Neuro Note #3

For this neuro note, I decided to watch a video that I found on professor Lancaster’s resource page. This video is titled “Alex’s ALS journey”. It was a short video that his wife had made as a tribute to her husband Alex, who passed away from ALS not too long after he was diagnosed. I chose to watch this video because I have always been interested in hearing about other peoples’ personal journeys with their diseases, how it impacted them and how they chose to live their life based on their circumstances. In the video, it gradually shows videos clips from Alex’s life with ALS as his symptoms progressed through time. It shows clips of him brushing his teeth, taking a shower, eating through a peg tube, and communicating to others by use of an assistive device. It was interesting to me to actually see these symptoms present in someone’s daily life, we learn about them in class but to actually see someone’s life being impacted by them was truly eye opening to me. The video was also very inspiring to see how Alex, a person who was diagnosed with a devastating disease, still wanted to live his life to the fullest and had the motivation to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest as well. I thought the video really was a great representation of Alex. It showed him playing with his 3 kids, painting, watching his favorite sports teams, and still being the loving husband and father that he was, even with his diagnosis. It was also very touching to see how his wife, Marissa, really stepped up to the plate and did absolutely anything and everything she could to take care of Alex. Having a diagnosis like ALS typically can put a lot of strain on a relationship but it was inspiring to see how their love for one another still stayed the same, if not got even stronger, than it already was. In one of my favorite parts of the video, it shows him watching his favorite football team, and when they got a winning touchdown, it shows Alex riding in circles around his living room as a victory dance! This just shows how he still lived a normal life despite his challenges with ALS. Overall, this video relates to what we learned about in class by getting to see, first hand, how the progression of ALS impacts a family. I learned that motivation can be an essential part of how a person chooses to live with their disease, and for Alex, his family was his one motivation. This video was truly inspiring, and very touching, I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about ALS or just anyone who feels like being inspired!