Friday, September 26, 2025
Good morning Andy’s Army, and welcome to Friday—the last weekend of September. Good news!! The Chicago Marathon shirts are done and already in our hands. Start to finish? Four days. It pays to go local…and most importantly, the shirts look sharp. If you didn’t request one, I might do a second run. No promises, but I’ll try. Don’t delay! I owe some “thank-yous” to a few people… First up, Terri K.
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Good morning. Welcome to Thursday. Let’s talk about love because yesterday I had happy tears rolling down my cheeks. 🥲 I can’t begin to tell you how much love and support this blog has brought back to me. When I first resisted the idea of being a “blogger,” it was because I didn’t think I had anything meaningful to say—nothing that would hold anyone’s interest beyond family members who might feel obligated to read whatever repetitive garbage I churned out.
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Good morning, world. We packed a lot into yesterday. Cindy dropped off Bear by 8:00 a.m. for a day of play, and we were out the door by 10:00 a.m. for Glenbrook Hospital. That may not sound like much, but by the time I’ve done the formula feeding, used the restroom, showered, and dressed, I’ve already lived a full morning. Each step drains precious energy, and they all take extra time.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Good morning, friends and family. Thanks for joining us today. First things first—Happy Birthday, Barb! (Cindy’s sister.) 🎉 We’ll see you tonight for the celebration. Now for some good news: the Andy’s Army t-shirts are officially on order and expected to arrive October 3rd. Knowing this vendor (Think Ink), I think they’ll show up even sooner. A few last-minute requests snuck in, and we managed to get those included too. Nearly 100 t-shirts will be out there supporting Andy’s Army—I’m flabbergasted.
Monday, September 22, 2025
Good morning, new blog readers and those of you who’ve been following, welcome to Andy’s Army. I don’t know everyone reading this, but I’m humbled that you’re taking the time to follow my ALS journey, my daily life, and to meet my family and friends through these posts. Andy’s Army was started by Nikki and Alex (my kids) and Meghan (my niece), with the goal of raising money for ALS United by running the Chicago Marathon on October 12—just 20 days away.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Good morning, y’all. It’s September, and nature’s preparing for winter. I’m sitting here in the early morning, it’s quiet, and dark…and then snap! I hear a mouse trap in the basement go off and tumble from the steel girder to the floor. Got another one! Great news…except somebody has to collect the trap, and that somebody is Cindy. She hates even looking at the kill traps. I never minded carrying them outside, emptying, and resetting them—again and again.
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Good morning, blog readers. Welcome to Saturday! A quick reminder: we’re ordering Andy’s Army t-shirts for the Chicago Marathon. We added about a dozen names to the list yesterday. I’ll publish the updated list tomorrow with everyone who’s requested one. Orders close at the end of the day Sunday, so if you’d like a shirt, let us know. Cost is still TBD but will be nominal. Yesterday morning, my triplet brother Tom stopped by with a big pot of his homemade chili—complete with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and oyster crackers.
Friday, September 19, 2025
Good morning. Happy Friday! We had a lunch date with Rob H. at Chessie’s in Barrington yesterday. I’m glad it was on the calendar—I needed to get out, soak in the beautiful fall weather, and connect with people. I was starting to slip into a funk just sitting at home. Thanks, Rob, for checking in and picking up the tab. It’s on us next time. Today the humidifier for my respirator arrives—yeah!
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Good morning, blog readers. It’s been a quiet week with a touch of post-wedding blues. The whirlwind of Alex and Nicole’s big day, combined with my physical fatigue, has me feeling a little flat. The best way I can explain it is with an Ironman analogy. When you train for an IM, it becomes all-consuming. Every spare minute is dedicated to preparation—you borrow time from work, family, sleep, and just about everything else.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Good morning everyone. Well…here we are: 400 days since the ALS diagnosis. What a ride it has been. I’ve had far more highs than lows, and the progression has been slow enough that this shitty disease didn’t dampen Alex and Nicole’s wedding—as you’ve seen this past week. Still, there’s no ignoring the toll: I’ve lost 40 pounds (about a pound every 10 days, or three per month), and walking—even with the walker—has become increasingly difficult.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Good morning, blog fans. I have to believe many of you who traveled to the wedding this past weekend are still in recovery—unless you’re under 30. Am I right? My tiredness can’t be chalked up to ALS alone. Neon Prey showed up while we were gone, and I started it yesterday—squeezed in between about ten catnaps. Honestly, I couldn’t do much else. Today the palliative nurse comes at 1:00 p.m., and outside of that, it’ll be another quiet day of reading and staying off my legs.
