Sowards Family ALS Fund
Donation protected
Hello to everyone, friends, family, and others I have not had the opportunity to meet. My name is Evan Sowards, the son of Vincent Sowards.
I am starting this fundraiser for my Father, because he was diagnosed in April 2015 for 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 demise. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. The motor nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle control. Examples of voluntary movements are making the effort to reach for a smart phone or step off a curb. These actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.
This started many years ago, we believe with what doctors were telling my father was benign fasciculation syndrome. Thinking not too much about it, about a year ago his benign twitching started to affect his arms and entire upper body with constant 24/7 twitching. Still no doctor would give him any other diagnosis besides benign fasciculation. About 6 months ago it started affecting his speech slurring his words. At this point there was no denying it and he recieved a final diagnosis for ALS. It is still progressing to the point where now he has a difficult time even pushing the lock or unlock button on the key fob for his vehicle, and has difficulty eating and swallowing. He can still get around and mow the grass on the riding lawn mower, but we do not know what will be coming next.......
I never ever would have thought our family would find ourselves in this situation. For those who wish to donate to this fund for monetary assistance you may do so. The money will be going towards medical bills, equipment, house modifications to fit his needs to make him as comfortable as possible during his progression. We will use the donations also to clean up his environment to help slow down the progression such as food/diet, high quaility advanced water and air filtration systems to aleviate any extra stress on his body.
This truly has been difficult for our family and is not the only thing we are dealing with at the moment. Any assistance that can be gifted would mean the world to us. My father is my idol and best friend....Thank you...
I am starting this fundraiser for my Father, because he was diagnosed in April 2015 for 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 demise. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. The motor nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle control. Examples of voluntary movements are making the effort to reach for a smart phone or step off a curb. These actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.
This started many years ago, we believe with what doctors were telling my father was benign fasciculation syndrome. Thinking not too much about it, about a year ago his benign twitching started to affect his arms and entire upper body with constant 24/7 twitching. Still no doctor would give him any other diagnosis besides benign fasciculation. About 6 months ago it started affecting his speech slurring his words. At this point there was no denying it and he recieved a final diagnosis for ALS. It is still progressing to the point where now he has a difficult time even pushing the lock or unlock button on the key fob for his vehicle, and has difficulty eating and swallowing. He can still get around and mow the grass on the riding lawn mower, but we do not know what will be coming next.......
I never ever would have thought our family would find ourselves in this situation. For those who wish to donate to this fund for monetary assistance you may do so. The money will be going towards medical bills, equipment, house modifications to fit his needs to make him as comfortable as possible during his progression. We will use the donations also to clean up his environment to help slow down the progression such as food/diet, high quaility advanced water and air filtration systems to aleviate any extra stress on his body.
This truly has been difficult for our family and is not the only thing we are dealing with at the moment. Any assistance that can be gifted would mean the world to us. My father is my idol and best friend....Thank you...
Organizer
Evan Sowards
Organizer
Belpre, OH