ALS For support and discussion of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." In memory of BobbyB.


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Old 03-24-2007, 07:59 AM #1
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BobbyB BobbyB is offline
In Remembrance
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 4,609
15 yr Member
BobbyB BobbyB is offline
In Remembrance
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 4,609
15 yr Member
Default Parent to Parent: The power of moms

Parent to Parent: The power of moms
Betsy Flagler

Mobilized moms. There’s no force like them.

Just ask Laura Woodall, a mother of two girls in Davidson, N.C. With the help of 24 friends and her husband, she has raised $85,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Woodall went into Christmas 2005 thinking surgery would solve the muscle weakness in her hands.

But the following Valentine’s Day, a year ago, she found out the actual culprit: a motor neuron condition that falls under the realm of ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is progressive and causes motor nerve cells in the spinal cord to degenerate.

Woodall wanted other mothers to know that yes, ALS can happen to young moms.

“I wanted to put a mom’s face on this to help others,” said Woodall, whose girls are nearly 6 and 8. “The mothers I asked to be on my team have been cheering me on all the way.”

The team, called “Laura’s League,” embraced her initial challenge to raise $25,000 for a walk for the MDA, the main supporter of research for motor neuron diseases, including ALS. The team soared past the goal by more than triple and raised more than $85,000.

One team member, Annie Porges, who helped get the fundraising shifted into high gear, said of the mothers pulling together: “Our first meeting was emotional because we put ourselves in Laura’s place as wife, mother, friend.”

Sarah Baldwin, health care service coordinator for the MDA in Charlotte praised the power of mothers: “We’ve had teams come together before to show support, but moms helping moms is a new approach.”

The tie that binds the group: Many of the women in Laura’s League are mothers of children Woodall’s girls have known since they were toddlers or preschoolers. In addition to the fundraiser, her friends call, make meals and set up playdates with her girls. And her daughters love to spend some weekends with her mother, Woodall said.

Her motor neuron condition has meant Woodall:

Answers questions from her children about her health as they arise: “Mommy, will your hands ever get better? ... I want you to cut my apple like you used to.”
Gets her daughters or husband to help her with her buttons and zippers.
Goes early to ballet lessons so another mom can fix ponytails.
Enjoys unseasonably warm winter afternoons, when it’s not necessary to bundle up.
Cannot do as much as she would like to do with and for other people.
Rests in the afternoons before the school bus arrives.
“What is important to me is the girls and that they are happy,” she said.

Amy Veatch, a mother in Raleigh, knows the feeling. She is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and says there’s nothing comparable to the support of other moms to get through difficult times. Her children are years past the age of nursing, but she has found that a breastfeeding support group continues to be a way for her to give and receive help from women.

“Having women to talk to is an amazing part of my process,” she said. “When I told other moms that my daughter had the flu on the first day of chemo treatment, they knew that my pain was as much about not being able to care for my child as it was to be sick myself. As my daughter sneezed and coughed across the room, all I wanted was to hold her. But I had to stay away for my own safety.

It also has been helpful to have moms who have had breast cancer tell her their stories, Veatch said.

What’s a blessing, she said: “When friends ask what my girls need. Things that make my girls have an easier time or feel supported make it easier on me.”

A reminder for moms who need a hand: Ask for it. Be specific. Don’t be shy, but do get a point.

Parent to Parent appears in Saturday Extra.
http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/110034
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