Monday morning, July 5th, at approximately 11:15 AM, my stepfather, George Rieger, passed peacefully from this world. He had been struggling for several months with heart valve weakness, breathing difficulty, excessive fluid and other complications. While we will miss him dearly, we are relieved that he is finally at rest.

George was one of the most giving people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He wasn’t polished or worldly, and he didn’t have much, but whatever he had was yours. He was the type of person who would stop on a dark lonely highway in the middle of the night to help you change a flat tire when everyone else was passing you by. The man had a heart of gold, and was loved by many who knew him. He will be missed.

George lived in Florida, where he was cremated and will be put to rest with my Mom. He told his partner, Joyce, that he did not want any ceremony. Since he was not Jewish, I wasn’t sure that there would be a shiva. After meeting with the Rabbi, I discovered that it would be possible to sit shiva and do a memorial service in honor George’s memory. This was a great relief to me. I needed closure. It was a great source of frustration being unable to travel to Florida and be with him during his final days. Although we spoke often by phone, and frequently during the final weeks, it just wasn’t the same as being there with him and letting him feel my love in person.

In addition to the typically powerful emotions that accompany a loss of a loved one, this has become another challenge to overcome in living with ALS. One of the symptoms of ALS is something called “emotional lability”. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_neurone_disease#Emotional_lability This means that you tend to be overcome by your emotions much more easily than before contracting the disease. While I don’t consider myself to be an overly “macho” type of guy, I must admit to finding it somewhat uncomfortable breaking down unexpectedly in the middle of a sentence when thinking or speaking about a sensitive topic like the loss of my stepfather. To put this in perspective, the same thing can happen in the middle of a sappy romantic comedy or in response to someone going out of their way to do me a favor. While I have always been a fairly passionate guy, this behavior is considerably more extreme than what I experienced prior to Lou Gehrig’s disease. Sometimes, I just have to laugh about it, because getting upset only makes it worse. I certainly don’t want to lose my sensitivity, but it would be nice to have a little more balance.

This is a time for grieving, and I will allow myself to do so. I look forward to a time when I can look back fondly on my memories of George without feeling so much of the pain of his loss. Regrettably, this is far from my first experience with losing someone about whom I have cared deeply, and I have learned a great deal about grieving along the way. It is however, the first time having to go through this process with advanced ALS. Loss is a process with which we all have to deal sooner or later. I would love to hear some of your stories about what has helped you to get through it.

It’s been a good week! Last September, as I may have mentioned in an earlier post, an aggressive increase in one of my treatments caused me to lose about 90% of my already limited hand and forearm function. There were days when I could not move the joy stick that controls my wheelchair. Thanks to some adjustments in the treatment, continued detoxing, my nutritional and exercise programs, emphasis on affirmative thinking, the work of my healer (Jose), and good old perseverance, my arms and hands are completely back to where they were, and continuing to gain strength. I am even noticing additional strength in my shoulders and neck. It all became more noticeable this past week as I began to take easier and more extended strolls around the neighborhood.

Gains like this, of course, are what doctors will tell you are impossible for a person with ALS. And, if I am successful in continuing to reclaim mobility, doctors will most likely proclaim that my recovering from ALS is a miracle, and will ignore what I have done to achieve it. I am convinced that this will be the likely response from the medical community, because I have read and heard so many stories like it. This is one of my motivations for continuing with this blog – to get the word out that there are effective strategies outside of the traditional medical model that a person with ALS can use to fight it.

Another reason it has been a good week is that a reporter from a local newspaper put out an article on my story, providing further exposure for my successful battle against this disease. You can find the article, “Local man with Lou Gehrig’s disease beating odds,” at the following link www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106220302. Please let me know what you think of it.

It can be a lonely battle at times, searching for effective, non-traditional healing practices that work in the face of the sometimes patronizing and skeptical attitudes, and lack of interest one often experiences from medical professionals. Each time I experience a gain like my recent increase in strength, I count my blessings that my perseverance has paid off, and hope that my example somehow benefits others with ALS or other difficult challenges.

Please let me hear from you.