALS and has not shown any signs of negative reactions; we don't expect it to show evidence of "improvement" as this particular medication is meant to slow down the muscle degeneration. In Sept. he will return to the ALS Clinic at UCDavis for a liver test since this can be an issue for some people. ---Yesterday Eric went to physical therapy and learned new exercises, working on strengthening his muscles without burning calories. At this point he has been approved for 100 visits and will go 1-2 times each week in Auburn. ---On July 3 we have an appointment with a naturopathic doctor at a Medical Group that specializes in "chronic mystery illnesses" such as Lyme, MS, heavy metal toxicity and so on. They currently do have patients with ALS they are treating. (Note: I want to re-iterate that we are NOT "accepting" this diagnosis at this point. We are seeking a second opinion from another qualified doctor who happens to see things from a different perspective.) ---Eric has been diligently taking in over 3000 calories per day (even without an appetite). It seemed was not gaining weight. In fact, he had lost another pound or two, dropping to 154. But just today seems to have gained a pound or so, now weighing about 156! ---Thursday we will have our appointment with the Social Security office to follow up on his disability request. We've heard that it's typical to be denied at least once, but we've also heard that with a diagnosis such as ALS that is not the case. We'll see. Since he has been self-employed for so long, he does not qualify for state benefits. ---On Sunday, my mom organized a "brainstorming" session. Five amazing women showed up to help us determine needs, identify potential resources, and so on. The primary areas identified included: emotional support (for Eric and each of us), physical safety and wellness for Eric, transportation/vehicles, home/property care and upkeep, goods, groceries/caloric intake/shopping, financial stability/bookkeeping/taxes, business growth, quality/down/alone time, etc. ---Today my mom and I met for 2-1/2 hours to determine specific "tasks" or "wish list items" based on the insights from Sunday's meeting. We are now setting up a SignUp Genius account to create ways to organize and receive contributions (whether in time, services, tasks or goods), as this seems to be the most flexible platform. ---Thanks to a kind volunteer, we now have a "Resource List" in Google docs, so that whenever anyone wants to share a resource, healing modality, suggestion, etc, I can simply direct them to this editable doc: https://tinyurl.com/ResourcesForEric Feel free to add to this list, noting the "category" tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Oh! And our son decided to get a tattoo the other day... and though none of us have tattoos, we actually like it! :-) 
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