Army vet diagnosed with ALS
Benefit set to raise funds for family
by JILL SCHMELZER Ken-Ton Editor

A benefit will be held for The Yoders pictured from left, Marissa, Ester, Tiffany and Jay Yoder on Friday, Feb. 8 at Classics V, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.

Jay Yoder has been described as a man who has always lived each day as if it were his last.

This past summer, however, that mentality became a lot more significant when the U.S. Army veteran was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

There is no cure for this progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, paralyzing the body and eventually leading to death, according to the ALS Association's Web site.

Ester Yoder, Jay's wife, explained that the brain stops sending messages to the body's muscles.

"For me, the worst part of the disease is that your mind stays intact," she said. "It's like you're trapped in your own body."

Eventually, Jay will need a wheelchair, a special shower and chair lifts to get from one place to the other. Medical expenses are also expensive.

Friends and family of the Yoders are hosting a benefit to relieve some of that financial burden. It will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8 at Classics V, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst.

Shortly after graduating from Bennett High School in 1989, where he and Ester met, Jay joined the U.S. military. The couple have been married for 17 years and have two children, Tiffany, 15, and Marissa, 10.

While serving with the Army, Jay completed three combat missions, including Desert Shield, Bosnia and a North Atlantic Treaty Organization peace-keeping effort in Somalia.

In 1997, Jay left the service and moved to Kenmore with his family where he began his second career as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. He served as a supervisor until this past summer when he was forced to quit at age 36 because of the onset of the disease.

Ester said her husband began experiencing trouble speaking and swallowing in December 2006, but it wasn't until later that doctors diagnosed him with ALS.

At first, doctors thought the slurred speech could have been a reaction to migraine headaches or a stroke. It turned out to be neither, Ester said; it was worse.

"I can't even imagine how he feels," she said. "It's been pretty difficult - devastating. He was once very athletic and physically capable of anything. Now, he's fully deteriorating, and it's been hard to watch."

Jay walks with a cane, but for the most part, his arms and legs are in good shape, Ester said.

"He has his good and his bad days," she added.

"He has to force his muscles to work because his brain isn't sending the messages for him," Ester said, noting that a simple task like raising his arm is difficult to do.

ALS is believed to be caused by environmental factors, one being depleted uranium, which Jay was exposed to in the military.

Currently, Jay is participating in a study to prove that veterans are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with ALS, Ester said.

The disease is not contagious, and only a small percentage of cases are believed to be hereditary. Approximately 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS each year. That's five times higher than Huntington's Disease, the ALS Web site stated.

"I wish there was some kind of a cure for it," Ester said, noting that little to no advances have been made toward finding one. His medication, Rilutek, was discovered in 1996 and is designed to prolong one's life, not cure the disease.

"I think there's (no cure) because not enough people are diagnosed with this disease," Ester said. "They should try to find a cure. I don't care if only 10,000 people are diagnosed with it."

Half of all people affected with the disease live at least three or more years after diagnosis. Twenty percent live five or more years, and up to 10 percent will live more than 10 years, the Web site stated.

"He's always lived his life like it's his last day on earth," Ester said. "He hasn't given up."

For more information, tickets or to make a donation, call Michele Purpura at 444-3959 or e-mail mrpurpura@yahoo.com.