Please join me!

The ALS walk in Fort  Collins is Sept 21, Sunday. Registration is at 11 and the walk begins at noon. It's at the CSU Oval. Wear my Trailblazers team shirt or wear red. There's live music and lots of give a ways! Please join my awesome team! Also the ALS Association has been great to me and my family for over nine years so if you can donate, please do!  The best thing is if you can't be in town that day you can join as a virtual walker! 
Just a click away. . .

Don Taylor Trailblazers web site

Calling All Angels

Call to Action – Angels Unite!

Thanks to your generosity last year, my brother, Don Taylor, was able to begin intensive, holistic IV treatments to combat his ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). The treatments were very successful in slowing and stalling this deadly disease. Don, his wife Hing, mother Ruth, and his whole family join me in sincere appreciation of your help to our family.

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of all our many Angels, Don was able to continue this valuable therapy throughout the past year. Over time he dropped from doing the IV treatments every day to only one treatment a week. At that time we again learned how important these treatments were when he began to have trouble breathing, and he lost the ability to make any verbal sounds. So Don increased the treatments to two a week and he stabilized again.

But as you know the treatments are expensive and not covered by Don’s insurance. So we are once again

Calling All Angels (and their friends)!

We need another 100 Angels to contribute $100 each to be able to continue Don’s vital treatments. And we need it soon, since as we learned losing treatments causes Don to lose vitality that can not necessarily be regained.

Don says, “I'm doing great. My IV treatments are definitely slowing my disease down. My pulmonary doctor is quite impressed with my ability to breathe compared to other people with ALS. Since I have been here for one year, he can substantiate my progress. My holistic doctor is very thorough. I go to my IV treatments two times a week, and that seems to be the right combination for me. When I dropped back to just one time my family noticed things about me like I was coughing more and exhausted by the end of the day.”

Please be an Angel and help Don again. As before, you can donate directly through PayPal to Don or write a check to me Kate Taylor and mail it to: Don Taylor, 305 W Magnolia #356, Fort Collins CO 80521. Of course, we will gratefully accept all prayers and donations of any amount towards this effort.

We have revamped Don’s website at www.HolisticLifeChoices.com/DonTaylor with more photos and more options. You can link from there to donate directly to Don’s PayPal account. In addition, when you use the SHOP 4 DON link to do your online shopping from any of over 800 stores, restaurants, theatres, and other merchants including Best Buy, Sears and Walmart, Don receives a commission! You get special discounts, find the best online price while Don earns money for his treatments. Please check it out.

Again, thank you for all you have already contributed to our cause.

Kate Taylor (Don’s sister)

100 Angels Thank You

Happy Holidays Everyone!

This posting is for all the people who donated their time or money (or just prayers) to support my new treatment process.

It was written by my Mom.

Thank you for being one of our Angels! Our whole family is grateful for the support of so many amazing and caring friends and family.
Thanks to your generosity, Don was able to start the intensive IV treatments designed to battle the ALS late in September, and within three weeks they were shown to be successful in increasing his stamina and improving his ability to swallow. The debilitating coughing was greatly reduced to a more manageable occasional light cough. His caregivers noticed that his neck and back got stronger, and the family noticed he was speaking better.



Don says, "Thank you so much for your generosity. It really means a lot to me. As many of you might know I have moved to Colorado (without my family) to get special treatment in an attempt to slow this monster inside of me. So far it is working. The most important improvement to me, since most PALS die of respiratory failure, is that my lungs gained strength after the first few treatments. That led to less coughing, improved nose blowing and best of all my breathing. And my immune system is stronger than ever thanks to my diet and IV treatments. My spirits are at an all time high. Plus when my kids had fall break, Hing and the kids came to visit. Best of all, Hing and I had time to talk and that’s exactly what we needed. My caregivers here in Colorado are wonderful. Of course, my Colorado family is taking good care of me too. Your generosity and compassion for me and my family brings tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for your love and support."



