James Clingman lives in Easley, South Carolina, with his wife Sylvia. He developed ALS symptoms in 2009 and was diagnosed on August 23, 2013. Although he is in the later stages of this disease, his goal remains to expand awareness and knowledge of all facets of ALS as well as other lesser-known diseases. He wants to encourage everyone to acknowledge the blessing of life no matter what hand they are dealt. He is also a former adjunct professor, author, business consultant and has a daughter, Kiah, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Have you ever tried to assemble something or repair something only to finally give up and seek help? Such episodes were among my greatest frustrations before I was stricken with ALS. In retrospect, they feel like mere child’s…
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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…
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…
“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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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