This is a difficult post to write. I had been sitting on it for several months, trying to decide best how to convey the emotions I am feeling.

A few weeks ago, I was asked by a stranger if I had been in a car wreck, as I was wearing my neck brace. I replied that I was in a train wreck, and I was distracted by another person before I could finish my thought. He later asked where the train wreck took place, and I apologized for misleading him, and said I should be so lucky.

When I was first diagnosed with ALS last spring, I was overcome with grief, and spent many hours over the next month sobbing and screaming in rage. Eventually, life took over again, and I set all that aside for a while. After all, I still had two young daughters to help raise.

Most of my initial fears have come to pass. I remember the initial struggles lifting Sabina, just a few short months after her birth, before we even knew that there was anything close to serious going on. By January of last year, I was not even able to pick her up at all. Fortunately, she began crawling soon after, and had figured out how to crawl into my lap when she wanted me to hold her. I am so happy now when she climbs up on my lap to have me read a story to her or to watch a YouTube video.

And Ashlin has been very understanding and helpful through this whole process. As I have been unable to give hugs for several months, she came up with a method where she pulls my arms behind her back. I just about cried the first time that she did that. The last couple of months have been difficult, as I am no longer able to turn the pages of books when I read to her. At first, she went through a period when she didn’t want me to read to her at all. But then she spoke with Gwen about her feelings about it, and now she turns the pages for me.

Sadly, however, I know that the worst is yet to come. I will be visiting with the ALS clinic soon in order to get a power wheelchair. At the same time, we need to expand our bathroom to accommodate it, and put in a ramp in the back. And yet, that transition does not feel particularly big for me. Much more difficult has been the fact that I need artificial ventilation in order to breathe at night already. Or that I am unable to play frisbee anymore.

Aaron Welch with Advomatic recently set up a Special Needs Trust in my name. This unique trust allows us to use funds contributed by outside sources (we are legally not allowed to contribute to it), while protecting my eligibility to receive care-giving assistance through the state. The funds can be used to support my needs beyond what I will eventually receive from Medicare/Medicaid.

Basically, at some point down the road, I will be on disability and eligible for Medicare. The good news is that this happens almost automatically for a patient with ALS, due to some lobbying in the last couple of decades. As my needs increase, however, I will need more care and will need to become eligible for an attendant care program in PA, for which the income and asset allowance is almost nothing.

If and when I choose artificial, invasive ventilation, I will require 24 hour care. At that point, I would also need to be Medicaid eligible. This is where things get extremely challenging financially. For example, with attendant care / Medicaid, not only do I need to be basically destitute, but the state looks back over 5 years, and if they see that I have given any money to anyone in that time frame, they assume that I am trying to scam them, and dock the time, adding several months or more to the time before I would be eligible.

Based solely on the odds, there is a 50% chance that I will die in 1 to 2 years, although it’s a little more complicated than that. There are two predominant flavors of ALS: bulbar onset (the brainstem) and limb onset. Mine is the limb, which makes it only slightly more likely that I may live for another 3 or 4 years instead.

I want to point out that I am doing everything humanly possible to beat those odds. When they talk about the life expectancy of ALS patients, however, they are really talking about the "survivability", which is the point when a patient would require invasive ventilation to survive. Most of the 10% who will go on to live a decade or more have reached this point and are locked-in as well, trapped in their completely paralyzed bodies.

We have done what we can to protect what assets we do have. We have been consulting with an attorney as the information is very complex and we want to protect the future for our children as best as we can. We know that major purchases are down the road, such as medical and communications equipment, home modifications, a wheelchair, and an accessible van, all of which will be in the tens of thousands of dollars. The cost to support a patient with ALS in the later stages can run easily up to $100,000 a year or more. The funds in the Trust can help support me while I am alive. After I die, the funds remaining in the Trust will go to my wife, Gwen, to help raise our children.

For those who wish to contribute, we have set up a bank account for the Trust. We have set up a PayPal account as an option to contribute. For a one time donation, click on the Donate button. To make a recurring monthly donation, you can select the amount you wish and click Subscribe. Alternatively, we can accept checks for the Trust; contact me for more information if interested in sending a check.

One Time Donation

Monthly Recurring DonationDonate $10.00 USD - monthlyDonate $25.00 USD - monthlyDonate $50.00 USD - monthlyDonate $100.00 USD - monthlyDonate $250.00 USD - monthly

I am angry at this stupid disease. I know from my time with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross so many years ago that this is a natural part of the grieving process, and that eventually I will enter the acceptance phase. I even look forward to that.

But my daughters, Ashlin (8 years old) and Sabina (2 years old), will not have the benefit of the acceptance of my death when it happens. I am being robbed of my time with them, of watching them grow up. It is hard enough to know that I will most likely not be around to watch Ashlin graduate. To know that Sabina will most likely not have any more than a fleeting image of her father from early memories makes me cry.

To add insult to the injury, I am quickly losing my ability to participate in their lives, even now, becoming simply a spectator. What I would give to be able to pick up a frisbee and toss it to my daughters.

I want to thank everyone for all your ongoing support and care. This slow-moving train wreck is more than any family should have to endure.

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