What Exactly is ALS?

I hope my mom won't mind me hijacking her blog from time to time.  This is a family journey, and I feel like it is good for all of us to have the opportunity to share from our own perspectives.

Since my mom's diagnosis we have gotten a lot of questions about ALS.  People want to know what symptoms she's had, how it was diagnosed, the prognosis, and many other things.  A lot of these are questions we have had too.  This is new for everyone.  Probably the most common question I have gotten is "what exactly is ALS?"  It's funny because the ice bucket challenge that took place a few months ago brought awareness to people who had never heard of it, but I wonder just how many people took the time to actually learn about the disease as opposed to just pouring a bucket of water over their head.  Don't get me wrong, I think it's just fine that we do things like dump water over our heads to bring awareness to things, but until you know someone with ALS it is hard to know just how bad it really is.

When Jeff and I lived in California we had an amazing bishop get put in.  (For those of you who don't know, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Our lives are centered around our faith, so I'm sure we will refer to it a lot.  You can learn more about our church here or here.)  Shortly after this new bishop was put in, his amazing wife was diagnosed with ALS.  I had no idea what ALS was until I watched her experience it.

So what is ALS?  ALS Is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.  In a very basic nutshell, ALS causes the the nerves that cause our voluntary muscles to die. So the nerves no longer can control the muscles.  Over time this leads to muscle weakening, twitching, and an inability to move the arms legs, and body.  Unfortunately there is no cure for this disease.

For my mom, it started from her feet and has gradually moved higher.  She first really started to notice it in February of this year.  Her legs started to feel weak for no apparent reason.  Since then it has continued to progress.  She went to many doctors and nobody could tell her what was causing it.  A neurologist even eliminated ALS at one point. The wonderful doctors at the University of Utah were finally able to give us a diagnosis of ALS.  While ALS was the last thing we wanted my mom to get, it was hard to watch her legs get worse and have no idea what was causing it. 

A disease like ALS with no cure is a hard one to come to terms with.  I am proud of my mom for accepting it with faith in our Heavenly Father's Plan.  We are all going through the grieving process, but my mom has not been bitter toward God for allowing this to happen.  She is a great example to all of us. 

To learn more about ALS, visit the website for the ALS Association.