Catherine G. Wolf

"I had hoped the weakness in my leg would be treatable, but my doctor shook his head. The intravenous immunoglobulin treatments he'd been giving me for a possible motor neuropathy weren't working, leading him to conclude I had "probable ALS.""

"knew little about the disease, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. I asked, "Do people die?" He looked away and said, "Sometimes." I started to cry, knowing that "sometimes" meant "always." How could I have this awful disease? I ate healthy, exercised, was thin and was rarely sick."

"I immediately decided that I would do whatever it took to make it into that 10 percent. My daughters, Laura and Erika, were just 18 and 22, far too young to say goodbye. I know some people make the decision to not use life-prolonging interventions, such as a feeding tube, noninvasive breathing support or a ventilator. Susan Spencer Wendel, author of the book, " Until I Say Good-Bye," has said she will not use any of these interventions. While I respect her decision, it is not right for me."

"I remember the nurse practitioner, a long-time member of the team, said that refusing would be like writing "DNR" - do not resuscitate - on my chart. But I had researched the changes that tracheostomy would bring, and I just wanted to delay them a few months."