Because the treatments are helping, Don has continued the IVs over decreasing intervals. He is currently doing them only twice a week and is still stable. But Don wants more than "stable," he wants more improvement, so his doctor has started some additional innovative 'frequency' treatments to help his brain connect with his muscles and mineral lithium to help his neurons. Plus Don gets very high quality, organic foods instead of the cans of corn syrup-based food usually prescribed for his situation.



Since the only therapies for ALS covered by insurance seem to be of the "make-him-comfortable" variety, none of these new treatments are covered by insurance. So as long as these treatments are helping Don, we are continuing the fundraising to cover them. Meanwhile we are posting photos and updates on Don at his fundraising website www.HolisticLifeChoices.com/DonTaylor.


My heartfelt thanks to you for helping us during this time when hope is most critical.
Our Love to you,

Don’s mother (and family)
970-221-3687


PS- You can reach Don by snail mail at
Don Taylor c/o Ruth Taylor, 305 West Magnolia #356, Fort Collins, CO 80521.








Don’s ALS Walk Team in Fort Collins, Colorado – September 2008



Don’s Team (even without his presence) in Memphis, Tennessee – October 2008

My New Treatment Program

Dear Friends and Family,

Most of you know that my son Donald has been battling ALS (Lou Gerhig’s disease) for almost 4 years. Even though he now can move very little, can no longer speak, and gets his food through a stomach tube, he is still as adventurous and upbeat as ever. Recently, we decided to give Don’s dear wife, Hing, and his kids, a much needed rest from Don’s “high-maintenance” caregiving, and to grant Don’s wish to vacation in Colorado.

Late last June, while my daughter Kate and I drove Don’s equipment out in his wheelchair accessible van, my son-in-law Ken flew Don out from Memphis in a private plane. Thanks to the help of lots of family and friends, Don is settled in at my handicapped-accessible home in Fort Collins. The plan was for him to stay for July, but when we realized how long it was taking to complete all his trip wishes (like see Longs Peak again, drive up the Poudre, visit Ken and Kate’s mountain home), we extended that to staying indefinitely.

We have been using our many holistic health resources to get Don all kinds of holistic healing sessions, plus body work, acupuncture, and mind/emotion/spirit support. Furthermore, Don is about to begin an innovative therapy with a local MD, Dr Roger Billica. This intensive, nutritional program has successfully helped ALS patients in 70% of its cases around the country. Don will require three IVs a day for three weeks (and the IVs are as costly as chemo treatments). Unfortunately, this new protocol is not covered by Don’s insurance. Since the family is financially “tapped out” after getting Don here for his vacation, we need help to make these treatments happen. The good news is, we will know within three weeks if Don is responding favorably to this treatment.

We need 100 Angels who will donate $100 (or more) to reach the $10,000 needed.
Of course, we will gratefully accept all prayers and donations of any amount towards this effort.

If you can be one of these Angels, please donate to Don’s PayPal account at www.HolisticLifeChoices.com/DonTaylor or write a check to Kate Taylor and mail it to
Don Taylor c/o Ruth Taylor
305 West Magnolia PMB356
Fort Collins, CO 80521.

Sincerely,

Ruth Taylor
970-221-3687

My Two Year Mark

This past Friday night was a near perfect evening. Hing drove the four of us in our van during rush hour to the Memphis airport to pickup my Mom. We arrived safely and while Hing and Nicole waited in baggage claim, Chris and I went searching for Grandma. That's when things started to click. We got on the elevator to go upstairs and guess who's waiting at the door? Grandma! Next we got all her luggage and exited the airport without having to pay for parking (under 30 minute rule). With all the money we saved (ha, ha) we then took Grandma out to dinner. The kids love 'On The Boarder's' salsa and chips so we went there. The meal and service was excellent. Nicole (our picky eater) ate everything on her plate and asked for more announcing she love Mexican food. Even when I had to go to the restroom, Chris took me, open doors, stood guard outside the handicap stall because my door wouldn't close. He even came to my rescue in helping me wash my hands. Trust me, rarely I will find the soap dispensers within wheelchair reach. Later at home, I managed to lift myself out my chair to a standing position and called my Mom over and surprised her with a big welcoming hug and kiss. What a wonderful start to a much anticipated week long 'Grandma Taylor' visit from Colorado.

