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Over the years, I had come to find out about ALS and what its effects on the body can be, but was never impacted until a few years ago.
One of my very dear friends, Matt, came to our house one cold November evening troubled by some of the things that were happening to his body. Some pain in his neck, some tingling in his fingers, some twitching.
On this day, as my wife and I sat on the couch next to him, he told us that he was diagnosed with ALS and we immediately knew it was a death sentence. The question, at this point, was how long he was going to live.
Matt, from that day, credits me and my wife from not going home that night and ending his life. We, to this day, tell everyone that we were being the kind of friends that we promised we would be to him.
Well, over the last 6 years, we watched him go from a healthy and vibrant person to one who was relegated to a wheelchair with machines breathing and talking for him. He handled the disease with grace and dignity and was an outspoken advocate for a disease whose research is purely privately funded. More and more people are being effected by ALS and it is time for our government to step up like it did for cancer and AIDS.
Over the past couple of months, Matt had a couple of hospital stays for infections in his lungs and in his blood. A couple of weeks ago, we got the phone call that we dreaded. Matt was found unresponsive and was probably not going to make it through the night. But, in true Matt fashion, he held on long enough for all of us to make the trek to Florida to see him.
On Thursday, October 22, 2015, at 2:25 PM, My wife and I, along with my other best friend, Ron and Matt's family sat around his bed telling stories and talking to him when he took his last breath. To say that he had a tremendous impact on my life would be an incredibly gross understatement. He was a true and genuine friend for over 35 years. I turned 44 yesterday.
The board offers so much more than just talking about the Browns and other sports, so I thought it would be appropriate to post this here.
If anyone has anything to share about friends and loved ones who may be effected, I would certainly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance, Dawgs!!
#gmstrong.
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Sorry for your loss. It's a cruel disease - yet I've not known, well, anyone that has had it. I can't offer much more than my condolences.
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One of my closest friends passed away last year because of it... Absolutely horrible disease... She went from being an active vibrant young lady to being bed ridden and having to have her husband do everything for her
There was a movie about ALS made a little while ago with Hiliary swank - very emotional movie
<><
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My wife's aunt was diagnosed with ALS soon after we were married. It was tragic to watch this beautiful, smart, and faith-filled woman go through this horriffic disease, which ended up taking her life a few years after diagnosis. I can't imagine many diseases on the planet worse that ALS. The only positive was that she was supported by her kids and her husband and they had the means to make her life as comfortable as possible.
You have my utmost respect for being that kind of friend b/c I watched 'friends' disappear along the way. Same thing with my father in law in his latter years battling Alzheimers - life long friends just stopped being involved and that was tough to see...although I could understand.
Life - on its own - is tough enough without these these types of diseases. We are reminded of what is really important in life when we see these battles taking place and reinforces the values of faith, family, and friendship.
Kudos to you and your wife for being an example in this area...
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." [Mark Twain]
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Sorry for your loss. It's a cruel disease - yet I've not known, well, anyone that has had it. I can't offer much more than my condolences. I appreciate the sentiment, Arch. But, I certainly didn't create this thread for sympathy. Hearing about others struggles with the disease will prove to be therapeutic for me at some point. There have been some sleepless nights and emotionally draining days over the last few weeks.
#gmstrong.
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There was a movie about ALS made a little while ago with Hiliary swank - very emotional movie
Emotionally, I haven't been able to watch it yet. I watched it in real time for 6 years...
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First, let me say I'm very sorry for your loss. ALS is horrible.
I've had only one friend that had ALS. I saw him go from a funny, outstanding guy of 70 to a man bedridden and unresponsive with tubes all over the place.
I've been on many road trips with Mike to various cities with our car club. Great guy, great friend.
he was diagonosed in February 2014 and was gone by May of 2015.
He is missed by his grandchildren and his wife and his son.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe."
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I haven't had anyone I know deal with this but I wanted to chime in and say kudos to you for being that faithful a friend.
I don't talk to anyone other than family that I knew when I was nine years old.
May we all be and have someone like you when we need it most.
WE DON'T NEED A QB BEFORE WE GET A LINE THAT CAN PROTECT HIM
my two cents...
