At the end of my final clinical trial visit at UCSF two weeks ago I was examined by a neurologist. Once all the poking and prodding and pushing and pulling was over she offered up the following opinion on my condition: For someone with the amount of muscle strength in my legs, I should be walking a lot better. She then asked if I had ever heard of the muscle relaxer called Baclefen. She felt it would be helpful for the spasticity in my leg muscles and thus make my walking less stiff and awkward feeling. I informed her that Baclefen had made me feel wobbly in the past when I had taken it and I had quit popping them months ago. We discussed the availability of other muscle relaxers on the market and we said our good-byes.
Two days later during a visit with my regular Kaiser neurologist, Dr North, I spoke to him of my conversation with the UCSF doc. Always willing to help, Dr North hooked me up with a prescription for another muscle relaxing drug called tizanidine. My valet and I picked up the pills several days later from the Kaiser pharmacy and I promptly forgot all about them until Christmas day.
Around noon on the twenty-fifth, I sat myself down at my desk in my office and began to check emails as I gulped down the first installment of my twice daily drug/supplement cocktail with a cold glass of orange juice. In addition to the usual colorful and pungent assortment of pills and capsules, Team ALS Boy decided that today would be a good day to begin taking my new muscle relaxer. I tossed the new white pill with the x on it into my mouth and washed it down with the OJ and continued surfing the web.
About half an hour later, when I began to grow bored with my pointless browsing in cyberspace, I decided to leave the office and head for the couch in the living room. As I stood up from my seated position, I was immediately overcome with the overwhelming urge to sit back down. I quickly complied.
I attempted to stand two or three more times with the same emphatic result. Before I chose to do anything stupid and prideful, I shouted out for back-up.
The troops, meaning Fehmeen and my Dad, arrived quickly and helped me to a standing position. No sooner had I taken a dozen or so tentative and wobbly-kneed steps toward the aforementioned couch when the doorbell rang. Since it was about two hours too early for our dinner guests to arrive, we stood around the foyer staring at each other wondering who could be at the door.
The second we opened the door and saw our friends’ smiling faces, we all suddenly remembered that it was time for John and Traci’s annual Christmas visit. As we ushered them in and gathered on the couch, it became instantaneously obvious that I would not be lasting very long in the conversation due primarily to my inability to keep my eyes open. Apparently, my legs weren’t the only body parts feeling the effects of the muscle relaxer pill; it was working on my brain, too.
For the second time in about an hour, Team ALS Boy made a collective, executive decision: I was sent to bed to sleep it off. I was so out of it and in such a wobbly, hazy daze that I barely recall saying good-bye to John and Traci, much less making the short walk down the hall to my bedroom.
The next thing I remember is hearing the doorbell ring at 3 pm, heralding the arrival of the first of our Christmas dinner guests. The next thing I recollect is seeing Fehmeen standing over me asking me if I was feeling any better and if I would like to get up. I responded yes on both accounts.
Unfortunately for everyone in my immediate vicinity, there was no time to shower me so we applied an extra stroke or five of deodorant to my pits, threw on a pair of khaki shorts and a collared shirt and sent me out to hang with the family. No one commented on the musty funk emanating from my body so either the Old Spice Swagger worked or I have a very kind and forgiving family. Irregardless of the smelly truth of the matter, Christmas evening was how it always is with my family: Full of good times and great food and above all else, an abundance of family warmth and love.
Happy New Year. =) Glad you had a wonderful Christmas and hope the year ahead of you will be one filled with much joy, hope and happiness.
You were definitely a sleepy boy, but it was great to see you anyway, even briefly! We still had a fun time watching Emma goof around and chatting with the fam — and we love the new digs! Happy New Year!