SCI/TECH: Doctor Diagnosed With Disease He Fought, page 1

posted on Feb, 5 2005 @ 03:00 AM

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Dr. Richard Olney diagnosed himself recently with a debilitating and fatal disease. He was well qualified to do so. He had dedicated his life to treating those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, "Lou Gehrig's disease." He now is a subject in drug trials on drugs known to slow the disease and dedicates his time to raising consciousness about the disease.

www.comcast.net
The shocking self-diagnosis dawned slowly but inevitably on Dr. Richard Olney, a top neurologist who dedicated his career to helping those afflicted with the fatal "Lou Gehrig's disease."

Three surgeries to relieve a compressed disk in his back didn't solve the weakness that started in his right knee and spread to both legs. When his arms started to fail, he knew he was in the grips of a neurological disorder. Then his worst fears were realized: He had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

"I expected to live into my 80s like my parents did," said Olney, struggling to get his words out through an amplifier resting on his lap in his motorized wheelchair at the University of California, San Francisco. "But I've done more in my 56 years than most people have done in their whole life. I can't complain too much."

Olney resigned last year as head of the university's renowned ALS center, which he'd founded in 1993, turning it over to his protege Dr. Cathy Lomen-Hoerth. But he's not giving up his struggle against the disease, which mystifies experts today as much as it did when New York Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig died of it in 1941.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Sometimes the irony of life is very hard to bear, but courage is always born of hardship of the worst kind. The doctor was known for the hours of cousnelling he gave to victims and families and now his understanding is greater than it could have ever been otherwise. Stephen Hawking's own mother said that her son would probably have never risen in his field as he has had if he not been confined to a wheelchair. Opportunities to do our best work often comes in strange disguises.

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[edit on 05/2/5 by GradyPhilpott]

[edit on 5-2-2005 by Banshee]

spacedoubt

posted on Feb, 5 2005 @ 04:00 AM

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That is a sad turn of events.
After I read this, I went to the ALS
website, and read a bit about this disease.
www.alsa.org...

There is no proven cause.
But this story makes me wonder.
Could this man have been infected?
Something with a low rate of infection, not easily
transmitted. Like the Mad cow Prion.
It's a bit similar in the way it slowly wastes
away targeted body cells.

WyrdeOne

posted on Feb, 5 2005 @ 05:38 AM

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I wonder how commonly doctors are afflicted with the illnesses they specialize in. I know of one other case, a friend of mine named Teddy contracted Lime Disease around the time he was considered by some to be the worlds foremost authority on the subject. Pretty strange, but I wonder how often this actually occurs. Any other members with similar stories?

soficrow

posted on Feb, 5 2005 @ 01:05 PM

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Originally posted by spacedoubt

There is no proven cause.
But this story makes me wonder.
Could this man have been infected?
Something with a low rate of infection, not easily
transmitted. Like the Mad cow Prion.
It's a bit similar in the way it slowly wastes
away targeted body cells.

Very astute observation, spacedoubt. My thoughts exactly, and ALS is linked to "misfolded proteins", which is just 'code' for prions.

.