Today's Hero: Tammy Brown

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Hello! It's November 22nd, and a reportedly chilly day out on the A.T. We would like to introduce you to our Hero today, Tammy Brown. We thank her for allowing us the glimpse into her day-to-day experience living with ALS, as well as a sense of how this has re-fashioned her way of thinking and approaching relationships. In learning of Tammy's story, we also learn of a family full of heroes, putting in great effort to support the community dealing with ALS, and one-another. We thank you Tammy and the entire Brown Family - for offering your story and inspiring so many of those (so many of us!) in your orbit. Have a wonderful day today, and be Well,  *Team 2175 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Life changes with ALS | By Tammy Brown    In 1990, at the age of 18, I married the love of my life, Scott.  That same year I started working for Wal-Mart.  I wanted to move up with the company so in order to do that we had to go where the company wanted us to go.  We moved several times the first five years we were married.  I went into management for Wal-Mart running the automotive center in several different stores.  After five years of marriage, we decided to start a family.  My daughter Lauren was born in 1995 and is 11 years old.  My son Logan was born in 1998 and is eight years old now.  My career started growing and I was promoted to a district manager over 11 to 13 stores across the state.  I would travel and stay away from home a lot.  I was on what they called, 'the fast track' so I did a lot of special projects like planning the year in meetings, special videos, training meetings and traveling to several other states to help train management.  While I was in Florida doing a video in January of 2004, I called home to talk to my family.  I did not realize I was away from home so much, but when my son asked me to come home to visit - it hit me.  He said that I visit all my stores but I don't visit home.  That was a wakeup call for me and I applied for a position as a co-manager in the Batesville Wal-Mart so I could be home every night.  I received a phone call saying I got the position and started in May 2004.  That same month is when I twisted my foot and started having problems walking.  Here I thought I had broken my foot but I would not go to the doctor.  I started getting a lot of comments about how I was limping and walking funny.  In July of that year I finally went to the doctor for my foot and they treated me for several different things.  In October I was sent to a local neurologist who did some testing and told me I had a brain tumor, MS, or this disease they don't know anything about.  I first thought that the brain tumor was the worst but boy was I wrong.  I was then sent to the MDA/ALS clinic at UAMS in Little Rock to see Dr. Rudnicki.  I did not expect to hear what they had to say, but on December 13, 2004, I was told I had ALS,  Lou Gerhigs disease. Amnyotrophic Lateral Scholosis is a terminal  disease that takes all your muscle control from you. Life expectancy from diagnoses is 2 to 5 years. It was a week before Christmas and how do you tell two young children that their mom has a terminal illness.  I was trying to wait until after Christmas to tell them but my daughter was told on the school bus that I was going to die.  One of her friends overheard her parents talking about what the disease does to you.  That was not the way I wanted to tell my children that at least it was out in the open.  At that point I decided when it comes time to sit in a wheelchair I will not go to work any longer.  I guess I got to feeling sorry for myself when I said that.  My life was changing quickly and I couldn't stop it.  The Associates that I worked with at Wal-Mart were wonderful.  I had a lot of help doing things that I can no longer do.  In April of 2005 it was time for the wheelchair, I know I said I would never go to work in one but I was not ready to give in.  At first it was really hard because people expected me to walk and do the things I use to do.  A lot of people did not understand what the disease was, that is why I decided to educate people about ALS.  The first thing I started doing was writing articles for the paper explaining what my family and I were going through.  I then decided that we needed to get involved in the advocacy work and fundraising to help find a cure.  Every month or so, we would have a new article in the paper about a fundraiser that we were doing.  My family and I went to Washington DC to Capitol Hill in May 2006 to advocate for ALS.  We have been involved in stride and ride, the local lock in, and fire men fill the boot for MDA.  We have started a loaner closet in our home for local patients. We donated a scooter chair to Batesville Junior  High School for a young man so that he would be able to attend regular classes . We have also done other fundraisers and walkathons for other ALS organizations.  My family and I were chosen by MDA and Jerry Lewis to be Arkansas' 2007 Personal Achievement Award and appear on the local MDA Telethon hosted in Little Rock on Labor Day weekend . This was the second year we helped with the phones at the telethon.  I continued working for about a year in a wheelchair but I decided it was time that I needed to leave work.  I went from being a very independent career-woman to been totally dependent on others within two years of diagnosis. My husband's parents stay with us while Scott is working on the weekends since I'm not able to be by myself.  We do not know what we would do without their help. We are needing to make room for his parents to move in completely due to my level of care increasing.   I'm no longer able to walk or use my arms and hands, I am paralyzed from the neck down.  Just recently I had  feeding  tube put in my stomach due to the swallowing issues associated with the disease. One thing I am very thankful about is that the disease did not take my speech when I was first diagnosed . I have a communication device that I used to record my voice so my children can still hear me and not just the computer generated voice. I use a head mouse to type and communicate with others so that I still feel like I am a part of my family's lives.My children have to help me get out of bed in the morning.  It's very hard on the changes that they've had to make.  They have to grow up very fast when dealing with this disease.  They ask me at times what is going to happen… are you going to die they ask?  I tell them that it is God's hands and that we are strong and will get through it.  Since the diagnosis I have discovered that God does have a plan for my family and me.  We have been to several churches to give our testimony and story.  It has made us a stronger family and we make the best out of each day.  I would tell you that there is some good that has come out of having ALS; I realized that there is life outside of work.  I realized that my family is a lot more important than my job.  We have had to make a lot of accommodations to be able to live ALS.  I was not able to get around in our home due to the doorways and steps since I am in a wheelchair.  We have had to remodel and add a bathroom which is handicapped-accessible.   There are still a lot of things that need to be done to help make everyday living easier. My breathing is getting a lot worse and it has to deal with all the stuff in the air. I can smell every little thing and I get where I can not breathe.  We have had a lot of expenses that we would not have had if it was not for the disease.  With my income being cut in half since I left work, it is so hard to get the things that you need.  I had to have a ceiling lift so I could have help going to the bathroom.  We had to sell my car and get a handicapped van so I would be able to get out of the house some.  We have had some assistance from MDA and the ALS Association to get a few things that we needed and to help with medical bills.  Our community has helped us so much by always being there for us.  Our goal as a family is to continue to fight this disease together with a positive attitude that there will be a cure soon and live one day at a time.   Tammy Brown age 36 , diagnosed at 32.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team 2175 for ALS invites you to donate $1 today! Funds go to the DC/VA/MD Chapter of the ALS Association -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------