proudfoot is about to shuffle off this mortal coil and the flllowing was printed in the Gazette yesterday:
By Tony Proudfoot for Postmedia News
“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things.” — Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
MONTREAL — The last time I wrote for the Montreal Gazette in April 2010, I was anticipating that I might not make it to another Christmas. Here it is, early December, same year, and my circumstances are certainly clearer. As the Walrus says, “The time has come” literally and figuratively, and I would like to “talk of many things.”
Why has ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) come into my life? What can I do with my body as it slowly deteriorates? When will my time actually be, given that ALS is a definitive death sentence? These are all thoughts that come to mind. Focusing on my next breath requires all of my energy. I am starved of air and oxygen and need to rely on a ventilator just to feel stable, just to live. I am now on my ventilator up to 22 hours per day, often going off one, to walk slowly to another room to attach myself to another.
At the beginning, without any answers and none forthcoming, I chose to take the high road and be as positive as I could possibly be and live the life I had left to the fullest. I also worked hard to raise awareness of ALS and support research into its cause and elimination.
