Diane

Dateline San Francisco – We were driving down Bush Street yesterday morning after our monthly appointment at an ALS research clinic, admiring the tall, slender, century-old Victorian homes.

“I would hate to be living in one of them during an earthquake,” Diane remarked.

Nature aside, living was the main subject of our conversation during and after our consultation visit with the ALS team. The encouraging news is that Diane’s breathing – perhaps the most vulnerable body function for ALS patients — is as strong today as it was last August, on our maiden visit.

That is worth no prayers and a handsprings exercise because it made our drive home lighter, happier.

Breathing has been an unswerving focus of our lives since Diane started using a breathing device, called a bi-pap, three months ago.

Last month she was hospitalized for two days after a breathing scare. There was a question of whether she could endure a 420-mile drive without requiring the aid of her ever-present bi-pap.

Bathroom stops aside… they are not really an aside because each stop entails unpacking her wheelchair from the trunk, aiding her in climbing slowly, painfully, from her passenger seat into the wheelchair, advancing across a not-necessarily-smooth surface, followed by the strange sight of a man and a woman simultaneously entering a women’s restroom.

At one gas station waystop in bucolic Northern California, I almost gave up trying to maneuver her chair into the restroom. With slight strategizing, we eventually entered, with 1/2000ths of an inch to spare.

But who cared? The results of Diane’s breathing tests won the day.