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My life has not been effected by ALS bro. It has been effected by other things over the last 11 months however so I can understand how you feel. I can imagine you want to see this terrible disease ripped off the face of the earth and banished from ever returning. You wish ALS had died instead of your friend. Your angry, your sad, and your hurting. That's normal. Just remember you have friends around here you can lean on just like your friend had you and your wife to lean on. Your not alone in this. Many of us care, and God cares bro.
Embrace the memories you have of him. Those can never be taken from you by anybody. Learn from the things you have brought up about him. How he never gave up, how he fought with dignity and grace. I could go on about the blessings this last year brought to me and my family but I don't want to get to far off the subject buddy. Just send me a PM if you ever want to talk, vent, rant, cry, of just need a shoulder to lean on.
I AM ALWAYS RIGHT... except when I am wrong.
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First of all, my deepest sympathies on the loss of your dear friend. Prayers also for your friend, because I know what he went through. My Dad died from ALS over 40 years ago; he was 56. My family and I couldn't do much except keep him as comfortable as possible while his body was ravaged by this very cruel disease. I wish I could offer some words that would help it make sense somehow, but I can't really say that I'm even at peace with it after 40 years. I know I still think about him every day and on a good day, its a happy memory of healthy Dad. Other days are darker. Anybody would be floored losing a loved one this way, but I had a hard time at 18-19-20 years old coping with the sense of betrayal and anger I felt towards God himself. How could this happen? Dad was a good man - why did he have to suffer so? There's some things in life you come to grips with, and others where you just form an uneasy truce. Over the years, I have come to believe that God doesn't ask any more of us than he did Jesus on the cross. In other words, a lot.
Anyway, I hope you find peace with it. I'm not really comfortable talking about it - its too close to the heart, and I always feel like I said too much. Feel better, and God bless your friend.
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Thank you for sharing, Dave. And I have no words to describe the depth of my sympathy to you. Granted, Matt was truly like a blood brother, but I certainly don't think I could have handled losing my dad the way you did at that age.
Your post was probably the toughest to read so far. I think I could feel every emotion you've felt while reading it.
God bless you, my friend...
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There was a movie about ALS made a little while ago with Hiliary swank - very emotional movie
Emotionally, I haven't been able to watch it yet. I watched it in real time for 6 years... My wife and I just watched it - it's been about a year since my friend passed away... Very tough movie that I'll never watch again but still glad I watched it I too watched my friend go through the real life struggle but the movie brought a little more perspective as well There are so many horrible disease in this world but ALS is one of the worst
<><
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WV, so sorry for the loss of your dear friend. Cherish the memories and let them warm your heart forever.
A friend of mine lost her brotherr to ALS two years ago. He suffered horribly just prior to his death. She has found peace in his loss through working to create a public awareness of ALS and sharing her story with others who, unfortunately, suffer the ramifications of this disease.
You see, my friend and I have something in common. I lost my brother five years ago at the age of 49. He died of a heart attack. My friend and I are forever bonded with the loss we share.
Two years ago, just after her brother's death, we met in Virginia Beach to go parasailing. We went tandem. While in the air together, we felt so close to our brothers and felt an incredible sense of serenity and freedom in our grief. Through her tears, anger at God, and frustration, she was able to come to a better place of understanding with regard to this disease.
ALS is a brutal disease as you well know. Your friend was very blessed to have you and your love, support and kindness. God Bless you as you navigate life's road without your friend by your side but please know he travels the roads with you in spirit and will forever live in your heart.
#gmstrong
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All Pro
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Tragic news. Difficult to share but appreciated. Best wishes to you and family. A lot of research in Tel-Aviv where a Rabbi may have gotten some positive results through some research, though this debated. Never give up hope.
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My sisters father-in-law was diagnosed about 12 years ago. I think he made it 5-6 years after.
He was a big guy and had an attitude to match, funny, loud, and obnoxious is all the right ways. It was tough to see him struggle with walking, eating, talking and then breathing. When I saw him in the casket, he looked like a different person (I hadn't seen him during the last year).
ALS is such a crushing way to go, but I suppose you get a lot of time say goodbye.
I hope all that money that was raised by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge goes towards finding a cure. I did both (donated $10 and poured the bucket on my head).
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/Punchsmack/punch.gif) “...Iguodala to Curry, back to Iguodala, up for the layup! Oh! Blocked by James! LeBron James with the rejection!”
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My sincerest condolences to his family, and to his friends.
