According to a story from The Examiner, Sarah Nauser-Olsen was at a great place in her life: she had a stable job as a police officer and was also well on her way to pursuing her true career goal as a bodybuilder. She spent lots of time in the gym and had grown familiar with her body. Unfortunately, severe cramps, muscle spasms and weakness, and trouble walking sent her to the doctor. Here she learned that she had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a shocking diagnosis at her relatively young age of 30.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare, degenerative disease that causes the death of nerve cells associated with the voluntary muscles. Little is known about the origins of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with no definitive cause in about 95 percent of cases. The remaining five percent appear to inherit the disease from their parents. Symptoms initially include loss of coordination, muscle weakness and atrophy, muscle stiffness and cramping, and trouble speaking, breathing, or swallowing. These symptoms worsen steadily over time; most patients die because of respiratory complications. Treatment is mostly symptomatic and the medication riluzole can prolong life. Life expectancy after diagnosis ranges; some patients pass away within a few years and others can survive for substantially longer. To learn more about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, click here.
Accepting ALS
Her mother Jamie attended another appointment to get a second opinion which confirmed the diagnosis. Both mother and daughter were in tears by the end, but since that day, Sarah has stopped crying. Instead, she is doing her best to come to terms with her disease. While it would be easy to be upset about her situation, Sarah has decided that there is no point in getting sad or angry. It’s just another challenge, like the police academy or her next bodybuilding competition.
While she is no longer a police officer, Sarah is still working actively, and the disease has not kept her from staying involved in the lives of others. Sarah also spends her time as an advocate and spokesperson for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and regularly speaks at fundraisers in order to raise awareness about the disease.
