We are a group of friends who love Denise Leigh. Since her diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2017, we have watched Nese meet the devastating challenges of this disease with humor and amazing grace. We want to help her maintain her quality of life as she deals with the day-to-day realities of a progressively degenerative disease.

Here's Nese, with her latest health update: "I’m getting weaker. I’m totally dependent on others to care for me. . . . My mouth and neck muscles are dying, so I have sleep apnea and can’t swallow. My legs are paralyzed, but with ALS you can feel everything. My lower lobes of my lungs can’t work, so I’m only breathing with my upper lobes. There’s much more stuff, but that’s all for now."

Nese had a tracheostomy in spring 2020 to enable her to breathe more easily, and she eats through a tube. She needs care 24/7, since she cannot move herself even to shift positions in bed. 

Some of this is covered by insurance and her amazing family. Much of it is not. Nese has caregivers who come every day, and her mom and sisters share a lot of the care. But for things like respite care, over-the-counter medications, personal items like wipes, and anything experimental or innovative that insurance doesn't recognize as necessary, the costs are out of pocket. And Nese's pockets, as you can imagine, have seen their fuller days.

SO that's where you come in. Can you give a little? Can you give a lot? Anything--ANYTHING--will be welcomed and appreciated and will make Nese's life a little more comfortable and blessed. And you may consider yourself blessed in return, since that's the way these things go.

Please give what you can. Thanks!