can you "fight" ALS/MND?

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rocmg

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our G.P. seems to think not, that it will happen and happen regardless. the outcome is invariable -- not what i wanted to hear.
 
You can't "cure" it, but I think you can "fight" by having a positive attitude, being stress free, and not overdoing it would seem to help. Which in turn can possibly slow things down.
 
Crystal is right, you can increase your lifespan significantly by having a positive attitude and reducing stress and anxiety. A lot of PALS just give up and then their progression is very quick.
 
thank goodness for this forum. based on the advice and vibes i'm getting in the "real world" i'd have given up long ago.
 
Please don't give up, your mom really needs your support...It means alot.
 
Interesting question. After being given his diagnosis my partner looked at some MND Association information, including the stories of those who "fight " or have lost their "fight". He was not comfortable with that word nor the phrase (loosing his/her fight or battle), and I believe that he still isn't (6 months on) due to being told and believing that the disease will simply work its way through his body (pattern and time frame unknown). So, in that sense, he feels that "fighting" is futile.

However, his way of fighting has been not to BECOME the illness, and to carry on with his life in as normal way as possible. His consultant pointed out that a positive frame of mind is extremely important in all neurological conditions, including MND.

For me, fighting means the acceptance (of diagnosis and prognosis) as well as of enabling technologies and aids that prolong both the quality of life and the survival. It also means a fight in other domains - politics, legislation, medical research.
 
Well said Danijela!

I wish the docs would come up with something other than the "You have ALS. You have between two and five years to live. Go home and get your affairs in order." No hope is offered whatsoever!

I agree, a positive attitude is a must.
 
Rocmg,

My question is........How the hell would he know? ALS has been around for 130 years, and still....no cure......no treatment! They can't tell you what does work, they cant tell you what doesn't work! They can barely answer basic questions about ALS, if they can answer them at all. :roll:

If I had listened to every GP I have seen in the last 3 years, I would still be undiagnosed! I plan to fight every step of the way, your mum needs you to as well. NEVER give up, I know I won't.:)
 
I do agree that the best thing you can do it decide what your attitude will be. Personally, and perhaps people will be annoyed at me for it, I don't think your attitude will affect the progression of the sickness, but it will vastly affect how your life and the life of those around you proceeds from the diagnosis onwards. You can wreck everything and everyone, or you can keep your life positive and keep on living it.

It was damn frustrating that there was no "fight" for my father to fight. No chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant or drugs or any other physical means of battling it.
 
Attitude significantly impacts progression.
 
All I know is I will fight till the bitter end! Maybe not a physical fight, but.......

I consider myself extremely lucky that I am still, after a year, able to walk, drive, do pretty much what I want to do and can teach more and more people every day about ALS.

I have been told numerous times that my humor and positive attitude are what keeps me going. Yes, it is, and the fact that my youngest son is only 8 and I fully intend to waltz with him at his sr prom. Same way with our freshman. I waltzed last weekend and I will do it again.

Just saw a lady, Betsy something, on the Today show today that's had ALS for 35 yrs. And a friend of mine called me to tell me it was going to be on. Now, that friend had no clue whatsoever about ALS until I explained a lot of it to her about 6 mo ago.

I told my husband it was pretty cool that she called me, and that she knows a little more about it by watching Betsy and her family.

Never give up,
Never let up,
Never lose faith,
brenda
 
AND..... I know everyone here has heard it said that there are no 2 PALS alike. So, for me it just stands to reason just because something doesn't work one one pals, who's to say it won't work on another.
 
fight als

our G.P. seems to think not, that it will happen and happen regardless. the outcome is invariable -- not what i wanted to hear.

i am a new member--i eat organic food-keep a positive attitude--i do detox-i am not giving up.
alice3
 
My Mom and my father-in-law were told years ago, at about the same time that they each had congestive heart failure..... that at anytime they had 85% chance of a heart attack or stroke at any time. You know, "Go home and get your affairs in order, there is nothing that can be done." Neither of them was strong enough for any surgeries.

One lived 15 more years, and the other 20. My mom didn't pass because of it, but something else. My FIL traveled the "world" to visit each of his nine children, one being in New Guinea. He picked pineapples off the trees in NG and sunbathed on the beach there. He took his final visit in Florida with one of his sons, where they had a wonderful big breakfast together, he went to take a shower, and he quickly, painlessly passed right then and there.

I said all this to say this.... Don't let a diagnosed of ANY KIND, even ALS make you despair. Everyone has something to bear unless you are of the very young. Say, "Oh boy, I have this" but carry on. The key is to eat well, get plenty of sleep, don't tax your strength with over-exercising and wait and see. Change your attitude to positive and surround the people around you with the blessing of your presence. You can live out your life that way or being a pain in the .... How do you want to be remembered?

Certainly we want a cure for my husband. I couldn't love him more, but he's out there doing things and people remark to me "Are you sure he has ALS?" He has quiet-times, but doesn't sulk. We treasure each day and love having this forum. We wish we could have a reunion with all of you. What a party that would be!
 
Marjorie, thanks for your lovely, optimistic post.
 
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