Todd Alford's Fight Against ALS

In 2013, Todd and Lori Alfrod's lives changed for the better and worse. Though, that year they received devastating news in regards to Todd’s health, they managed to stay positive. The year began with a whirlwind engagement between two soul mates that did not find each other until later in their lives. Shortly after the engagement, Todd began to start moving slower, becoming unstable in his movement, and his words were not as well articulated as prior. This started a rampage of testing to find out what was going on with Todd, while also planning a wedding to begin the celebration of their lives together officially.  By their wedding in October, they had found out what was ailing Todd. They were told that Todd has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

Todd has an extremely progressive form of ALS. Within months of getting married, Todd and Lori were doing what normal married couples do. They were purchasing a new car and house to begin their new lives together; however, the new car had to be a van. The van is handicap assessable to allow Lori to take Todd to appointments since he is wheelchair bound now. The new house was also a necessity because their old house did not have big enough door frames to allow Todd to maneuver his wheel chair around the house.  With all these huge purchases, Todd also was forced into retirement because he lost his ability to verbal communicate without using IPad. Todd requires round the clock care and Lori is willing; however, they have hardly income coming in so they that they can afford what they need. Lori continuously has to use family medical leave from work. They are extremely fortune that Lori’s brother has moved in and helps out physically and mentally for them.