Neuro Note #1
For my first Neuro Note I watched a TED Talk titled, “Meet the Mom who started the Ice Bucket Challenge.” The talk was given by Nancy Frates, and she shared how her son Pete Frates was diagnosed with ALS. I was interested in this topic because I participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with my college soccer team back in undergrad. At the time I had no knowledge about who started this challenge, and the circumstances that lead this person to start the challenge. Through college I became much more aware of what ALS is because one of my roommates had a family friend diagnosed with ALS our freshman year. The progression of this disease was awfully quick, and honestly very dehumanizing. Through the course of the years my roommate would talk about her family friend it seemed the level of his functioning dwindled so quickly. Towards the end of this man’s life his ability to talk and swallow were taken away from him. This disease is very scary. Physical function is stripped away from a person, but cognitive function of the person is still there. I found some correlation between my roommate’s family friend and Pete Frates. Both of these guys were at one moment in time hardworking and independent men, and the next they were dependent on people for the most basic of functions.
Pete Frates was an athlete. He enjoyed baseball so much that he decided to make it his career. Pete was up to bat one day, and the pitch hit his wrist. His wrist flopped, and he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. When Pete went to the doctor to get his diagnosis, he went thinking that he just had a broken wrist, or maybe at the worst nerve damage. The news was much worst though, the doctors had found out Pete has ALS, and there is no cure for this neurological disease. Although this was shocking news, Pete didn’t let this get him down. He decided that he wanted to make ALS known, and his goal was for this campaign to even reach Bill Gates. Pete’s mom was nothing but supportive of her son, and she helped him start the ice bucket challenge. Together and with the rest of the world over 160 million dollars has been raised through the ice bucket challenge. Pete’s story really resonated with me being an athlete myself. I just love his competitive nature that won’t allow him to quite. He didn’t let his diagnosis get him down, and he made trying to get the word out about ALS a game, and he won.
We haven’t discussed ALS in class yet, but I can almost guarantee that the prognosis for each patient will vary by case like most neurological diseases and trauma. I am interested to learn the science behind it all, but as of now the only thing I know about the disease is that it affects the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. ALS is progressive and attacks the motor neurons causing muscles to atrophy and waste away. This is why people with ALS will lose function of their limbs, swallowing, and breathing. I have learned a lot through watching this TED Talk, and I have also learned from reflected on the updates I would get from my roommate about her family friend. It is amazing how much can be done to better the world with determination and heart.
https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_frates_why_my_family_started_the_als_ice_bucket_challenge_the_rest_is_history/up-next
Pete Frates was an athlete. He enjoyed baseball so much that he decided to make it his career. Pete was up to bat one day, and the pitch hit his wrist. His wrist flopped, and he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. When Pete went to the doctor to get his diagnosis, he went thinking that he just had a broken wrist, or maybe at the worst nerve damage. The news was much worst though, the doctors had found out Pete has ALS, and there is no cure for this neurological disease. Although this was shocking news, Pete didn’t let this get him down. He decided that he wanted to make ALS known, and his goal was for this campaign to even reach Bill Gates. Pete’s mom was nothing but supportive of her son, and she helped him start the ice bucket challenge. Together and with the rest of the world over 160 million dollars has been raised through the ice bucket challenge. Pete’s story really resonated with me being an athlete myself. I just love his competitive nature that won’t allow him to quite. He didn’t let his diagnosis get him down, and he made trying to get the word out about ALS a game, and he won.
We haven’t discussed ALS in class yet, but I can almost guarantee that the prognosis for each patient will vary by case like most neurological diseases and trauma. I am interested to learn the science behind it all, but as of now the only thing I know about the disease is that it affects the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. ALS is progressive and attacks the motor neurons causing muscles to atrophy and waste away. This is why people with ALS will lose function of their limbs, swallowing, and breathing. I have learned a lot through watching this TED Talk, and I have also learned from reflected on the updates I would get from my roommate about her family friend. It is amazing how much can be done to better the world with determination and heart.
https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_frates_why_my_family_started_the_als_ice_bucket_challenge_the_rest_is_history/up-next
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