[BobbyB]

S. Fla. Mother Of Two Battles ALS

POSTED: 4:45 pm EDT May 11, 2007
UPDATED: 5:45 pm EDT May 11, 2007

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COCONUT GROVE, Fla. -- Over the last few years, Mary Jo Holtzman has been losing control of her body, a process that she said started with her hands.

"I lost the ability to pick things up from the table," Holtzman said. "I couldn't pick up coins and credit cards or anything, and my girlfriend told me that I better get it checked out."

Initially Holtzman was by doctor's that she had carpal tunnel syndrome, but she kept getting worse.


"I was just so sick and dizzy," Holtzman said. "I had vertigo and nausea, and I was falling everywhere."

Then came the dismal diagnosis.

"He says it's a fatal, terminal disease where you have two to five years to live," Holtzman said. "The doctor told me that there's no cure and there's no treatment."

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, doctors said.

As a result, muscles weaken and waste away, and ALS can lead to total physical paralysis while the mind is unaffected.

"I used to sometimes think about how terrible it would be to be aware and unable to move," Holtzman said. "I'd say, 'Wow, that's really jail.'"

Holtzman said dealing with ALS has been hardest for her family.

She has two sons, and her oldest just moved back home to finish college closer to her.

Holtzman said her husband of 35 years, Bob, has become an expert and turns to the Internet to learn everything he can about the disease.

"They're finding possibly a link between Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS," he said.

Bob is helping spread the word about the ALS recovery fund's annual fundraiser.

"All the money that this charity raises -- every single penny -- it's all run by volunteers and goes to patient care," he said. "It goes to providing an ALS chair at the University of Miami. We're raising money to have a permanent doctor there, who spends time researching this disease."

The ALS Recovery Fund is sponsoring the sixth-annual Lou Gehrig's Disease 10K Run and 5K Run/Walk Saturday morning at the Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove.

For more information, visit ALSRecovery.org.