Hello All,
I am very sad to let you all know that my cousin, Leanne, was diagnosed with ALS on April 30th, 2015. It was a devastating blow to our entire family, but especially for her 15 year old son, her 24 year old daughter, her precious 3 year old grand-daughter, her parents, and her sister. We are still trying to wrap our heads around what this devastating disease truly means.
I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has been praying for Lee, her kids, parents, sister, and the rest of our family. You have no idea how much we have felt them. Please keep them up. They are carrying us through and will continue to do so in the future.
Lee is just 44 and 2 & 1/2 years ago was perfectly fine and in perfect health. It started with just a little limp in her right foot just 2 years ago and now she is restricted to a wheelchair with no use of her legs or right arm and hand. She still have use of her left hand and arm, but the disease is also affecting her breathing and swallowing. The speed and severity of how this is affecting her is just unimaginable. No one in our entire family has ever been hit with anything like this. Not even arthritis outside of old age. As with so many, this is completely out of the blue and totally unexpected.
But she has been such an inspiration for all of us. Even in the most difficult of days, she has kept her sense of humor and is handling this with such a sense of dignity, grace, and humility that is is just inspirational to the rest of us. There is no self pity here. She has comforted us, gave us strength, and helped US through our tears. It is so difficult to watch her go through this and I doubt that I could handle this half as well as she is. Our visits rarely include tears and ALWAYS include hugs, kisses, and LOTS OF LAUGHTER!
Speaking personally, outside of the obvious, the two things that have just loomed over me is the sense of being so overwhelmed and feeling completely helpless! But God has blessed us by putting a wonderful MDS chapter and The Vanderbilt ALS Clinic literally in our back yard. I cannot begin to express how much they have helped Leanne and the rest of the family. They (along with Ed's Medical Supply-thanks Robbie) have stepped up and provided equipment, wonderful people, practical help, and tons of emotional support. They have helped us to realized that just facing each day or each hour is enough, and we don't have to deal with this whole thing right at this moment. They have been a godsend not only for Lee, but for so many others. I had no idea of the scope of what they did or how much they help so many with such devastating illnesses.
We are SO PROUD to be able to give a little back to a couple of organizations that do so much for so many! We have partnered with the Nashville Chapter of the MDA to help raise funds. These funds will go directly to the Nashville MDA and then to the Vanderbilt ALS Clinic. Not only will Lee continue to benefit from their help, but so many others will too. This is such an honor. So little is known about ALS--it makes it very difficult to treat, let alone cure. But every little bit helps. We are not a huge cosmetics empire by any means, but we can help and so can you!
With the MDA's approval, we have set up a discount code that will not only give you a 25% discount on your entire order, but additionally, we will donate another 25% of your entire order directly back to the Nashville MDS/Vanderbilt ALS Clinic. No order is too big or too little. THIS DISCOUNT CODE WILL NEVER END AND WE WILL DONATED AS LONG AS WE GET USE OF THIS CODE. You can use it over and over again.
Please share this code with everyone via Facebook, twitter, instagram, google+, any way you can think of. If you or someone you know have never used our products before, what a great way to not only give us a try, but help so many people as well! EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS! Let's all use END ALS to help end ALS for good!
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Thanks in advance for reading this, praying for Lee, and passing this along. Even if you don't use the code right away, please share this. The more people who pass this along, the more help Lee and other ALS patients will be receive. Below are a couple of pages of information from the MDA that share just a little of what they do to help so many.
Remember, no amount of help is ever too little to make a BIG CHANGE! Everything helps and is so appreciated. Please feel free to contact us directly for more information or contact the MDA. The information is listed below!
Rachael McKenzie Kim Stahlin
Fundraising Coordinator President
MDA of Central TN & Southern KY Danyel Cosmetics & Marli Skin Care
783 Old Hickory Blvd, Ste 300W 6952 Greenbrier Cemetery Rd
Brentwood, TN 37027 Greenbrier, TN 37073
o: 615.832.5005 (800) 356-9642
Be Blessed Everyone and Be Thankful for all your blessings! Life changes so quickly!
In Him,
Kim
