When a person is diagnosed with a life changing condition, he or she may experience a stage of intense grief. One diagnosis which may bring on this type of reaction is ALS. As this illness eventually leads to a person's death, it can be very difficult to accept, as one man who was diagnosed with ALS two years ago probably remembers.
This man was diagnosed with a severe form of the disease. Only two years after his diagnosis, he can no longer talk, swallow, or move his limbs or fingers. In addition, he relies on an eye tracking device to communicate through a special computer.
However, even though he cannot move his body, his brain is still active. This man enjoyed being a DJ for many years. To enable him to enjoy this hobby again, his friends created a disc jockey station that can be controlled by his eye movements. This past New Year's Eve, he used the special device to DJ a party.
Though this man can use eye tracking technology to communicate and now to DJ, ALS has taken many abilities away from him. Knowing that one's ability to perform all sorts of tasks will be lost one by one may be devastating for many. If this man had not been diagnosed with ALS, he would most likely still be working as a software designer.
As his ALS progressed, he lost his ability to work and now requires extensive amounts of care. If this man's wife also cannot work because she is acting as a caretaker, the family may face even more difficulty covering medical expenses and lost wages. For some people dealing with a serious illness, disability insurance for illnesses may be very beneficial and make it easier to handle finances during and after this type of diagnosis.
Source: KARE, "ALS patient uses his eyes to DJ New Year's Eve," Boyd Huppert, Jan. 2, 2013
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