My Dad has Huntington’s Disease
(Please share this fundraiser if you can. Every single dollar counts!)
Growing up, my dad was my hero.
He was a hard working man that always put his family first.
His name is George Carlson jr. but most know him as Ed or Eddie Carlson.
Growing up, his parents traveled the country showing my dad and my aunt a world outside of Landenberg, Pennsylvania. They went all over the United States. My aunt believes they visited 46 states.
When my dad was 10, my grandfather George Carlson Sr. died of stomach cancer. He was behind the video camera most of time.
After his death, at some point my grandmother started showing symptoms of Huntington’s Disease. My dad dropped out of high school to take care of his mom when he was 17. She passed away from complications when my dad was 18-19 years old.
Dad grew up loving the drums. He played in a 80’s band called Black Thorn Dragon.
He wanted to be a rockstar and definitely looked the part. I remember him telling me stories of him playing live music until 1:00 am and then waking up at 4:30 am to go to work as a heavy machine operator. He even told me that at some point during his music career, the radio station WMMR interviewed his band!
My dad truly loves being a father to 6 kids. I remember always feeling supported with any direction that any of us kids wanted to go in life.
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disorder that causes brain cells, called neurons, to die in various areas of the brain, including those that help to control voluntary (intentional) movement. Symptoms of the disease, which gets progressively worse, include uncontrolled movements (called chorea), abnormal body postures, and changes in behavior, emotion, judgment, and cognition. People with HD also develop impaired coordination, slurred speech, and difficulty feeding and swallowing. HD typically begins between ages 30 and 50. An earlier onset form called juvenile HD occurs under age 20. Its symptoms differ somewhat from adult onset HD and include rigidity, slowness, difficulty at school, rapid involuntary muscle jerks called myoclonus, and seizures. More than 30,000 Americans have HD.
Huntington’s disease is caused by a mutation in the gene for a protein called huntingtin. The defect causes the cytosine, adenine, and guanine (CAG) building blocks of DNA to repeat many more times than is normal. Each child of a parent with HD has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the HD gene. A child who does not inherit the HD gene will not develop the disease and generally cannot pass it to subsequent generations. A person who inherits the HD gene will eventually develop the disease. HD is generally diagnosed based on a genetic test, medical history, brain imaging, and neurological and laboratory tests.
-90% of funds will respectfully go to fixing my parents home. It is very old and needs a lot of work. My goal is to make the home more accessible and live-able for my dad.
-10% of funds will be donated to Penn Huntington’s Disease Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
Please donate if you can!
On July 17th/18th 2021, I will be running a Toughest Mudder. My goal is to run 40 miles during the event. The event runs from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am. This is how I will raise awareness for Huntington’s Disease.
You can find the event details by following the link below.
https://toughmudder.com/weekends/toughest-mudder-poconos/
I know it is a hard time right now for a lot of people. If you cannot donate to this cause, please consider leaving an encouraging comment to show support for my dad.
If you want to donate to the Penn Huntington’s Disease Center, please click the link below.
https://www.med.upenn.edu/pennhdcenter/support-us.html
To Learn more about Huntington’s Disease, please click the link below.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/specialty_areas/huntingtons_disease/
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for watching and reading about my dad!
- Dan
