I post on a facebook page about my hometown.....

this is what I posted today>
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I enjoy posting on this page....it is something that I can still do safely and with out too much effort esp. when I can't sleep at night...
and it is perhaps a small but positive way for me to share a sort of legacy of interest in a subject that I and others who visit this page enjoys. As each day gets more difficult for me, I still will try to contribute to all my Delaware friends....some of you whom I have met in person and to those of you I never have or never will....
I saw the line that follows about cancer on the news today, and it just struck me as interesting that cancer has a LOT of advocates.....which is great....
but I felt I need to be an advocate for my cause...there are so few of us with ALS, that when I go in to the emergency room, the staff is a little bit stymied at what they can do for me to treat my symptoms that brought me in to see them.....
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....and so they said on the news blurb, "1.63 million persons in the USA will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in 2013."

....and, I say:
Approximately 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people, and it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any given time.

I am in sort of an elite group LOL....ALS / Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(Lou Gehrig's Disease) a neurological disorder....not to be confused with but has some similarities of MS (Multiple Sclerosis).

So, let me help to educate you my friends.....

Facts You Should Know>

ALS is not contagious.

It is estimated that ALS is responsible for nearly two deaths per hundred thousand population annually.

Approximately 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people, and it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any given time.

Although the life expectancy of an ALS patient averages about two to five years from the time of diagnosis, this disease is variable and many people live with quality for five years and more. More than half of all patients live more than three years after diagnosis.

About twenty percent of people with ALS live five years or more and up to ten percent will survive more than ten years and five percent will live 20 years. There are people in whom ALS has stopped progressing and a small number of people in whom the symptoms of ALS reversed.

ALS occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries.

ALS can strike anyone.

The onset of ALS is insidious with muscle weakness or stiffness as early symptoms. Progression of weakness, wasting and paralysis of the muscles of the limbs and trunk as well as those that control vital functions such as speech, swallowing and later breathing generally follows.

There can be significant costs for medical care, equipment and home health caregiving later in the disease. It is important to be knowledgeable about your health plan coverage and other programs for which your may be eligible, including SSA, Medicare, Medical and Veteran Affairs benefits.

Riluzole, the first treatment to alter the course of ALS, was approved by the FDA in late 1995. This antiglutamate drug was shown scientifically to prolong the life of persons with ALS by at least a few months. More recent studies suggest Riluzole slows the progress of ALS, allowing the patient more time in the higher functioning states when their function is less affected by ALS. Click here for more information on the drug. Many private health plans cover the cost of Riluzole. Further information on Riluzole coverage through Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit can be found in the Advocacy pages of this website.

Reports from three separate patient databases described long range experience with Riluzole. All three reports suggest a trend of increasing survival with Riluzole over time. More studies that are double blind and controlled are needed to confirm these database observations. The trend appears to indicate that longer periods of time than those used in the Riluzole clinical trials may be needed to see the long-term survival advantage of the drug. An interesting observation was that despite the fact that the Irish government provides Riluzole free of charge to people in Ireland with ALS, only two-thirds of the patients registered in the Ireland national ALS database reported taking Riluzole.

I WILL KEEP GOING and LIVING FOR AS LONG AS I CAN!!!

sincerely,
Lindsey

t on a facebook page about my hometown.....

this is what I posted today>