Always something new to try
Somewhere I came across this link where you can create 'moments' in time. I'm trying it out. So, here's one presentation I did. I'm hoping to add music and backgrounds, but that will take some time to learn. Anyhow, you can see here what I've done and I believe you will see the link showing how you can create a moment of your own.
Hope you were able to see it.
Today, I vacuumed and read a story in the Pennsylvania Gazette (Alumni magazine). A young Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry developed ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease). Most people die within 5 years, but Scott Mackler is in his 10th year. Try to imagine his life. He can not move a muscle i.e. cannot speak, move or breathe. He's on a ventilator and works with a piece of technology called a BCI...Brain Computer Interface. Somehow he thinks of a letter and the electrodes attached to his head transmit it to a screen. He is able to type via thinking about 6 words a minute. This is absolutely amazing. Only 4 people in the country are set up with this. It's given him a will to live. He still participates in research studies regarding the use of the BCI. This horrible disease slowly paralyzes a person and there is no treatment or cure. The brain remains intact. I don't know....I might be calling Dr Kevorkian's folks. Fortunately this man has a wonderful support system. His wife is a Professor of PT at the Univ of Delaware. His two grown sons are graduate students. He has a CNA working as his assistant who's been with him for seven years. He knew when the first symptoms started e.g. dropping things, slurred speech, unable to control emotions that it was ALS even when a neurologist told him 'no'. How horrible to know your fate. What would you do? He feels getting hooked up with the people in Albany NY gave him a reason to go on... he is able to communicate and losing the ability to communicate was the hardest thing of all to face.
I found this so interesting I googled Scott Mackler and found much more. Perhaps you saw the recent CBS program on Mind Reading. If not here's a link. It gives one pause to comprehend that our grand children and their children will have this technology available to them. Wow! And you thought fire was big time.
Here's the link Click here for more on mind reading
Comments
Pat, I actually knew one of Dr. Kavorkian's assisted suicides. He was a young man we were transporting to a rehab facility on Broad Street by Einstein Hospital. He had suffered a neck injury in a high school football game and endured years of unrelieved pain and paralysis from the neck down with limited arm movement.
I agree with you that a diagnosis like ALS would lend me to seriously think about assisted suicide. I'm glad for him he has the communication assistance and support system that keeps his will to live going.