Thursday, September 2, 2010

ALS Medical Alert Statement

Stolen from another ALS Blogger

Perhaps we need some medical alert bracelets for people with ALS. We could call them I-Have-All-My-Marbles tags.

"I have ALS. You probably don't remember what this means because you were taught it is 'rare' so you didn't pay all that much attention in school. Guess what. It's not so rare. I have it. I have ALL of my marbles. Every last marble. It's simply a little difficult to understand my speech, so please read my lips and listen closely when I speak. Remember, I have all my marbles. My neck is extremely weak. If you move me, please remember that my head full of marbles needs some support because my neck cannot hold it up. I am perfectly capable of making all of my own medical decisions even though my speech reminds you of someone who is sloppy drunk. I have all my marbles. Please talk directly to me. My caregiver will assist with 'translating' my speech for you, but please speak to me. My ears are good. I have all my marbles. I probably have more marbles than many people in this room."


Humorous, yes. Serious, yes. Help raise awareness of ALS. Tell your friends that we have all our marbles (or all that we started the ALS journey with, at least!!)~!

2 comments:

Bonnie@TheFragileXFiles said...

Very well said, Claudia!

Cathy Curths said...

Yes that is so true, more people need to be made aware! My speech has been affected and it is so hard when I am in public.
Cathy