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ALS Care for Karen

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On August 21, 2017, Karen Pless was diagnoised with Amyotrophic Lateral Scleros, or Lou Gehrig's disease. She is a single mother to three children, ages 33, 25, and 17. She is also a proud MiMi of a 4 year old and a 14 month old. 

She has served as Civilian for the United States Department of Defense for 38 years. This untimely diagnosis transpired at the end of her career, devastating her retirement planning.  The unexpected arrival of the disease removes any ability to financially prepare for the endeavors. 

ALS is a nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. In this disease, nerve cells break down, which reduces functionality in the muscles they supply.  

As ALS progresses, patients experience muscle loss and atrophy, eventually taking away the ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow, and breathe and shortening the life span. 

In due time, the patient will  have a significant decrease in health, which demands very attentive care from loved ones. 

The cause is unknown. Medication and therapy can slow ALS and reduce discomfort, but to this day there is no cure. 

According to the ALS Association webiste, "Half of all people affected with ALS live at least three or more years after diagnosis. Twenty percent live five years or more; up to ten percent will live more than ten years.

There is some evidence that people with ALS are living longer, at least partially due to clinical management interventions, riluzole and possibly other compounds and drugs under investigation."

This campaign has been launched to ease the financial burden that Karen and her loving family will have to endure in the near future. Donations will be directed towards the needed home modifications, medical equipment,  potential treatments, etc. 

Although ALS is  quite the rare disease, it has left many families in extremely dreadful and difficult situations.  Due to its rarity, research funds have not been extensive until the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge gained notoriety. The intentions of this campaign are not simply to ease the burden on Karen's family,  but to further spread awareness for the disease. 

#Care4Karen

More information can be found at the below website:

http://www.alsa.org/about-als/facts-you-should-know.html

https://alsnewstoday.com/social-clips/2016/10/12/seven-als-facts-you-should-know-about/
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Logan Davies
Organizer
Warner Robins, GA
Kellie Pless
Beneficiary

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