Monday, September 15, 2025
Good morning, welcome to Monday. We’re back in Crystal Lake this morning, and I feel weary. Traveling is always physically exhausting for me—and when you add the emotional weight of a wedding weekend, this trip was no exception. I swear there’s an inverse relationship between the joy of a family wedding and the fatigue that follows. What follows is a recap of the day, which will take a few days to capture it all.
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Good morning my friends and family. Congratulations to Alex and Nicole on their marriage yesterday!! It was a wonderful, fulfilled magical wedding day for Alex and Nicole. The whole day was perfect and there is much to talk about. It’s going to take a few days to provide the highlights. And since I slept in this morning, you’ll have to wait until Monday for details. I’ll leave you with the father of the groom wedding toast….
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Good morning!! 😃 The big day has arrived—Alex and Nicole’s wedding day. For 396 days this date has lived in the back of my mind. I was always worried that something with my health might keep me from being here, or that I’d somehow detract from the occasion. But here I am, and today feels like a gift. This weekend has already been terrific. Family on both sides have gone out of their way to make sure I’m safe, comfortable, and included.
Friday, September 12, 2025
Good morning from the Jordan Hotel at Sunday River in Maine. This is a remote spot that doubles as a lively ski resort. They average more than 100 inches of snow, and the runs look plenty challenging. I can already see some ski days in Alex’s future—if he ever decides to take it seriously. Nicole’s family cabin is less than 30 minutes away, so the convenience factor is covered. Convincing Alex will be the tough part—too many years of winter swimming instead of skiing!
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Good morning from Portland, Maine. Our day started way too early, with too much luggage and barely enough hands to manage it. At least we had a service drive us to the airport and Mark and Barb were our traveling companions or they would tell you that they were more like Sherpas considering all the luggage they had to help us with. Seriously…it was too much and we would have been screwed without them.
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Good morning, blog readers. Wedding, T-minus three days. We’re off to Maine this morning with a 7:00 a.m. pickup to O’Hare. It’s going to be a tiring day, mostly because the night didn’t go smoothly. At 2:15 a.m., I knocked the respirator hose off my mask. With the mask on, I’ve never been able to reconnect the hose—I tried. After giving up and shutting the machine off, I just wanted to fall back asleep.
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Good morning! Wedding day T-minus 4 days. Sorry if I’m a little obsessive about Alex and Nicole’s wedding this Saturday, but I’ve probably spent more hours thinking about this day than almost anything else in my life—because I was never sure how far my ALS would have progressed by now. A year ago, when I was just learning what ALS could do, I honestly wondered if I’d even still be here.
Monday, September 8, 2025
Good morning everyone. It’s finally here—wedding week for Alex and Nicole. Saturday is the day I’ve been counting down to, and I’m sure they’ve been doing the same. It wasn’t that long ago that it seemed this day would never arrive and now we’re at T-minus five days. I can feel the excitement building and a little nervousness as well. My legs have carried me to this point, though they’re not quite the dance partners I’d hoped they’d be.
Sunday, September 7, 2025
Good morning, Andy’s Army. Yesterday’s post was missing the photo of Andy’s Army Chicago Marathon shirt. These mistakes happen here and there…fortunately there are people to catch them for me. I ended up posting the photo separately, but in case you missed it, I’m posting again this morning. Yesterday brought me a gift I never saw coming. Lisa, a good friend of Barb’s from high school, is in town for their 50th reunion.