MDA Telethon

MDA Telethon

	Telethon 2002 WGRZ-TV Buffalo

MDA 2002 Telethon Interview with Jodi Johnston of WGRZ TV 2
September 2nd, 2002

My Granddaughters Sara and Alissa Shinder are here with me today to tell about the“model of care” that Donna (my wife & Sara and Alissa’s grandmother),
received from the MDA ALS Clinic of Buffalo New York , Directed By Dr. Carolyn Warner.

Donna was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrings disease in the Summer of 1997 and passed away on Valentine's Day 2001.

The girls would like to describe how their grandmother embraced the use of whatever assistive equipment was necessary to enable her to be up and dressed in the clothes of her choice, every day , color coordinated of course , and to continue participating in many of the things that she loved to do.

Such as Church , grandchildren’s dance recitals, baseball games, band concerts , school plays, or simply shopping trips to the Mall.

She did not let concerns about being seen in public with assistive equipment, deter her in pursuing those activities , and in doing so was able to participate in many happy “Extended Quality of Life Opportunities”, that Sara and Alissa would like to share with us today –

Sara	Alissa
Click on the Above or Below pics for full size	Click on the Above or Below pics for full size

In order to keep Donna’s expressed prayer alive regarding helping others with what we have learned as the result of our journey with ALS , I attended the “12^th International Symposium on ALS in San Francisco last November, and plan to attend the Medtrade (assistive medical equipment) Exposition in Atlanta in October. It is my hope that by collecting additional information on “Assistive Equipment” and “Care Strategies” and combining it with what we have learned , we can put together a simplified & expanding database of information that may be helpful for others.

Concluding comment :
Recently I read about an interview , where Michael J. Fox was asked if he would offer a phrase that might summarize his new book , titled - “Lucky Man” and he responded with –

“Let me just say that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and you know even less about what may appear to take it’s place if you allow it." - Michael J. Fox

That quote summarizes the manner in which Donna addressed her Journey with ALS & “ her, if you allow it attitude”, resulted in achieving many “Extended Quality of Life Opportunities”, for which we are very thankful.