Help Jacob Fight ALS #GlasowStrong

My name is Jacob Glasow.  I am a 36 year old, father of 5 amazing children (ages 13, 10, 8, 7 & 3) and married to the love of my life, Sheena.  On July 12th, 2018... my wife and I received news that turned our lives upside down...  the life altering diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  ALS is a horrible disease, robbing its victims of the ability to walk, dress themselves, talk, swallow, and ultimately breathe. All while leaving the mind perfectly intact. Already, I’ve seen changes in my speech, I have twitching in my arm and leg muscles & am losing strength in my left hand and most recently, my smile has changed.   ALS has no cure and no effective treatment. The average lifespan from diagnosis is three to five years. I’m not sure what my journey will bring because every individual’s experience with ALS is different, meaning there are a lot of unknowns for me and my family. What I do know is that we're focused on doing everything we can to fight this disease and delay its progression into the more debilitating stages for as long as possible. As difficult and devastating as this diagnosis is, we remain positive and hopeful that through faith, hope & love, we will make it through this journey. A little about me: I’m an outdoors enthusiast and enjoy many activities like fishing (both open water and ice), hunting of all kinds & I especially love spending time with my family.   I am an easy-going, fun-loving guy who just enjoys the simple things in life... A cold beer, a steak on the grill hanging on the front porch with my family, watching my kids play in the yard, a bonfire with friends...    One of my biggest fears on this journey is that my family will face extraordinary medical and incidental expenses. ALS treatment is not completely covered by insurance and estimates for medical costs alone range from $200,000-$300,000 EACH YEAR, covering ventilation, feeding tubes and in-home care. Additional large expenses may include modifying ones home for greater accessibility, wheelchairs, lifts, a specialized van, long-term clinical trials, aides/in-home nursing and technological devices to offset muscle paralysis. No one knows how long my fight will last, but I’m determined to  battle longer than the average person, and I plan to be in the 10% of statistics that are here for another 10+ years. Unfortunately, this could leave a tremendous financial burden on my family & I cannot bear the thought of that. My wife, Sheena - who is a stay at home mom, and I have dedicated our lives to raising our  5 children and love our small, tight community in Reedsville, WI.  We are the average small-town family... our kids love playing outside and adventuring, riding their bikes, making forts in the yard and on the normal weeknight, you'll find us attending their baseball/softball games and sporting events in our community.  Outside of my full time job at Miron Construction, I also serve as a volunteer firefighter for the last 12 years for the Village of Reedsville.   For those of you who are able to donate and help us face this growing mountain of expenses, we are deeply grateful. Your contributions are helping me to face this sad and difficult disease with dignity and pride. With Love,  The Glasow Family  (Jacob, Sheena, Mya, Ella, Grady, Hunter & Knox) A message from Jacob's wife, Sheena: We do not know exactly what our future holds but we REFUSE TO GIVE UP HOPE... he is strong...he has so much to fight for... so many people standing behind him... and we will exhaust all efforts to do whatever it takes to keep him strong and fighting! The kids do know what's going on and know that we are going to fight as a family, pray and keep hope to keep Daddy here for as long as we possibly can. We know we will need to lean on friends and family (which is definitely not a skill of mine) through this journey and we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.  We want to enjoy each day as much as we can, make amazing memories... and make the most of times with our 5 beautiful children, friends and family.  Your donations will help us to do just that...while making it possible for Jacob to explore all options to FIGHT to be here as long as possible.   Your support, love, prayers, conversation and help is always welcome & appreciated...  #GlasowStrong