© Copyright 2003 CJOnline / The Topeka Capital-Journal / Morris Communications
Published 11/23/03
By Tim Hrenchir
The Topeka Capital-Journal

You learn who your friends are when you get a terminal disease, Fred Marstall says.

Though he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is incurable, Marstall feels thankful his affliction showed that a lot of people care about him.

"They've really come through," Marstall, 46, said of relatives and friends who have helped him for more than three years deal with the physical and financial demands of the rare nerve disease.

ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, after the New York Yankees baseball legend who died of it at age 38 in 1941.

Marstall and his wife, Tammy, spoke Monday during an interview at their home in Carbondale. A native of St. Marys, Fred Marstall began working in 1979 for the Kansas Department of Transportation, where he was a systems analyst. His disease caused him to leave in January 2001. The Marstalls have been married for 25 years and are parents of three children in their late teens through mid-20s.

The Marstalls had just moved into their current home in Carbondale when Fred Marstall learned in August 2000 that he had ALS. The diagnosis was grim. Life expectancy for ALS patients is two to five years, while about 50 percent of those afflicted live at least three years after diagnosis. About 10 percent survive 10 years or more.

It is unclear what causes ALS, a neuromuscular disease that destroys the brain's ability to communicate with the muscles. The mind and senses aren't affected, but as nerve endings are destroyed, muscles atrophy and the person loses the ability to move limbs. As the disease progresses, patients also may lose the ability to swallow, speak and even breathe.

But ALS has been unable to steal Marstall's sense of humor. Tammy Marstall says her husband is "always laughing."

In the message on his telephone answering machine, Fred Marstall imitates John Wayne while encouraging callers to leave a message on the machine, "and we'll get back to you as soon as we figure out how to use it."

Marstall said he has always had a knack for making people laugh.

"I think that's why I have so many friends," he said.

Marstall said his disease has brought him closer to many relatives and friends, particularly his buddies from the St. Marys High School class of 1974. The Marstalls say friends and family members helped them renovate their home to make it handicapped-accessible, and built a shop where Fred practices his hobby of rebuilding computers.

The couple also got help meeting medical costs from numerous groups that held fund-raising events, including KDOT and Carbondale's Lions Club, Grange and United Church of Christ.

"I am thankful that I have been given enough time to enjoy family and friends, and to make arrangements for the future," Fred Marstall said. "Most ALS patients only have two or three years.