Anndee Glick: Caring for our Heroes with ALS

Anndee Glick, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, is a nurse practitioner and clinical coordinator at the VA St. Louis, John Cochran Division’s ALS Multidisciplinary Care Clinic.  During a recent Veteran’s Day recognition ceremony honoring veterans with ALS, Anndee addressed the audience of military heroes and their families. Following is the text of her speech.

“When I started taking prerequisites for my nursing program in the spring of 1998, my idea about what a nurse was and did were mostly learned by watching Major Margaret Houlihan from “MASH”.  What I  didn’t know when I enrolled in nursing school was that I had enlisted in Colonel Joyce Taylor’s Army.  Colonel Taylor, known to me as Doctor Taylor, had served in a real-life “MASH” Unit during Desert Storm.  The lady that I came to know as Joyce became my friend, mentor, and role model in nursing.

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The Impact of Being a Rare Disease Caregiver

Being a caregiver to someone with ALS can be rewarding, but it also takes a toll both physically and mentally. As National Family Caregiver Month comes to a close and we enter the holiday season, the year-round efforts of caregivers for people with rare diseases, including ALS, continue on. Families with ALS should know they are not alone in their struggles and sacrifices—so many people across the country are forced to readjust their lives in response to this disease. Here are some statistics that show the impact it can have on caregivers.

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Giving Thanks This November

At the St. Louis Regional Chapter, we are incredibly thankful to everyone who joins the effort to find a cure and provide services for people with ALS in eastern Missouri and central and southern Illinois. This year during the holiday season, we’re sharing what makes people thankful in our community who are dedicated to fighting ALS. Here are some of the things they’re thankful for this year.

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Perspectives: A Thankful Thanksgiving

By Gregg Ratliff

I love Thanksgiving! It was always my father’s favorite holiday. He passed away on November 24, 1997. I found it to be somewhat ironic that while he loved Thanksgiving, he had a stroke on Thanksgiving Day and he was buried four years later on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. It just seems like more than a coincidence.

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Portraits of ALS: Veteran Sean Nolan

In early 2016, Sean Nolan thought it might be time to amp up his workouts.  The 46-year-old was feeling more tired than usual and experiencing some overall weakness.  “I didn’t think anything of it,” he says.  “I just thought I needed to go to the gym more.”

Months later, after his step daughter Jaylin pointed out some twitching in his arm, Sean noticed that his right hand was noticeably weaker.  When he told his primary care physician about his symptoms at a routine physical, the doctor immediately referred him to a neurologist.  Alarmed, Sean’s girlfriend of eight years, Nikki, started researching Sean’s symptoms online. Up popped sites describing ALS. “I panicked,” she says.  But Sean was not convinced.  “Everything I’ve read says that I’m an atypical age.  The average age for people with ALS is mid-50’s.  I’m ten years younger than that.”

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Caregiver Advice from Caregivers for People with ALS

Eat and sleep regularly. Take time for yourself. Breathe. This is often the advice caregivers receive. Although these are important it’s sometimes not the most helpful or only scratches the surface of what advice caregivers really need, especially for those who are caring for someone with ALS. Based on what caregivers in our area have experienced, here is a list of advice specifically intended for caring with someone with ALS.

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Using Medical Marijuana to Treat ALS Symptoms

When it comes to treating symptoms associated with ALS, people will try a variety of methods to see what will work best for them. Among those options is medical marijuana, or cannabis. Although this can be a controversial treatment method depending on where you live and your outlook on the drug, some people with ALS believe the benefits provided by cannabis makes it easier to live with ALS. Here’s what you should know about cannabis and ALS treatment.*

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