Man, this is just so damn brutal. He’s only 39.
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That’s awful. I wish him all the best. He’s younger than I am.
That blows. I can’t imagine staring down the barrel of that particular shitshow.
Oh wow. Awful news
What a horrible disease. Good lord he is so YOUNG.
edit: and already needing help with speech. It’s moving fast in him.
“There is currently no known cure for ALS, but some treatments may slow down the progression of the disorder and improve the quality of life for patients with ALS. The NIH states that most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years of symptoms first appearing, though about one in 10 people with the condition live 10 years or more.
Chris Johnson described receiving the diagnosis of ALS as a “shock,” revealing that the doctor who diagnosed him said a medication may extend his life by a few months and that he and his wife should “get our affairs in order.”
Still, in Chris Johnson’s case, the disease has progressed so rapidly that he now uses a speech-generating device to speak. Soon after his diagnosis, his voice was recorded, so his speech-generating device delivers a voice that sounds just like his.”
Nasty disease, and one that hits without family history. Truly one no one ever sees coming. Awful news.
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may God be with you Chris !
It’s awful, having watched a vibrant good friend get chewed up by it in 2 years a couple years ago.
The speech helpers are really advacing rapidly and next gen even moreso…Neuralink has 2 in trials controlled by your mind, no eye gaze…
Do the thing now, don’t wait. My stepkids dad’s are both in Assisted Living in their early 60s from lifestyle exacerbated conditions, their 2 uncles just drank themselves into a pancreatitis death at 61 and 59.
Bring a man is hard. Don’t make it harder(on everyone)
That sux
I’m not sure there’s a disease I fear more in life than ALS.
It can affect anyone at seemingly anytime, regardless of family history, personal background, demographics, age, etc.
And while its severity can increase at different rates in different people, it will still takes years to eventually run its course. It’s not some overnight thing. You and your family get to live with it for a decent amount of time.
To experience your body begin to fail you, little by little, taking your ability to walk, then your ability to talk, until you can’t even move before it takes your ability to breathe without any form of a cure is what I believe to be possibly the most tragic course for a disease to take. No one deserves that.
It’s very sad to see someone who brought joy to so many people be affected by it in this way. I hope one day we are able to find a cure for ALS or a way to prevent further onset of it once a diagnosis has been made for someone, and I hope Chris Johnson’s story is a part of that eventual discovery.
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Yeah that and alzheimer’s have always been the cruelest to me, I’ve had people I know go through both. Just completely wrecks lives.
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In light of this, I’m going to soapbox a moment and hope it stays. Talk to people in power and stop cuts in research to diseases like this, cancer (esp childhood cancers) etc. There is absolutely no reason to cut research funds for these things.
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Wow, that’s heart-wrenching to watch.
So sad.
How terrible. I can’t imagine.
America drives more medical innovation than anyone in the world because there is profit in it. I guess it’s nice for other countries that they can copy from us.