ALS CONNECT

ALS Cause Gets a Push in Both Houses of Congress

The narrative that nothing gets done in Washington saturates the media, as the does the narrative that bipartisanship is a thing of the past. Regardless of if you are casual observer of political news or a news junkie, you might guess that everything that happens on Capitol Hill is all out political warfare, all of the time.

If so, you be might be happy to learn that just since the beginning of 2020, bipartisan efforts in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are taking place that offer a real chance for significant movement in the area of ALS advocacy and ALS research.

What Should You Know About Feeding Tubes?

This week is Feeding Tube Awareness Week, and in light of the fact that many people with ALS will have to face the decision of if or when to have a feeding tube placed, we asked Care Service Coordinator Mary Love, who is a registered dietician, some questions about the ins and outs of feeding tubes:

Chapter & Verse: Mary Love

This week we are starting a new series with the hope of allowing you to get to know the people who make up the ALS Association St. Louis Regional Chapter a little better. We are calling it “Chapter & Verse” because every person’s life is a story. This week we hear from Care Service Coordinator Mary Love, who joined the Chapter last spring.

Living with ALS—A Small Look

We have at times here attempted to provide a look at what living with ALS looks like. This is at times daunting as every person with ALS experiences the disease in their own unique way. What is common for all people with ALS is that there are challenges to overcome. These challenges are sometimes small, and sometimes monumental. But they are there—day-in, day-out—and must be met.

Adding to Research Momentum—The First ALS Platform Trial Takes Shape

We’ve written before here about how there are real, tangible discovers being made in ALS research, but for everyone involved the pace of discovery can’t move fast enough. As such, when a new idea presents itself that has a real chance to move the needle it worth noting. Such an idea is taking shape right now with the first ALS platform trial at The Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital.

ALS Medicare Resource Line—Help with Getting the Help You Need

Sometimes getting the help you need starts with figuring out what help is out there. This is never more true that when you are dealing with a government program, like Medicare. What are the resources? Are you eligible? How do you apply? How do you know what information is reliable?

Now, for people with ALS and their families, there is a reliable, trusted resource they can turn to, free of charge. In partnership with Patient Advocate Foundation, the ALS Association has recently introduced a new resource for the ALS community: The ALS Medicare Resource Line.

Wishing You a Hopeful New Year

As 2020 begins in earnest with the first full work week, we asked our Board Chair Josh Rogers to share some thoughts on the upcoming year. Here is Josh’s message for us all:

The ringing in of each new year brings with it hope. When the ball drops and fireworks fill the sky on New Year’s Eve, when we hang a new calendar on the wall and open it to January, when we walk through the front door at work on the first business day of the new year, we press the symbolic reset button on life. We put behind us the challenges and neglected resolutions of the year before and welcome with optimism the next 12 months.