How's Montel these days?
 

I haven't heard anything about Monte lately.... He's 58 years old, MS has got to be taking some of him down? He's always been positive about it and amazingly mobile with MS all these years...Been a role model or me....Always wondered how he does it.

Anyone know if he's still doing 'ok'?

I found this dated today, but don't know how recent the interview was?
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=53785

First answer........and he calls MS a "deadly disease". :rolleyes: Any disease can potentially become deadly given the right circumstances.......even a common cold.

"Thank you so much for having me and giving me this opportunity to share what really is my personal journey with MS. I'm hoping the people that are on to ask questions recognize that my book Climbing Higher isn't just about people who suffer from MS, it's about people suffering from any chronic deadly illness and the people who love them."

But the ratings get higher the more drama you can inject......sorry too cynical :(

Actually, CAN be deadly
 

Actually, my mother died of "complictions caused by MS". That is on her death certificate. It might be rare, I don't know, but it CAN be deadly.

Unfortunately, you're right, Lynn. :(

I think mine will say "complications caused by living life to the fullest"! ;)

I'm kind of hoping mine will be "old age", and not a complication of MS.

Me too Erin. Old Old age..:D

I know they say MS isn't deadly, but why on the EDSS chart is the last one (10) "death due to MS"?

because of the Marburg variant.

I do know that with some of the more serious forms of MS when the patient can no longer have control over swallowing and the aspirate food into their lungs and die, that is considered a complications due to MS

Sorry Erin and Sally but old age is no longer a reason for death :( even if you made it to 200 before croaking you'll have died due to Ms complications... Cardiac arrest... Smoking complications...brain hemorrhaging.... Whatever it is that you "died" from other than "spent too many years on this planet cells turned to dust duh..."

And yes there are both people who live long full lives that are said to have died from complications, as well as younger folks who have died from complications. Pneumonia is a big one, any time one spends a significant amount of time in a lying position the risk is increased. There's also kidney failure, liver failure and the like from various the various drugs used to treat the symptoms as well as the DMDs. Infections from bed sores, choking, even drowning... All such deaths will be listed as 'complications from MS' on the death certificate.

Now, the TV Scorpions, where his sister has 'end-stage MS' yeah, no doesn't exist. You can have end stage cancer, end stage renal failure, end stage scirosis, end stage leukemia... End stage for a lot, I mean a lot of diseases... But not MS. You can't even 'die' from MS only complications from it (you can't even die from cancer either, just complications), and depending on the doctor whose writing it up, you could live to 90 die from a heart attack and still have it listed as 'MS complications'. Just because you have MS, and he can't say "old".

So whether that makes it 'deadly' or not...eh.... In some ways one could say life is the deadliest disease there is, but there is also some truth to many an MS patient's death being a direct result of their having the disease, while at the same time it can't be said that all patients will meet the same end.

All that being said, I also think Monty would have served himself and us better by stating it as "chronic and debilitating diseases".

Obviously Montel's version of Horrible Sclerosis is very manageable. He doesn't need any assistance in walking and I even saw him do a video of him snowboarding. a year or so ago.
That seems great being 58....hope it doesn't get worse for him later on.

My father had Parkinsons Disease. It did not kill him.....he died with it. However the Parkinsons Disease did not help in the fact that he got pneumonia. The pneumonia killed him, but the Parkinsons helped it along. :confused:

It can be like that. Long time illness can make us vulnerable