|
Hometown, state: Shoreview, Minn.
Age: 19
Hobbies/Interests: Golf, any sport, music.
Date of ALS diagnosis: May 2007
Tell us about your life before ALS: My life before ALS was no different than for all of the other teenagers around me. I loved sports, watching and playing any of them, and enjoyed school and time with my friends. I felt like I was no different than others, and certainly did not act any different than a teenager would.
Tell us about your life with ALS: To be honest, I do not think my life has changed one bit since I was diagnosed, except for having to swallow 30 supplements every day instead of just five. I still love sports, still play and watch them, and I am still going to school. No one really sees me as different, and that’s the way I would like to keep it.
Do you have a “life motto” or profound words to live by? I think I have matured well past my years since my diagnosis. The key is to keep it off your mind as much as possible. The mind has as much if not more power than medicine in terms of healing powers. If you keep your mind state positive, you can achieve anything you want.
Has there been an “aha!” moment or a specific turn of events that has helped you live with ALS? My “aha” moment was the moment that my doctor told me I had ALS. From that moment on, I decided that I was going to beat it by any means possible, and I have not stopped thinking that. You need to live your life with the sense that you may not have as much time as you wanted, but you need to achieve what you set out to achieve originally, in this shorter amount of time, because that is how it is.
Tell us how ALS has brought new significance to any aspect of your life — family, attitude, hobbies/passions, career, etc.: I think that the most important thing to me since my ALS diagnosis has been my family because I might not have as much time as I deserve with them, and I need them to know how much I care about and love them before it may be my time to go. But I think I no longer fear death because now I feel like I can beat this and show everyone that death is nothing to be afraid of.
Is there anything else about you and/or ALS that you want to share with people who read your story? I would just say that life itself is more important than anything else, physical or otherwise. You need to realize that there is nothing besides your life and that nothing else matters…just live your life. |
