Status
Not open for further replies.

JoeHonan

New member
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
1
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
01/2004
Country
US
State
WA
City
Auburn
YouTube- The Joe Honan Story

You can visit me here

Hello there. My name is Joe and I am the father of a wonderful family. Our lives changed dramatically when I was diagnosed with ALS in December of '04. At just under 50, I still was in good shape, playing basketball weekly for the previous 10 years. Having to anticipate that I would be in a wheelchair and unable to walk, drive, or even speak in 2 to 3 years was frightening to my wife Ida, and our six children. Even more concerning was the doctors' predictions that I wouldn't be alive after the same 24 to 36 month period.

In retrospect we have been extremely blessed, spiritually, as well as from the support of our family and friends. It has been absolutely incredible to witness the depth of kindness displayed by those who care about us. Not to mention the fact that I'm still alive. Fortunately, my upbeat nature hasn't been compromised. Indirectly, because of that, my family has been able to cope with life ... and death ... a little easier. I no longer can move my limbs, I certainly can't drive, and my food is always formula, delivered through a tube in my stomach. I communicate utilizing a voice machine attached to my chair, and I had to leave my job of 17 years. But we all still laugh and smile. There is an abundance of joy in our household.
 
Excellent! Great video! Welcome to the forum! A man after my own heart.

I sincerely hope you did not come here to solicit donations. Most of us are in the same situation as you are financially.

It would have been a great video with out the last 2 minutes. How do you feel about this Al?
 
Uncomfortable but if he has a legiyimate need let's leave it for now.

AL.
 
Joe, I would like to welcome you to the forum. I loved the first 5 minutes of your video. It was done very well and I enjoyed the music and seeing your photos :] The request for donations made me just a little surprised and uneasy. You need a $100,000.00! Don't we all. Oh Joe, there are so many of us struggling to just put food on the table and struggling to make ends meet-PALS and CALS with small children...I need to give my feeling about your video some prayerful consideration and understand why it upsets me. Did you just discover the Forum? I see that you have had ALS for 5 years now. btw what was left of our 401k's after the collapse of Wall Street is long gone to meet our living expenses. We don't even have life insurance. Do you? When my DH dies from this horrible beast, I will have nothing left but my memories and my will to survive. I will have to start over again to create another life for myself and our son without him. hmmmm maybe I am jealous of the $16,000.00! Off to pray and think.
 
this bothers me too, at least here on this site. Although if the organization is helping people, maybe some of those already on this forum with needs can look there. then it was worth it, but how could i, pick you Joe, over any of the other wonderful people here to offer ny assistance.

note..the intro is cut and paste from the other website.....

welcome Joe for understanding, and compassion from people who understand...just leave the solicitation for the other site.

indigosd, praying with you! And keeping in mind ...how much was restored to Job, and how faithful God has been to me.....sometimes I just didn't see it or comprehend it for a long time!
 
Hi Joe...

Also welcome to the site. I appreciated your video. I hope you can find emotional support and encouragement from this forum.

Others... I guess I only want to throw out one perspective. I personally would not ASSUME that this is a targeted solicitation to the forum. If I had a video of myself already produced, I might have very easily posted a similar thing. But skepticism is definitely warranted. I just would hate to see someone truly in need of emotional support jumped on because of a error in judgment.

I expect time will tell.

Brian
 
I feel the same uneasiness about this also. Everyone who is affected by this disease could ask for donations also but choose to be here for friendships and to get more knowledge about this disease. I have often felt that my mother could use a lot more money to get the help she needs, but we have learned to cope with what we have. I guess it upsets me that someone who has had this disease for 5 years chose to introduce himself by asking for money. It may have been better to ease into this a bit before doing that. This may sound a bit harsh and I apologize if I upset anyone, but I just wanted to say how I felt about this.

Dana
 
Okay, I was uneasy about this at first, too.

Today username DLREED has posted in another thread asking us to look at the video. So my fresh take on this is that this person Dale Reed is a founder or in some way connected with the Lighthouse Community, which appears to be a legitimate charitable organization, and they're just trying to get some exposure.

I think the message is not so much requesting donations from us to Joe Honan, but rather for us to check out Lighthouse and see if they can help us in the same way they've helped Joe by producing this video.

My 2c.

-Tom
 
i think you are right , know you are right its the lighthouse
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top