The Woody Family Needs Your Help Fighting ALS

10/12/24 Update: This beautiful family still needs your help! Lamar has been in the hospital for a week now with complications from ALS. Kristina hasn't been able to work for a year as she has been Lamar's full-time caregiver. Lamar is in school full time at Auburn University, and they have no income. We humbly ask you to consider donating and sharing this GoFundMe to help with the mounting medical bills and daily living expenses. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

From October 2023:

It’s true, there are friends in life that become family. When a member of your family needs you, you don’t hesitate to step up and help in every way you can. Lamar, Kristina and Natalie are our family and Lamar is facing one of the toughest fights of his life with ALS.

The cause of ALS is unknown and the main symptom is muscle loss and weakness. Medication and therapy can slow ALS, but there is no cure. Gradually all voluntary muscles are affected, and individuals lose their strength and the ability to speak, eat, move, and even breathe. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from when the symptoms first appear.

Lamar's symptoms of ALS started in 2016. He hasn't been able to work since 2019. The disease and muscle loss have progressed rapidly in recent months. He has been to the Emergency Room three times in the last three weeks and is gradually losing his strength and ability to speak, eat, and move. He is often confined to his wheelchair and is in need of full time care. This beautiful family is in dire need of our help.

Together we are hoping to raise money for Lamar and his family so that they can seek the treatment, medical equipment, and full-time care he so desperately needs. Here is his story. Please consider praying and donating to help the Woodys with this fight.

Here is a personal note from Lamar:

ALS adversely affects every muscle group. The abrupt lifestyle adjustments that must be made to offset the debilitating symptoms affect not only patients but everyone within that patient's circle. Having a true support system creates an atmosphere of hope; even in the midst of the unwarranted storm.

Just the other day, my wife Kristina was on her way to work. She felt uneasy so she turned around whilst on her commute. She's a traveling RN (HER DESIRE is to be here with Natalie and I more to enjoy the time we've been given together as a family and to create moments filled with joy). But when she got back home, there I was sure enough... severely weak, malnourished due to swallowing inability, dehydrated and barely responsive. I was on my way to expiring. She got me together, got me up and got me to the ER. They did the best that they could. Then I had to re-enter society and continue doing the best that I could. I tell this short story to remind us all that every breath matters. I understand that I have this disease, but it does not define my character nor the characters of my wife and daughter.

This was one incident that took place on one night in the life of one family fighting this disease. So my wife is the real MVP. Her entire life consists of working with no break. She does not give up. She is the queen of keen adaptation. It has really been my wife alongside of me who has stared down the barrel of this relentless "smoking atom bomb barrel" with the mindset that we will not let this win and conquer without a fight.

The average cost of living with this disease is 130k-200k per year with insurance and disability! At this point, we have utilized all of our own resources and provisions and often have to decline treatment because we do not have the funds. This is the last thing we wanted to do, but this is the reality that we are facing now.

As a nurse, Kristina goes into the hospital every day to take care of others but hasn't been able to care for her own family at home. My one desire is for Kristina to stay home from work until January while I recover from malnutrition. I need her to be my full-time caretaker at this time and we need your help for this to happen.

#helpusfightALS