View My #ALSIceBucket Challenge Video at https://youtu.be/fuGZHxkD90I

To all of my friends and relatives,

As you all know, I was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) at the beginning of the year. Symptoms started showing about this time last year. 

Once again, the ALS association is sponsoring an ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE during the month of August. Last year they took in $115,000,000.00 for research into curing this disease.

I will match $ for $ any and all contributions you make to the ALS association during the month of August.

There is currently a lot of research taking place around the country/world to find a cure for this debilitating disease, but it takes a lot of money to do this type of research.

There are is some promising studies going on and I am very hopeful that something will happen soon.

Thank You All,

Bill

What is ALS?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, paralysis, and ultimately, respiratory failure.

What are the effects of ALS?

 ALS attacks certain cells in the brain and the spinal cord needed to keep our muscles moving. Early signs and symptoms ALS muscle cramps and twitching, weakness in the extremities and difficulty speaking or swallowing. As the disease progresses it is characterized by:

• ·         The inability to move any part of your body
• ·         The inability to speak or communicate with anything but your eyes
• ·         Complete reliance on a feeding tube for nutrition

The senses, including hearing, sight, taste, and touch, are not affected by ALS in most cases. 

How is ALS treated?

Currently, there is only a single medicine for specifically treating ALS – Riluzole. And even this drug only extends survival about 2 to 3 months. So there is currently an urgent medical need for effective treatments for this devastating disease.

So, I am asking that you take this Ice Bucket Challenge and donate to this cause. You can make your donation easily via the "Donate to Bill" button to the right. At the end of August I will match all donations dollar for dollar. 

My story

I was diagnosed with ALS in February of this year, though I started having symptoms last summer. Some of my symptoms are:

• ·         Drop Foot - I could not move my ankle to raise my foot
• ·         Atrophy in my right hand – I had trouble holding a fork or spoon
• ·         Balancing on my feet - I fell a lot, even broke my hip one time
• ·         Weakness in my right leg
• ·         Trouble breathing – I could not breath while laying flat on my back, and I had to sleep reclined sitting up
• ·         I can no longer walk without assistance so I must use a walker or wheel chair
• ·         Weakness in my neck – trouble holding up my head
• ·         No appetite – I have lost 60+ pounds

I have been extremely fortunate to have the family and friends that I have. Jan has taken up the duties of house maintenance as well as taking care of me. She is a real trooper to take care of me. Elliott is a great help, he runs my errands, goes up and down the stairs to get things for me, and he picks me up when I fall.

I have had a number of friends come to visit which means so much to me. I am a firm believer in “Don’t come to my funeral and mourn  me, come and visit with me while I am alive”.

Bill

If you do not want to donate online, you can download an offline donation form by clicking here.