My uncle was just diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease) and other

[Maraya1969]

doctors say they don't believe it. They admitted him to the hospital because he said he couldn't breath but his oxygen levels were 96 - 97%

I know this is not supposed to be a doctor forum but if your diaphragm is weakened from ALS(he does not have any other symptoms)wouldn't your oxygen levels be lower than that without treatment?

The whole family is crazed about this. They are giving him 3 weeks to live and I just think he is having a horrible panic syndrome, (he did lose a lot of weight but so did I a couple times because I was too nervous to get down food).

He hasn't had an of the initial ALS symptoms just this quick onset of the breathing thing.

[Warpy]

1. ALS usually has a more gradual onset

and can either manifest centrally or peripherally. Central ALS is the more serious form and affects the muscles of swallowing, breathing, coughing, and gagging. Such patients have a poor prognosis and a rapid course of the disease ending in death.

The peripheral type, what Stephen Hawking has, starts with voluntary skeletal muscles and proceeds inward. The course is much longer but the end result is the same.

Clearly you have some questions about your uncle's diagnosis. If you are involved with his care, talk directly to his doctors. If you're not, suggest it to someone who is. His rapid weight loss could be connected to an inability to swallow and it could be due to ALS.

I lost a cousin to ALS last summer. Hers started centrally and the progression from diagnosis to death was six months.