There is Hope

 I found this on the internet.  Its not my original creation but I just thought I'd add it here:

 

"It is important to remember that ALS is a quite variable disease; no two people will have the same journey or experiences.  There are medically documented cases of people in whom ALS ‘burns out,’ stops progressing or progresses at a very slow rate."  From: http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

So keep your hope up for as long as you can and take everything one day at a time.

Scant hope I understand.  Lets keep our fingers crossed for some kind of advance on the medical front.

In the mean time my prayers go out to you.

The Deposed King

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Disease or (ALS) is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Disease or (ALS) is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

This is a disease that slowly kills off the nerves that let you control your own body.  Its a slow process and can take years.

It doesn't get better and it doesn't go away.

There are a few parts that are less bad than others

The disease isn't known for affecting a person's mind or intelligence.  Unlike Alzhiemer's you are going to be you for the duration.  That's not to say a person can't be effected.  Of course not!  Depression is a real risk, its hard to keep you hopes up.  So as friends and family members its part of our job to help out as best we can on the mental health front.

Lou Gehrig's also isn't known for affecting a person's ability to see, smell, hear, taste, or fell a touch and most people keep control of their bowels and bladder as well as eyes muscles.... although help might be needed getting to and from the bathroom after a while.

Lou Gehrig's can go faster or slower.  It really varies from person to person.  Some can live with this disease for ten years or more.  More common is 3-5 years.

In the case of Colin he battled the disease for some two and a half years.

You can read a little bit about the man here at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theolympian/obituary.aspx?n=colin-john-godat&pid=146849725

There's no known cure for Lou Gehrig's.  The only drug they've found so far that helps so far is riluzole.  This medicine can help with slowing down the disease but it doesn't give you back what you've lost and it doesn't stop further loss of control from occurring over time.

I'm going to stop for a while and come back again tomorrow.  I can only do so much at one time before I need a break from the subject.  But I promise to return later and try to discuss some part of ALS in more depth.

Lou Gehrig's Disease and my Mission

Hello my Name is Josh Wachter and I'm creating this Blog in honor of a fallen friend.  When I was growing up Colin Godat was a couple years older than me.  We weren't what I'd call close but he was most definitely someone I looked up to the whole time I was growing up.  Later we were Team Mates and then co-workers at Pacific Crest and Wachter Lumber as we first worked and then struck off on our own (there were others but this sounds better) before striking out together on the business front.

We shared the same interests in several areas.  Mostly in our passion for Business and the sport of Soccer.

I've been living in the Philippines for the past several years and so I wasn't able to attend the funeral.  Colin passed away back on November 19, 2010 and while I know its taken me far to long to get this Blog started I just wanted to say.  "Harry, I just wanted to say that wherever you are, you will be missed."

Just so we're clear I'm not a Doctor.  I'm a Nurse/Business Entrepreneur.  So I will be drawing on knowledge and resources from my own personal experiences, text books, people I know and other websites as I go along.  Because I'm not a Dr. I cannot diagnose or proscribe medications.  So if you think you have a problem with something, you need to see a Doctor.  I'll help out how I can but that's it.  I'm helping you as an online friend with advice and support not as a trained medical professional intimately familiar with ALS or Lou Gehrig's.

Also I want to make sure everyone understands that since this Blog is in honor of Colon Godat, also known as 'Harry' or "Hairy' to his friends and team mates, this Blog and anything else I will do to further the education, support and, at least in my dreams, the treatment of ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease, will also include diversions into the Sport of Soccer.  Any money I raise from Adsense or again in my dreams from any charitable donations will go first to helping people with Lou Gehrig's but if there's any unused extra also to promote and sponsor a Soccer Team in Colin's honor.  Preferably a youth one.

Soccer was one of Colin's main passions in life and the one I was most intimately familiar with.  We shared the same coaches and in several cases many of the same teams.  I can't think of anything more fitting, other than a cure for this disease, than honoring him by promoting one or more teams in his name and memory.  So while I will be focused primarily on awareness, assistance and in all other ways ALS and Lou Gehrig's, don't get mad if you see articles and posts about Colin, his life and teams he either played on, taught or supported.

My next posts will try to focus more on actually informing and assisting with the Disease.  I suppose this will have to do double duty as my mission statement and the reason I'm here doing this.


Thank you everyone who has made this blog possible but most especially thanks go to Colin who touched so many lives, including my own.




Josh Wachter