Renate Blanton

I like Greg Gutfield on his evening show and The Five, but I don't appreciate Greg making fun of Stephen Hawkins who had ALS. ALS is a dreaded disease that there is no cure for it. It is a disease that takes the dignity away from a once capable person. My former husband found out in 2007 that he had ALS, within a years time, he passed away. I helped out my former husband until he died at the end of January, 2008. I watched him daily for 5 days a week while his wife worked to bring in income for the family. I watched my husband's disease take a toll on him daily and could see great changes every week. He was unable to stand and walk, next he was unable to use his arms, few weeks later he could barely talk until he had no use of his voice. He was placed on a bipap for his breathing. He was in constant pain with no relief from medicine that he was taking. Within a few months, he could not eat or drink anymore without choking. A feeding tube was inserted in his stomach. He developed sores on his body because we could not turn him very often. Eventually, his bowels stopped functioning. It takes the whole family and other assistance to take proper care of someone with ALS. It is heartbreaking to watch a person deteriorate, but even worse, to realize his mind is still functioning normally and he knows exactly what is happening to him. It is even harder when the person cannot tell you what he needs because he is unable to express himself. I made a list of phrases for my exhusband so that he could tell what his needs were when he couldn't talk near the beginning of his disease. Example: ( l.) need need my bipap. ( 2.) My nose itches. I made up about 22 different expressions that I thought he might need. When his hands weren't functioning anymore, I would be his hands for him when he played Sudoku. He loved the game so much! We would play it all day. When he was at the point where he could not speak or use his hands to express himself. I made a large chart and put names of family members on it. I made it look like a keyboard and even put a spacebar on it. Since he could not hold or point to it, I taped a red pointer on his eyeglasses so that he could point to the keyboard and spell out words and sentences to express his needs. I placed the large chart on a music stand and set it about ten feet from him. This worked fine until finally around December of 2007, the muscles in his neck would not allow him to move his head so therefore, he could not use the eyeglasses with the pointer anymore. Mike died at the end of January, 2008. The reason I went in to such detail writing this is because he was unable to do anything whatsoever. He cried a lot and ALS patients also laugh for no reason at all. This disease leaves a person altogether helpless. I went home many nights and cried because I felt like I couldn't do enough to help this once strong and smart man. It takes a lot of equipment and services to make an individual with ALS comfortable. When Mike was ill my familly and other families got together and raised over $ 90,000.00 the first year of our ALS Walk. It took a lot of asking and begging for people to donate or give their time to help with this walk. We held it in Fayetteville, N.C. Everyone was so kind and willing to give their all to make this such a great rewarding walk. So please, for those who have or had family members with this disease please do not make fun or joke about someone that has ALS. Thank you for reading this comment.