The Generational Impact of ALS: The Importance of Advance Planning

Written by: Laura Taxel

Brandy Gleason’s mother, Nannette Livingston, passed away in 2019 at 56. The cause of death was ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The same disease took Brandy’s grandmother and great-grandfather. Often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease in memory of the famous New York Yankees baseball player whose career it ended in 1939, ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that starts with muscle weakness and leads to loss of all motor function and ultimately complete paralysis. It is always fatal.

Commentary: Medical aid in dying is for preventing a drawn-out death

White man with blonde hair and glasses in a black suit and tie.

The Plain Dealer, January 23, 2022, Forum, E6 George F. Will The Washington Post January 21, 2022 Although Amanda Villegas’s manual dexterity is hindered by her mild case of cerebral palsy, she is a gifted photographer who documented the last five days of her husband’s life with bladder cancer that metastasized. She has posted the […]