About

Welcome to a reality story that will hopefully touch, inspire and motivate you to embrace life and those around you.  Choose to make a difference.

In March of 2001 at the age of 35 we received Steven’s diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known Lou Gehrig’s disease, and our lives were forever changed.

ALS destroys the nerve cells controlling voluntary muscles in healthy adults, ultimately causing complete paralysis while leaving mental function intact. Survival is typically two to five years after diagnosis, without respiratory intervention, and no cure exists.

After the initial shock and fumbling between reality and the unknown, we realized that our dream of growing old together and everything that goes with it was not likely to happen.  It took us awhile, but with some soul searching and inspirational events we decided that we needed to live with ALS, not die from it.

Enter our new life mission:

1)      Raise public awareness of ALS
2)      Raise funds for ALS research
3)      Provide help and hope to those affected
4)      Encourage people to responsibly plan for the future

We have developed this internet site to help us in our battle.  Hopefully, it becomes another way to help educate and inform all of you, who are fighting this battle with us.  We would like to say thank you for the continued support of our family, friends, and the people from the multiple organizations dedicated to finding a treatment and ultimate cure for this horrific disease.

Take some time to look around our site.  Check out our biography and learn how all this started.  See how we are abiding to our new life mission through actions and not just words.

Take a journey through our articles entitled “A New Life with ALS” as well as profiles from national magazines and organizations.  Find out why we can have such a positive outlook and feel oddly blessed in the face of an uncertain future.  Do you want to approach every aspect of your life with a new vitality?  No one knows how long they’re going to live…so start now!

April 2003 – Choosing To Live
May 2003 – Support Groups – A Safe Haven
June 2003 – Our Network of Support
July 2003 – An ALS Patient’s Perspective
August 2003 – An ALS Wife’s Perspective
September 2003 – Speeding Up the Scientists
October 2003 – MDA Telethon – Where the Love Is
November 2003 – Denial – Don’t Deny Yourself Support
December 2003 – Celebrating The Holidays
February 2004 – Making Peace With Circumstances
March 2004 – Thanks for a Life-Changing Year

We are asking you to get involved in our fight…mentally, emotionally or financially.  You see the drug companies aren’t going to make any money on finding a treatment or cure for ALS.  There are only 30,000 cases in the US at any one time.  That’s because we keep dying off!  For every new case that is diagnosed, one of us is gone.  We need the help of people inside and outside our ALS community to get the attention of the government and the general public to fund research and promote awareness for ALS.  Will you help us?

Sincerely,

Steven and Jennifer Bishop