Monday, January 12, 2026 – Day 517

Monday, January 12, 2026

Good morning, everyone.

I watched the Bears–Packers game yesterday morning. I knew there was no way I could stay up late to watch it live andstill crank out a blog post by 7:00 a.m. It was exciting to see the Bears win—maybe too exciting—but that’s been the Bears MO all season. Good. Better. Best.

Cindy was able to carve out some time for herself this weekend and get out to socialize with friends and family. That doesn’t happen very often. Winter keeps me close to home, which keeps Cindy close to home. I’m not a fan of snow ❄️, cold 🥶, or germs 🦠. So I’m happy she got a break.

Thank you to everyone who helped get her out of the house, even though she still worries about leaving me alone. I keep reassuring her that I’m being safe and not taking any risks while she’s away. Still, the fear that she’ll walk in and find me splayed out on the floor is real—and rational. It’s something we continue to work around together.

To round out Sunday, Cindy, her sister Barb, and cousin Donna came back to the house for dessert as an early birthday celebration—Cindy’s birthday is tomorrow. Joe and Mark also joined us on their way back from Sew Hop’d Brewery. It was really nice to have some life and laughter in the house. Bear certainly approved—he loved having new people to play with.

On the ALS front—which I know comes up often, and I sometimes feel like a broken record—any small task can leave me short of breath. When it gets harder to clear the CO₂ buildup, I get on the respirator. I don’t need it every day—just on days when I exert myself. And these days, exertion can include something as simple as talking, getting dressed, or using the restroom.

Because of that, I’ve started tracking my SpO₂ (oxygen saturation). Lately, it’s been hovering in the mid-to-high 80s, with an occasional dip into the 70s. Since my ALS diagnosis, I’d been consistently around 95%, so this change has really only shown up in the last week or so. The good news is that I can bring it back up to 95% with deep breaths.

I’ll pass this information along to my pulmonologist and see what he has to say about it.

One thing’s for sure—it’s a good thing I’m not the one blowing out the birthday candles tomorrow.

Have a great Monday. Love you guys ❤️