Today we thank Mr. Gerry Severin for sharing with us his experiences with his friend Joe Caisse as he battled ALS.
Joe Caisse from Gladwin Michigan died on march 21st 2010 of ALS. I was Joe's friend all of our lives. Born and raised next door to each other we were shared everything always doing everything together. In July of2008 Joe was told he had ALS. We were devastated but knew we were going to fight a battle together, and we did. What we did not know is we never had a chance. We realized this after about 1 year and saw what the illness was doing to his whole body.
The site of this was very hard to watch. We tried experiment drugs at John Hopkins in Baltimore MA and everything else we could think of to help. He pinned his hope on stem cell but knew this was a long shot. Maybe with the experiment of stem cell research something will change in the future. But for now nothing can help and what his family and friends had to watch for the last 6 months of Joe's life can only be described as horrible. ALS has no concern for the body it just wants to destroy it. And have no doubt it does. I am a strong person and stuck with him all the way but, what I had to watch could be in a SI FI. The breakdown of Joe's body seemed systematic, Speech was first totally gone the last 6 months, hands, feet, legs, bowels, then finally breathing. He never lost his sense of humor or awareness but just about everything else was taken from him.
This illness is terrible and should get as much attention as AIDS&CANCER or any other illness. For some reason it seems ALS needs to raise most of its research money. We could sure use a lot more help in funding. If you have to watch this take a person you have known for 59 years at the age of 59 you would do all you could to find something to help find a cure. It was by far the hardest time in my life bar nothing. We did what we had to and never gave up, but the end result was a hard agonizing death we had to watch. A man in the summer of 2008 was 6'3" 245 lbs in great shape dead at 160lbs in spring of 2010.There has to be something done to help find a cure for this illness. maybe it is time to take the gloves off the stem cell, as we already know nothing else touches this illness. Maybe time to go on a limb and see what stem cell can do. Joe always said he would try anything if it killed him oh well they would know it did not work. And then could try something else he was sure anyone with ALS would go the same route to find a cure or dye trying.
After all as Joe said I have nothing to lose except a life I am losing anyway and it is no fun at all. Joe said we need to quit talking about trials and give them a try NOW for ALS. After what can happen you die trying.
Thank you Joe's life time friend Gerry Severin.
Joe Caisse from Gladwin Michigan died on march 21st 2010 of ALS. I was Joe's friend all of our lives. Born and raised next door to each other we were shared everything always doing everything together. In July of2008 Joe was told he had ALS. We were devastated but knew we were going to fight a battle together, and we did. What we did not know is we never had a chance. We realized this after about 1 year and saw what the illness was doing to his whole body.
The site of this was very hard to watch. We tried experiment drugs at John Hopkins in Baltimore MA and everything else we could think of to help. He pinned his hope on stem cell but knew this was a long shot. Maybe with the experiment of stem cell research something will change in the future. But for now nothing can help and what his family and friends had to watch for the last 6 months of Joe's life can only be described as horrible. ALS has no concern for the body it just wants to destroy it. And have no doubt it does. I am a strong person and stuck with him all the way but, what I had to watch could be in a SI FI. The breakdown of Joe's body seemed systematic, Speech was first totally gone the last 6 months, hands, feet, legs, bowels, then finally breathing. He never lost his sense of humor or awareness but just about everything else was taken from him.
This illness is terrible and should get as much attention as AIDS&CANCER or any other illness. For some reason it seems ALS needs to raise most of its research money. We could sure use a lot more help in funding. If you have to watch this take a person you have known for 59 years at the age of 59 you would do all you could to find something to help find a cure. It was by far the hardest time in my life bar nothing. We did what we had to and never gave up, but the end result was a hard agonizing death we had to watch. A man in the summer of 2008 was 6'3" 245 lbs in great shape dead at 160lbs in spring of 2010.There has to be something done to help find a cure for this illness. maybe it is time to take the gloves off the stem cell, as we already know nothing else touches this illness. Maybe time to go on a limb and see what stem cell can do. Joe always said he would try anything if it killed him oh well they would know it did not work. And then could try something else he was sure anyone with ALS would go the same route to find a cure or dye trying.
After all as Joe said I have nothing to lose except a life I am losing anyway and it is no fun at all. Joe said we need to quit talking about trials and give them a try NOW for ALS. After what can happen you die trying.
Thank you Joe's life time friend Gerry Severin.
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