On February 13th, 2014, I was diagnosed with PLS (Primary Lateral Sclerosis), a neuromuscular degenerative disease very similar to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). I didn't know what PLS was when the doctor gave me my diagnosis, so I began researching it. Everything I read and the images I saw were devastating. I lost my hope, my faith, my dreams, and my joy. I wanted to die. Eventually, I found hope and a community at a local ALS support group.

While PLS is not fatal like ALS, it still wreaks havoc on your body, killing the motor neurons in the brain, thereby causing the muscles to shut down -- legs, arms, hands, feet, and sometimes even the voice lose function; some even lose the ability to eat and breathe. Those who have lost so much need wheelchairs, and feeding tubes, and medical devices to help them breathe and communicate verbally. I haven’t lost so much but some have lost a lot of who they used to be. I lost my ability to walk about 3 years ago and am in a wheelchair full time and my hands have lost the ability to do things that were once so simple. I receive a lot of help from the VA, but there are others with ALS/PLS who don't have the financial and medical support I do, so they need help from ALS Georgia to help them live a more manageable life by receiving financial, medical, and emotional support that they wouldn't otherwise have. So please find it in your heart to give what you can to Walk ALS Georgia to help those with ALS struggle a little less and smile a little more.

Please help me in our fight against ALS/PLS. You can join our team and walk with us here in GA (or virtually) or make a gift to support our team. With your help, we can help those living with ALS/PLS have a more manageable and joyful life, with the hope that one day we find a cure.