Motor neurone disease (MND): a personal perspective

"Rod, are you sure it's MND?" It was James Lance, my former Professor of Neurology (now Professor Emeritus, University of New South Wales), on the telephone. He had just received the letter I sent to all my close friends and colleagues when the diagnosis was confirmed. Jim had always emphasised the importance of leaving no stone unturned before accepting a diagnosis of incurable disease, both in his book on headache — which inspired me to do neurology — and during my subsequent clinical training. However, I had to tell him there was no doubt. Four months previously, I had experienced the sudden dramatic onset of widespread muscle fasciculation, without definite weakness, and, after four weeks of rising anxiety, I took my concerns to a colleague. Although at that stage he reassured me that he had found no definite abnormality, I was concerned that during the examination I had not been able to support my weight on my left leg.