COLUMBIANA: Columbiana Councilman Geoffrey Parsly gives new meaning to the phrase, "When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade."

The 48-year-old lifelong Columbiana resident was diagnosed last September with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord eventually barring all voluntary muscle control and movement in its victims. Although patients in the later stages of ALS are totally paralyzed, in most cases their minds remain sharp and alert.

There is no cure, and the average life expectancy of an ALS victim is two to five years.

"Ironically, I was diagnosed (with ALS) Sept. 11," Parsly said wryly with his typical upbeat nature.

He explained the symptoms of the disease are so similar to those of most of the 600 neuromuscular ailments that diagnosis has to be made by excluding the other diseases one by one. He added that diagnosis takes so long that by the time the prognosis is delivered to the victim, the disease has progressed.

At this stage, Parsly sat down with his wife, Cindi, an adaptive technology assistant with the Columbiana County Board of Education, and talked of the future, drawing support from both their families and the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church where they are active. They also looked to a book to help them explain the situation to their sons, Andrew, 11, and Kevin, 6.

An engineer with Appropriate Technology in Cleveland, Parsly began using the Internet to access more information on his disease and what is available to him and the 30,000 other Americans who suffer from ALS. He also became involved in clinical trials of various medication regimens at the Cleveland Clinic where he proclaims the staff to be "excellent." He also became involved with the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the ALS Association.

In January, after Councilwoman Paula Miner resigned her seat, he applied for the position and was elected by council to serve the remaining year of her term.

"I am honored that the people on council thought enough of me to appoint me," Parsly stated. "I'm running (in November) and I might get lucky enough to serve another term on council. People ask why I'm doing this? Because I really want to help things move along. I have some reservations that if I can't finish my term, is my running in the best interest of the city? But then, I was appointed so it (not being able to complete a full term) might not be such a bad thing."

There might be some who feel being a councilman, engineer, husband and father of two young sons as well as one faced with a life-threatening illness is enough, but for the determined Parsly it isn't. April 30 and May 1 found him in Washington, D.C., working to educate congressmen on the plight of ALS victims and others who fall prey to neuromuscular diseases.

According to him, he's still not certain why he was chosen but said that it was a "fantastic experience." With Cindi by his side, Parsly not only met hundreds of others fighting his disease but many national legislators who were willing to listen to the advocates? pleas.

The delegation had a three-fold agenda:

- To request funding be continued for ALS-specific research in the fiscal year 2004 Department of Defense Appropriations bill.

- To plead for increased funding in the National Institutes of Health budget in 2004 to include an increase in allocating funds for ALS within the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

- To modernize Medicare to meet the health needs of all ALS victims by adding a prescription drug coverage plan that includes a provision for catastrophic coverage.

Parsly said after speaking with such legislators as Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio; U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and a handful of aides, in general he found they reacted "very positively."

"They like to hear from their constituents rather than the lobbyists," he added.

When questioned upon his return, Parsly said he found his experience so positive he is considering doing similar advocacy work and already has been approached.

"If there is any one thing I learned from this it's that one person can make a difference," he explained. "As a councilman, I run into a lot of people that think nothing can be done about something but people need to know and respect that they can. You've got to get a hold of the harness and pull."

He added that in looking ahead, he can't be certain that any of the advocacy work he is doing will directly benefit him, but it "might help the next guy."

"I'm now benefiting from something someone did 10 years ago," he stressed.

"Now I'm moving too fast to pause and be miserable about things. Ten years ago, they didn't have all this information out there. I'm lucky because if you've got to have something like this (ALS), this is the best time."