I cannot imagine anything worse than wasting away, day by day, and knowing that there is absolutely nothing that can be done to even slow the impact of the disease. I think that the only thing that would come close would be to have to watch someone you love go through it.
There are so many neurological diseases that we really have no clue about, as to how to treat them. MS, Parkinson's, GBS, ALS, Ataxia, Strokes, Palsy(s), Neuropathy, and many others impact the lives of so many today. There seems little that doctors can do in most cases, other than hope that can make the patient as comfortable as possible .... but in some cases, even that is not possible.
I think that I need to make a donation to the ALS Association. Maybe my small contribution, along with many others, can help that foundation find some help for those who suffer with this, and other similar diseases.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and his family and other friends.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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My grandmother (on my mother's side) had ALS. I was pretty young when she passed, as were a lot of her other grandchildren. All we remember of her was the end, when she could not speak at all, or move very much.
My next door neighbors recently lost a son-in-law to ALS. He left behind a wife and two children.
You were a great friend, WV. And still are.
How does a league celebrating its 100th season only recognize the 53 most recent championships?
#gmstrong
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Over the years, I had come to find out about ALS and what its effects on the body can be, but was never impacted until a few years ago.
One of my very dear friends, Matt, came to our house one cold November evening troubled by some of the things that were happening to his body. Some pain in his neck, some tingling in his fingers, some twitching.
On this day, as my wife and I sat on the couch next to him, he told us that he was diagnosed with ALS and we immediately knew it was a death sentence. The question, at this point, was how long he was going to live.
Matt, from that day, credits me and my wife from not going home that night and ending his life. We, to this day, tell everyone that we were being the kind of friends that we promised we would be to him.
Well, over the last 6 years, we watched him go from a healthy and vibrant person to one who was relegated to a wheelchair with machines breathing and talking for him. He handled the disease with grace and dignity and was an outspoken advocate for a disease whose research is purely privately funded. More and more people are being effected by ALS and it is time for our government to step up like it did for cancer and AIDS.
Over the past couple of months, Matt had a couple of hospital stays for infections in his lungs and in his blood. A couple of weeks ago, we got the phone call that we dreaded. Matt was found unresponsive and was probably not going to make it through the night. But, in true Matt fashion, he held on long enough for all of us to make the trek to Florida to see him.
On Thursday, October 22, 2015, at 2:25 PM, My wife and I, along with my other best friend, Ron and Matt's family sat around his bed telling stories and talking to him when he took his last breath. To say that he had a tremendous impact on my life would be an incredibly gross understatement. He was a true and genuine friend for over 35 years. I turned 44 yesterday.
The board offers so much more than just talking about the Browns and other sports, so I thought it would be appropriate to post this here.
If anyone has anything to share about friends and loved ones who may be effected, I would certainly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance, Dawgs!!
In early 2000 my father-in-law asked me to shake his hand. "Shake my hand"! "Does it feel like a firm grip"? "Does it feel like a regular handshake"? "Is it a weak handshake"? "Just curious". At the time I thought it odd. I understood why a year later. He passed away in early 2002 from ALS. I'd rather go thru the windshield than go that route. Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend.
Let this sink in..... On 12-31-23 it be will 123123.
On the flip side, you can tune a piano but you can't tune-a-fish.
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Thank you all for sharing your stories and passing along your sentiments. I'm sure that some of the memories were painful to put up in this thread. I know I had to come back a few times to get through a couple of posts. At the very least, I feel like I have connected to more of my fellow Dawgs here on a deeper level than just being fans of a team that causes us so much grief...
#gmstrong.
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Just prepared my eulogy to present at the memorial service tomorrow... Please, God, give me strength...
I've never had to give a eulogy before... Let alone for one of my my best friends...
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You'll do fine. If you get emotional, remember 2 things: 1. It's fine to be emotional. 2. If you start crying, look up. Look up with just your eyes, don't tilt your head, just look up. Call me crazy, but it stops the tears. I read it somewhere and thought it was dumb. Till I had to try it at a funeral. It works. For me.
And beyond all that, remember, you'll be fine.
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We are still keeping y'all in our prayers.
I AM ALWAYS RIGHT... except when I am wrong.
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Thank you both for your kind words and sentiments. Although it took me a while to get through the eulogy due to a couple emotional breakdowns, I was able share memories of a friend that I will never forget and will never be replaced. It was an emotional and beautiful celebration of a great friend and a better man.
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