Life arrested by disease


By AMBER COULTER
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 8:54 PM CDT



JILL PICKETT/The News-Enterprise

Sarah and James Dennis pose for a portrait at James Dennis’ office in Elizabethtown. James Dennis has been diagnosed with ALS. Sarah Dennis participated Tuesday in the MDA Lock-up to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which has lent them equipment.
Family struggling with ALS devotes energy to fundraising

ELIZABETHTOWN — Sarah Dennis wants to find a cure for neuromuscular disease — even if it never helps her husband, who was diagnosed about three-and-a-half years ago.

She was one of about 175 people “arrested” and locked up Tuesday to raise money to combat muscular dystrophy.

She was motivated to try to collect money for the cause because her husband, Jim, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, it is a progressive deterioration of nerve cells in the brain and spine that control the muscles that allow movement.

Proceeds from the mock lockup went to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a voluntary health agency working toward treatment for neuromuscular disease.


More than 400 families are registered with Greater Louisville MDA office, said Michelle Smith, healthcare services coordinator for the office. It covers 37 counties in Kentucky and Indiana, including Hardin County.

The MDA has lent wheelchairs and other equipment to Jim and Sarah Dennis. That helps with their medical expenses, such as about $5,000 paid out of pocket each month for caregivers.

Sarah said she and her husband thought they would be sharing the rewards of retirement by now. They started saving more money when Jim was diagnosed. And Jim said he’d rather be working at his accounting office than sitting at home.

“I think I would advise people to go ahead with their life as normal as they can until they can’t,” he said.


He was diagnosed with ALS near the beginning of 2004, when he went to check out a muscle that wouldn’t stop twitching.

ALS is disabling and usually fatal. Basic functions, such as swallowing and breathing, become difficult. Such problems can lead to injury, illness and other complications.

The cause is unknown and there is no cure. Physical therapy and occupational therapy can help maintain strength and function, speech therapy can help maintain communication and medication can relieve symptoms and make people with the disease more comfortable. The only approved medicine to treat ALS can prolong life by about two months.

Jim Dennis’ doctor said the average life expectancy with ALS is three to five years. Other medical opinions confirmed the diagnosis.


“We came back to the office, sat down in the chairs and stared at each other, speechless,” Sarah said. “What do you say?”

Sarah said she got involved with the lockup because she wants to battle the many types of muscular dystrophy that have no cure.

“It’s too late for Jim, but if they do find a cure, then it might not be too late for someone else,” she said.

Many people in lockup arrived there in the custody of county deputies.

“This is a way for us to help with a good cause and a way for us to take care of people in the community,” said Greg Lowe, executive officer for the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office.

Participants didn’t actually see any bars. They were transported to Tumbleweed Southwest Grill on North Dixie Avenue.

Tumbleweed General Manager George Durham said the atmosphere in the lockup section always is upbeat, with free food and people on the telephone, trying to scrape together last-minute cash.

People squeezed into the tables and booths set aside Tuesday, counting money, thumbing through telephone books and talking over lunch.

The number of people participating has stayed about the same for several years, said Laura Moore, program coordinator for the district office. As of Monday, 175 people were registered to participate in this year’s event.

Participants were asked to raise a bail amount of $1,300, Moore said. MDA tries to increase the amount raised every year.

Elizabethtown’s best year was in 2001, with more than $38,000, Moore said. Last year’s total fell about $300 short of the record. The money raised is used in the MDA district in which it’s collected.

Lockups, such as those in Elizabethtown, make up about half of the organization’s budget, she said.

The MDA is funded almost entirely by donations. About 77 cents of every dollar goes directly toward program services.

Amber Coulter can be reached at 769-1200, Ext. 240, or acoulter@thenewsenterprise.com.
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