It's now been two years since I went the doctor thinking I had a chemical imbalance in my body. I was concerned but not worried. After all, modern medicine can fix just about anything - right? I'm convinced that's the reason why my family is glued to the TV set every Tuesday to watch the next exciting episode of 'House'. Naturally, I wish Dr. House would do his magic on me. Now a days I'm taking this ALS thing each day as it comes. Unlike others with ALS, this chapter in my life doesn't get me down. As long as I can communicate, I'm OK mentally. But I'm entering into into a phase where I'm losing my arms and hands faster than my legs. Bummer. The good news is my insurance company has allowed a physical therapist to torture me twice a week for the past month. It's helping me stay limber.

Hing, the kids and I totally enjoyed my retirement party from FedEx last month. It was nice to see everyone. It turned out to be a party of 27 close friends from both FedEx and our family. At the party we were presented with a check. We certainly were pleased with the outcome of the Don Taylor Fund raiser. Charles Hawk, Russ Johnson, Jim Sheats, Cindy Dewy Tom Walker (to name few) did a lot and we're very grateful. I wish the donations were not anonymous so I could thank people directly. So here's a big . . .

. . . designed by Nicole. And we certainly appreciate the kind words that were said after dinner by our friends, Dawn Bennett and Brian Brown.

My typing is very slow these days, I'm using a special program that has an on-screen keyboard with word prediction since I type with my trackball that Russ Johnson and the AOD Tech Support team bought for me. I can't type with my PC keyboard anymore. My left hand is pretty much a club now. I've been working on this email on and off all week. Adaptation is the key to my success. I turn on my computer with my toe. I open doors with my foot. Thank goodness I can still bring myself to a standing position. Hing is still my primary caretaker and doing a great job. We gain strength from each other. However, I've reached the point where we needed to bring a nurse to our home to bath, groom, and it feed me. We noticed that Hing was trying to work her job, cook the meals, help with homework, do the shopping, and take care of me. My lack of strength and coordination in my hands and arms has made me into a very demanding person. So Monday through Friday I get showered and groomed by a home health aid since I can no longer do it. A person in my situation no longer can afford to be shy, now it's about survival and at the same time making sure my wife doesn't go crazy or go off the deep end of the pool. My nurse is very nice, she has 20 years of experience as a home health aid.
Back in July, I was be fitted for a BiPap device to assist my nighttime breathing. My ability to take a good breath of air decreased by 50% since this time last year. The machine forces air into my lungs with each breath. It's a fatigue fighting machine. To this day, I still can't wear the device all night long. So I recently changed from a nose snorkel to a full face mask. Perhaps that will help. Also, my machine has a heater which is great this time of year. My son, Chris has been very patient with me lately, especially when I ask him to put on my mask and take my picture.

The big thing at the moment is we just approved for social security benefits and Medicare. A very time consuming process. It's all done on-line (via a secure .gov web site), nicely done. My life story is now on a government database server. Why does the thought of that bother me? The good news is they, by law, put me at the top of the list.
Last month we hosted the BBQ ALS support group meeting at our home. As some of you know we live on a cove so when 30 PALS and CALS attended, it turned into a block party. We had 4 PALS in wheelchairs. You can imagine how busy it was. One of our PALS, Rick (seated in a blue shirt), from Mississippi smoked ribs and chicken. Ummm good.
One of the main reason for hosting was to show everyone our new addition to our home. We had a master bedroom and handicap bathroom put in. We learned some do's and dont's that we wanted to share. I also demonstrated my newly completed voice synthesizer project.
As I stated in my previous Blog, it's important turn my focus outward, like helping fellow PALS, getting involved with ALS advocacy movement, reconnecting with long lost New Jersey friends via the Internet and continuing to be active as an assistant scoutmaster in my son's Boy Scout troop. And I'm REALLY looking forward to a visit by my two sisters and my niece coming to Memphis next week in time for the ALSA Walk to D-Feet ALS on Nov. 4th.
Lastly, can you tell which one is the University of Memphis Tiger fan?