The purpose and intent of this blog is to hopefully provide information for those that do not have it, as well as a means to help connect people that may have resources that can help Dustin and the entire Myers family.
Without giving out too much personal information of Dustin's, I will try to give the bare essentials as to how we got here to begin with.
Dustin has always excelled in athletics. Whether he was playing baseball and football in high school, or pick-up basketball, ultimate frisbee, mini-golf, and flag-football later on. Dustin has generally always been one of the best, and without question the most competitive.
A little over one year ago, however Dustin started experiencing weakness in his left arm. After many trips to different doctors, the arm never regained any strength. Throughout the next year, Dustin went about life pretty much as normal as possible. Driving, typing, mini-golf, even tying a tie.
Unless Dustin told you about what was going on with his arm, you wouldn't have had any idea. He was beyond good at hiding any sort of impairment he might have had.
Dustin began an IV treatment on his arm that, if it went well, would restore the strength back into his arm. The treatment was not guaranteed to work, but was obviously something worth trying.
Shortly after the treatment Dustin began experiencing shortness of breath, as well as some weakness in his back, as well as leg. One of the side effects of the treatment was exhaustion, so that is all we figured it was. Dustin probably should have been wearing a sling around his right arm, so we figured that was what was starting to cause the weakness in his back.
Dustin even went to the doctor's and found out he had bronchitis, so once again, we figured that's where the shortness of breath was coming from. A few days later, Dustin was having trouble breathing, so erring on the side of caution, he spent two days in the hospital.
When he came back, Dustin was rejuvenated, was no longer as tired as he had been, and not struggling for breath anymore. He was still experiencing the weakness in his muscles, and Dustin had two other doctor's appointments.
Within this past month, Dustin was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease is a progressive motor neuron disease that is caused by the degeneration of nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. Generally the youngest people age people are diagnosed with ALS is in their mid 30's. Dustin is 26.
Please visit www.alsa.org for more information concerning ALS.
Throughout this entire time, Dustin has remained incredibly positive. When ALS was even brought up as a possibility, Dustin truly had an optimistic view of the whole situation. At first, Dustin would say things like "I can live my life with one arm, things could be worse". Then throughout the treatment, it was "when i get better, i'll get back to kicking your ass at football". Even after the diagnosis, Dustin still is optimistic, and positive. He is constantly talking about beating this, and still, that things could be worse. He keeps stating how blessed he feels to have the family that he does, the friends, his faith.
Being around the kid, truly makes you feel great that you know him. Facing everything that he is facing, he still continues to inspire those around him, and be the same guy that everyone has come to know and love.
The only positive thing about ALS, is that it does not effect the mind. Dustin is still the same guy. He is still a witty, humorous, and sarcastic guy. He will still listen to your problems, and give you advice. He'll even still get on your nerves and make you mad. The only thing that has really changed is what he is limited to do physically.
The strength that he has lost in his muscles, has not been lost in his heart and mind by any means. He plans on fighting ALS with everything he has, and will need all the support he can get.
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