On December 16th, my mother was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS for short. It is also more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. No one ever knows for sure how long they have had this disease because it is only diagnosed through exclusion. Doctors only determine this after ruling out all other diseases or symptoms. This disease is fatal. Death usually occurs within 18 months to 5 years after the patient has been diagnosed. There is no known cure, there exists a few medications that have been shown to prolong life around 3 months. This is what I think... Everything happens for a reason- all I did was cry in the beginning when I first found out about her, I still cry but I am trying to see things differently now- my mother is a wonderful person and I really cannot understand why something like this would happen to her. It is just not fair- this is evil! She has always been there for me I know the battle we have to fight is not going to be easy. I am scared. I am so scared. It is such a horrible disease and all we can do is watch her suffer and make her more comfortable.
There are some great websites with a lot of information on ALS and how it is diagnosed. They are as follows:
mdausa.org
lougehrigsdisease.net
alsa.org
hopkinsmedicine.org/alscenter/
alscommunity.org
als-tdf.org
alssurvivalguide.com
August 24, 2003 August 31, 2003 September 07, 2003 September 14, 2003 September 21, 2003 September 28, 2003 October 05, 2003 October 12, 2003 October 19, 2003 October 26, 2003 November 02, 2003 November 09, 2003 November 23, 2003 November 30, 2003 December 14, 2003 December 21, 2003 January 11, 2004 January 18, 2004 February 01, 2004 April 11, 2004 July 25, 2004 March 27, 2005 April 03, 2005
