Help Crystal Fight ALS with Home Modification

As ice water dumped over my head, I shockingly became a participant in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Fast forward eight years later, and ironically, just as quickly as the shock of the ice wore off, and new shock was delivered. I am now a patient, having been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

While this aggressive and fatal disease has begun to affect the nerve cells in my brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control, I am fighting. Eventually, it will affect my ability to walk, use my arms and hands, speak, swallow, and even breathe.

A diagnosis like this is devastating in all ways imaginable. As a mother, soon to be wife, a daughter, , a sister, a coworker, and a friend – there are many roles that I continue to want to fight for, all of which added to the devastation. As our tears are drying, and I am continuing to fight this terrible disease, I am asking you to help me fight. Together we may not cure this disease, but we can make the best life possible for the families as they encounter ALS, and my family is the one asking for help.

I am beginning to experience weakness in my legs and hands, use a rolling walker to get around to prevent falls, and am utilizing adaptive tools for my fine motor movements, such as eating. These support tools are just the beginning of the life adjustments my family is making, all with a supportive and positive attitude.

Our family lives in a generational home, where our son is the 3rd generation to grow up in this amazing house. As we have been making this home ours over the past two years, we are having to now make the home adaptive – as our doors and bathrooms are not accessible friendly. We will be making a small addition to our home with an accessible bathroom, equipped with a zero-entry shower, and space for medical equipment in our bedroom.

Changes such as the home renovations are just one of the many our family has experienced in a short time, leaving my career at the YMCA where I was able to work with like-minded individuals to carry our mission forward and make a better community each day, was another large change. Financially, this has added a challenge to our lives, but as my disease has progressed it is giving me the space to fight each day.

What can you do? Each year, approximately 5,000 individuals are diagnosed with this fatal disease. As I continue to fight and adapt our lifestyle, I am asking you to help donate to support my adaptations. Any gift will help make a difference, will help our family overcome the drastic changes, and will help provide the modifications necessary for me to live a comfortable life.

In the short time I have been diagnosed with ALS, it has made me so grateful for the small and simple things life brings. I appreciate you taking the time to read my story, and so thankful for any donation.