Shipmates--My blood tests from yesterday's exciting neuro visit (the one where he discovered the atrophy on my right calf, but adamantly said it wasn't ALS and I didn't believe him 
) are back from the lab and are all normal, including CK, aldolase and sed rate. I, however, am a complete fool for getting all hyper about this and am more determined than ever to get my mind past this.Perversely, I am relieved to know that I am dealing with "only" a disc problem and that most, if not all my symptoms, including some of the twitching, could be wrapped up in my back. A year ago, I would have been upset because we all know back problems can themselves be debilitating and I obviously have some work to do. But after wallowing in the trough of fear about ALS, that this is a relief shows how strong the fear is that accompanies all that BFS brings! I have to keep telling myself--context-- AND listen to what the doc says, not what my mind rehashes during the post-game show. I never thought this would be so hard, yet I couldn't have kept my sanity without the support I've received here. I want to thank Joanne, Nancy, Sir_Trouserz and Kit for giving me a collective sanity check yesterday. Likewise, this site is invaluable and while I'll be gone for awhile on the road, I want to remain a part of this community but in as constructive a fashion as possible. Here I've learned to value context, to rely on the professionals (except, of course, the occasional half-wit who diagnoses ALS on the basis of a single blood test), to listen what people here have to say about their experiences and to stay the h#!! off of WebMd and all the others.That's it for now! Thanks again for everyone's time. As Sean would say, Woo-Hoo!Mark
) are back from the lab and are all normal, including CK, aldolase and sed rate. I, however, am a complete fool for getting all hyper about this and am more determined than ever to get my mind past this.Perversely, I am relieved to know that I am dealing with "only" a disc problem and that most, if not all my symptoms, including some of the twitching, could be wrapped up in my back. A year ago, I would have been upset because we all know back problems can themselves be debilitating and I obviously have some work to do. But after wallowing in the trough of fear about ALS, that this is a relief shows how strong the fear is that accompanies all that BFS brings! I have to keep telling myself--context-- AND listen to what the doc says, not what my mind rehashes during the post-game show. I never thought this would be so hard, yet I couldn't have kept my sanity without the support I've received here. I want to thank Joanne, Nancy, Sir_Trouserz and Kit for giving me a collective sanity check yesterday. Likewise, this site is invaluable and while I'll be gone for awhile on the road, I want to remain a part of this community but in as constructive a fashion as possible. Here I've learned to value context, to rely on the professionals (except, of course, the occasional half-wit who diagnoses ALS on the basis of a single blood test), to listen what people here have to say about their experiences and to stay the h#!! off of WebMd and all the others.That's it for now! Thanks again for everyone's time. As Sean would say, Woo-Hoo!Mark