OutSpoken - a Column by James Clingman

When baseball legend Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with ALS in 1939, unfortunately, not much about the disease was being discussed at the time. Instead, Gehrig’s career and baseball prowess dominated the news and public discourse. His larger-than-life persona was well deserved, but his illness was also larger than…

What are your plans for this year? What are they for next month? Will you do something you have always wanted to do? Will you do anything different from your usual way of life? After all, it is yet another new year and we want to have a happy…

Note: This column includes a mention of suicide. The most powerful force within people is the impulse to stay alive. Our survival instinct is so strong that we’re willing and inexplicably able to perform inhuman feats and take unimaginable risks. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, survival is the foundation…

“I don’t know what that is.” “I don’t know how to use that.” These are a couple of the statements that ALS patients do not want to hear when a medical professional walks into the room. As a matter of fact, no patient wants to hear them. Having spent…

Have you ever thought about what a single breath means to you? What you can do in one breath? What you can say with one breath? What or whom you can see during one breath? We who suffer from respiratory problems give considerable thought to these questions. On three occasions…

“Find the victory in this.” For nearly three decades, I’ve carried these five provocative words in my mind. Like my life, their meaning to me has evolved over time. I first heard them spoken at the funeral of a young woman, and the comment was directed to her 15-year-old son,…

Just when we think life has dealt us the worst hand possible, along comes someone whose circumstances make ours look a little less daunting. I’ve experienced that feeling a few times in a support group I attend and when online. But one of the most difficult hands I’ve seen in…

I contend that most people diagnosed with physically debilitating illnesses later in life previously had a favorite activity that consumed much of their time. Cycling was that for me. My cycling life ended nine years ago, and even then, I reluctantly stopped because of my inability to unlock my…

Often, as we discuss the ravages of disease, we give short shrift to one of the most vital aspects of debilitating illnesses like ALS. We offer our sympathy, prayers, money, remedies, and sentiments, which are all very positive and appreciated. What’s missing, though? A little imagination and a broader…

I was an avid cyclist in the warm months, and in the winter months in Cincinnati, I was a league bowler. But in late 2009, I started falling as I released my bowling ball, which turned out to be because of weakness in my left leg. After seeing an orthopedic…