Defying the silence of ALS

[Omaha Steve]

X post from GD.

For those that don't know, some of my FTD symptoms gave warning signs of ALS. The specialist said I don't have ALS.

http://www.theaftd.org/understandingftd/disorders/ftdal

OS


With tape helping to open his eyes, Dr. Tom Tonniges pecks out letters to form words on his tablet. The doctor has late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD


http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/livewell/defying-the-silence-of-als


My childhood doctor has ALS. But Dr. Tom is breaking his imposed silence to shout, again, for patients.

By Matthew Hansen / World-Herald staff writer

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Joyful cartoon children are painted on the white walls here, children who run and jump and laugh. A half dozen Berenstain Bears books sit stacked in the waiting room, though maybe my mom brought those from home.

Big angelfish glide through the fish tank here, and little sick kids sit in colorful little plastic chairs, and when it’s time, a tiny, redheaded 6-year-old grabs mom’s hand and approaches an impossibly tall counter behind which a smiling receptionist peers down at me. “You are here to see Dr. Tom?” she asks. “Dr. Tom is excited to see you.”

My earliest memories are of this place, and they come back now in fragments and flashes, the stained-glass memories of a childhood that’s now three decades distant.

I often land in the waiting room of Dr. Tom Tonniges’ office because I’m a sickly little kid — constant ear infections, frequent bouts with strep throat, fevers that turn me pale as a ghost and prompt my mom to load my little brother and me yet again in the family Oldsmobile and head the 40 miles north up Highway 281 to Hastings.

FULL story at link.