IceBucket The Blue Sky

The #ALSIceBucketChallenge has been nothing short of a miracle for patients and researchers. Internet memes are rather capricious, having a nearly random hit/miss ratio. That this became so huge is a stroke of incredible luck. The awareness, and resulting increase in donations, has been a huge windfall. This surge couldn't have come at a better time as researchers now have exquisite investigational tools not available even 5 years ago.

There is then the begged question, "Why did it take a patient and a tractor trailer full of luck to bring awareness to the public?" For decades there have been organizations claiming to represent ALS patients. Yet never has there been a sustained national awareness project executed. Patients were left largely on their own to create awareness. This is a question to which we as patients should demand an answer.

Nevertheless, the windfall is upon us. I believe that this boost in funding should be used to create a critical mass of awareness and outreach. As stated, Internet memes are capricious and subject to fading from the public memory with all the speed and ferocity with which it entered. This is the perfect time to keep the message sustained in the public view. Certainly the money to do so is now available.

Another question the ALS patient community should be asking is how much of the massively increased donations are going to be actually used for research, and in what programs. Some donations are going directly to research facilities but the bulk of them are not. Is that bulk to be hoarded and doled out in tiny slices and without focus to a wide variety of basic research projects, never giving any sufficient amounts to fully complete the work? Or will a significant effort be launched which will fund focused work on high-value pathways, including helping fund clinical trials in humans (there are a few promising treatments languishing for lack of funding to pay clinics to conduct Phase 2-3 trials).

This is the time for organizations representing the ALS patient community to step up. The shelf-life of popular public awareness is notoriously short. We need to take this opportunity to create a program of sustained awareness and lobbying for research funding, along with a focused research effort encompassing basic research through to human trials. It is also the time for all research and advocacy organizations to come together as a united front in order to make ALS nothing more than an unpleasant memory.

Outta Tsai't!

I would like to give a little blog-love to my [Facebook] friend and a fantastic artist Francis Tsai. I came to know him through the ALS community and very soon became a fan of his art. When I learned he was selling prints online to help finance his care, I purchased a couple.

The first one I purchased was one he did prior to onset called "Trixie":

This was a gift to a friend who collects pin-ups. My next purchase was a much more recent one called "Horned", which sports Francis' motto "Adapt - Survive - Prevail":

The thing I really enjoy about "Horned" is that it completely (and very literally) illustrates Francis' motto. Not content with just fading away, he got a computer and some software and created it using only his eyes!

Francis truly exemplifies the willpower of PALS and the clever use of technology to overcome the physical limitations which come with advanced ALS. A person is the result of his/her mind, NOT the physical body. With a little willpower and some appropriate technology, PALS retain purpose and personal productivity and quality of life remains high.

Surf on over to Francis' DeviantArt and StorEnvy sites (linked in the images above) and check out his art. While you're there, purchase a couple of prints. The money goes to a worthy cause and they make great gifts!

PSAwesome

On Monday of last week, this excellent PSA was released by Team Gleason. It was shown on the big screens inside the Superdome but needs to be shown repeatedly on major network television (ie ABC/CBS/NBC). Please watch, share with friends, and send to your local network television stations. This is the kind of message that needs to get in front of the eyeballs of America. This is the celebrity action we have been asking for. Now let's do our part in getting it out there.

Advocate

Autism, Breast Cancer, Parkinson's, etc. all have internationally-recognized A-List celebrities advocating for them. As a consequence they have high public profiles with commensurate research funding levels. It is time that ALS joined the club. Hugh Laurie (Dr. House, among many other roles) would be a perfect spokesman for ALS because he has personal knowledge of its effects. If Betty White can be "drafted" to host Saturday Night Live by a Facebook page, perhaps Hugh Laurie can be drafted to be a spokesman for ALS.