Hey guys I just wanted to post a pretty inspiring couple of vids on here if that's ok.

As many of you know, mu mum passed 18 months ago of MND, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease across the Atlantic - of which Jason Becker also suffers, and you guys on here saw me through some difficult times fter she died and I am forever grateful.

It has taken me this long to really start dealing with what this horrific condition does and I am thinking of becoming involved in raising awareness of the disease.

It is actually so rare that, over here, there are less than 400 sufferers in Scotland with little or no support from the government as it is not well enough known about to even qualify those diagnosed for assistance of any type without a fight from welfare officers and doctors.

THere are two small charities in the UK that specialise in raising awareness and funds, MNDScotland and their 'big brother' the MND Association.
It is the MNDA I want to shove down your throats here.......

THey have a campaign at the moment called 'AListair the Optimist' http://alistairtheoptimist.org/

THis campaign centres around a guy who suffers from MND called AListair, funnily enough.....

AListair has been a drummer for years and he decided he wanted to record a single fr the charity before he wasn't able to play anymore. AMazingly, he has managed with help from musicians all over the world to record an album and I am posting a couple of the vids here now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bqbnU5lPP_Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzVtUdLfvx8&feature=player_embedded

THere is also a video with a brief interview with him explaining the songs on the album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz6v3lcHgVw&feature=player_embedded

HAve a watch and a listen. I know you guys are compassionate on here from my experience an you are musicians too so give it a go.

If this is against forum rules.......I apologise profusely and don't shout at me, just ask nicely and I will remove the post......

I kind of thought that I might get away with it as there is a Fender resonator used in the interview video.........

CHeers guys and gals

Your hairy, cheeky Fender clansman

Evan

_________________
speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

Bit lost for words mate.

Keep on keepin on eh.

_________________
No no and no

Nobody would have the cheek. This is entirely in the spirit of the Forum.

When I was 19 my best friend and mentor died of MND. With some it takes a long, long time; with him it was very fast.

You have my warm support, Evan. More power to your elbow - and that of Alistair the Optimist.

Respect - C

_________________

Keep on raising the issue. Let it be an epitaph of sorts for your mum, so that losing her has some positive meaning at least..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

I don't know about the rest of the boys and girls on this forum. I certainly don't object to your post. I'm saddened to here of the loss of your Mother, that has to be a tough one to deal with. The "Alistair the Optimist" thing is certainly a worth while project. It should have quite an impact when the word gets out. I'm surprised to learn that the UK hasn't some sort of foundation set up for dealing with such things.
----Danny,

Hey guys cheers for the comments.

ANd I mean it. It was the fallout after Mum died when I joined here and the hours/nights/days I spent on here chewing the fat got me through some dark times.

I am doing a lot better now and feel I can start dealing with stuff again which is why I started looking into it all again.

Danny, you wouldn't believe what the UK doesn't do for this condition.....

In the States, MND is grouped together with MS, Parkinsons etc and dealt with by the same charities. We have one charity here that does the same but ids small and MS and Parkinsons have quite a large 'presence' charity-wise as there are treatments that can be successful to a point and are recognised.

Here's the nightmare with MND/ALS...............

Whenever someone is diagnosed with a 'big, bad' disease ie cancer, HIV, Parkinsons and countless others there is, over here, a sort of 'game plan'. THere is a formula type thing regarding medical treatment, occupational health, social services so when the diagnosis is made, tests done, prognosis given then all the different 'agencies' involved have a set system that they can follow. Motor Neurone DIsease does not. You are never actually given a formal, complete final diagnosis until you display the more severe symptoms of the various different types of the disease. Because of this, you have to go through welfare offices linked with the charities to fight for disability benefits.

My Mum had a hip-replacement in 2009 and she seemed to be struggling with recovery. SHe went for various tests but only when a neurologist mentioned motor disability a neorological issues did SHE actually ask, 'Are we talking MND?' the doctor said, 'Probably'............. FRom that moment to her death was 12 months............
SHe spent 6 of those months in her 2nd floor flat..................we had to fight for disability benefit because the civil servant(with no medical training) who received her application hadn't heard of MND(sounds ludicrous but is VERY common over here with many complicated illnesses), could not get free care for the elderly because, although she took retirement (as was very much her entitlement as a woman) at the age of 60.....now get this.......she was not classed as a pensioner until 65 so had to pay for extra care so I gave up work and cared solely for her until she had no choice but to go into residential care. The re-housing scheme for illness in Aberdeen (and most of the UK I believe) does not take into account how an illness will progress, just how you are when you apply......when we put in her application fr local government very sheltered housing she was still able to walk small distances so they said no and to reapply in 3 months........3 months later she could not sit up by herself, fill out an application or even eat unaided but we had to go through the formalities still and she was told there was no husing scheme that could cope with her disabilities and we had to go straight to residential/paliative housing..........she spent the last three weeks of her life in a hospital chronic chest ward as her diahphragm had stopped working because the specialist home in ABerdeen for neurological disorders had had its funding cut and only 12 rooms of this state of the art, 42 room facility were being used part-time with a skeleton staff..............in a chronic chest ward, you get 2 hours visitation in the afternoon and 2 hours in the evening with a maximum of 2 people to a bed.........I couldn't even take my sister, my wife and my daughters in to see her all at once. Ultimately she was moved to a paliative home, but that took so long to cut through red-tape and beurocracy that the actual ambulance drive was too much for her. SHe arrived at the home, was given a sedative and died 18 hours later.

I DO NOT want this to be a 'feel sorry for Evan' story. This is how most sufferers of this disease are treated due to ignorance, beurocracy and a sever lack of medical research funding.

PLEASE pass the links around, whether you are from the UK or anyhere in the world. There are breakthroughs in research but it is not a 'viable' area for drug companies to pump money into research as the damage to the body is catastrophic and mostly irreversible once it takes hold of the body.

THanks again guys for listening.

Evan

_________________
speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

Evan, thanks for posting. The videos are cool. I am sorry for your loss of your Mum and glad that you are feeling a little better. A noble cause that you are working on. Hoping that as awareness grows so will support for treatment. Peace and love Bro, SBLS.

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.