Living with Louie

 I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2011. I was one month shy of turning 40 years old. Needless to say, a pretty crappy birthday gift.     My symptoms were so subtle that I didn't even realize that they were symptoms.  It started with my hands getting stiff occasionally to which I attributed to as the start of arthritis from my Coast Guard days being out on the water in the dead of winter. No such luck.  Then I noticed that I would be more emotional with different situations. I was never one to be a cryer, and found myself tearing up at a wedding for people that I barely knew.  At said wedding I had one glass of wine and feeling perfectly fine people were teasing me about being drunk because I was slurring some words. Then towards the end of the day at work, someone asked me if I was drunk because again I slurred.  Since I knew I hadn't had any alcohol I made that dreaded doctors appointment.   ...