Peggy´s New Challenge
Dated: 09/25/2008 19:09:58 Updated: 09/25/2008 19:22:42



story by: Shelley Kirk

NASHVILLE, TN - Do you remember Esmerelda, Buster Bear, Monkey Shine? Then you remember Peggy Mitchell. The Peggy Mitchell Show ran for more than 20 years on WEHT. So many kids grew up watching those shows and many appeared on them. But Peggy's now facing the biggest challenge of her life.



Peggy is 72 and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. In February, she was diagnosed with ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.



She says its "a very dreaded disease. It's a mean disease. It takes it's toll. Makes you very weak, so often I'm quite weak.



ALS attacks the nerve cells in the brain until they can no longer send messages to muscles -- making movement difficult -- and eventually impossible.



Peggy showed us what she called her weak arm and hand. She can no longer grip things, and she tells us she can't rely on her left foot and leg to support her.



She must now have in home help 24/7. She can no longer walk on her own. The first ALS symptoms can be very different in different patients, but they all lead to one thing -- the loss of independence.



Peggy says that's what she misses the most. "That's a challenge for me. I have to ask for everything. I can't get up and go do anything at this point."



Peggy's taking injections, pills and therapy to help. But there is no cure.



She says, "I'm trying to make the most of everyday. I think if you allow yourself to get depressed and under it, you waste the days that you have. So I really think it's important to live everyday. It's a gift that we have."



Tucked away in the back of her Nashville home, Peggy has a place she often goes for comfort. She calls it her Room of Memories.



And they're all there. The pieces of her life...pictures, mementos, Esmerelda, Buster Bear, Jackie Jack Rabbit...the happiness she brought all of us...the memories that still help her smile. While showing us a picture of her first WEHT set, she said, "It was just a wonderful, wonderful part of my life. I shall never forget it."



And she hasn't. Before we left, Peggy brought out Esmerelda. And with Peggy right by her side, Esmerelda told me to say "Hello to all the boys and girls in the Tri-state. And in her signature song, she sang, "Do good deeds everyday, do good deeds along the way. Do to others as you should."



You can do a good deed for those living with with ALS right here in the Tri-State.



This Saturday morning, News 25's Shelley Kirk is hosting the Walk to Defeat ALS.



It begins at 10:30 at the Casino Aztar Events Plaza.



http://news25.us/dsp_story.cfm?story...estTimeout=500

watch peggy's video.
http://streaming.news25.us/launch.as...ell&type=clean