RIP Alan

Alan Merle Grossman, 48, West Fargo, ND, died Monday, June 18, 2007, at Meritcare Hospital in the arms of his wife and two sons. Alan Grossman was born August 16, 1958, in Pelican Rapids, MN. He grew up in Pelican Rapids and graduated from high school in 1976. On August 24, 1979, Alan married Shelly (Crews) Grossman. Their two sons, Matt and Mike, were born and raised in West Fargo. He worked at Advanced Business Methods in West Fargo and retired from Dakota Supply Group, Fargo, ND. Alan's life consisted of the simple joys: music, home/yard work, fishing, golfing, camping, and watching his boys play sports. When ALS became a part of his life, he still celebrated these joys, just in a different way. He was an active member of Faith Lutheran Church in West Fargo. Alan is survived by his wife, Shelly; their sons, Matt (Krystel) and Mike (Lisa), all of West Fargo; mother-in-law, Jean (Crews) Arnberg, West Fargo, ND; sisters-in-law, Lynn (Bernie) Berg, San Bernadino, CA, Judy (John) Crews, Fargo, ND, Cindy (Johnal) Holst, Deer Lodge, MT; his parents, Merle and Lillian Grossman, Pelican Rapids, MN; sisters and brother, Evie (Gerald) Beste, Pearl (Jim) Schultz all of Pelican Rapids, MN, Karen (Brad) Feir, Moorhead, MN, Glen (Karen) Grossman, Blaine, MN, Marie (Brad) Mollner, Long Prairie, MN, Ruth (Dale) Hetland, and Kathy (Brian) Gross all of Fargo, ND; step sisters, Carol (CJ) Johnson, Kathy Arnberg all of Moorhead, MN; step brothers, John (Mari) Arnberg, Louisville, KY, Skip (Maria), Kennewick, WA. He also leaves many nieces and nephews, a special little guy, Kade Alan Cowley, and his mentor and very special friend, Otto Olsgaard. He was preceded in death by his fathers-in-law, Rex Crews and Gene Arnberg; his grandparents; and his nephew, Troy Schultz. Visitation: Thursday, June 21, 5:00-7:00PM; Prayer Service at 7:00PM Faith Lutheran Church, West Fargo, ND. Celebration of Life Service: Friday, June 22, 11:00AM Faith Lutheran Church, West Fargo, ND. Interment: Lakeview Cemetery, Pelican Rapids, MN. Condolences can be sent www.westfuneralhome.com

An iron horse
By Tom Pantera tpantera@forumcomm.com
Valley R&R - 05/17/2004

For Alan Grossman of West Fargo, it all started in 1996 with what he thought was carpal tunnel syndrome.

“I’d been having problems with my left hand and arms, with cramps and stuff, about a year or so,” he says.

Then his right arm started twitching.

Because he worked in the computer service department of an office equipment dealership, he thought the fine tasks he was doing had simply begun to affect his hands and arms.

But it was the beginning of a journey much tougher than that of any carpal tunnel sufferer -- a journey that would cripple Grossman and put him on borrowed time.

In December 1997, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

MeritCare neurologist Dr. Karen Garnaas says ALS affects motor neurons, nerve cells that help operate skeletal muscles that control arms and legs and enable a person to breathe and swallow. About 30,000 people in the United States have the disease. It was first identified in 1853.

The most common cause of death is respiratory failure, Garnaas says. In some cases, because they cannot swallow, ALS patients develop malnutri tion, but that can be avoided through use of gastrostomy tubes that enable people to receive nutrition without having to swallow.

There is no known cause for the disease. Most cases are defined as “sporadic” ALS, in which the patient develops the disease with no warning. About 5 percent to 10 percent of cases are hereditary.

In a sense, Grossman, 45, already has beaten long odds by surviving seven years of the disease. Half of ALS sufferers survive three to four years, 20 percent live more than five years and 10 percent live more than 10 years. Occasionally, Garnaas says, patients live more than 20 years with the disease.

In addition to more than doubling the normal post-diagnosis life span of many ALS sufferers, Grossman still is able to communicate, thanks to a computer provided for him by a national organization dedicated to doing just that for those with ALS.

The disease has begun to affect his tongue, thickening his speech, but with amplification he’s able to be understood most of the time.

He sits in a plush chair in one corner of a comfortable West Fargo house, a ventilator in his throat and his computer at the ready. Diagnosis a shock

Before his diagnosis, all Grossman knew about ALS was that it killed Yankees great Gehrig. The diagnosis “was such a shock,” he says.

“We hoped it was anything but ALS,” says his wife, Shelly, 46. “About the first week, we didn’t do anything, didn’t (research) on the computer, because we knew it was going to be doom and gloom.”

As the disease progressed, it continued to first attack Grossman’s arms, one of several places it can make an initial appearance. His left hand and arm grew weaker, until it hung limp, then the same thing happened to his right arm. His legs stayed strong until spring; by February 2001, he began tripping.

Meanwhile his sons Matt, now 21, and Mike, now 19, began researching the disease -- and helping in many other ways.

Even now, Shelly says, they continue to live at home and help. “The boys can lift their dad,” she says. “And they‘re friends. They’re awfully committed. It’s very neat.”

Both boys played football and baseball and Alan never missed a game, even when he had to arrive at the game in a hospital bed.

And he didn’t just show up for his sons’ games. Chuck Driscoll, who coached Babe Ruth baseball with Grossman and has known him for about nine years, says he’d also show up for games featuring other youths he’d coached. Grossman’s upbeat attitude about the disease “makes it easier on the people around him,” Driscoll says. Friends often would show up in a steady stream to greet Grossman at the games. “It was never about him,” Driscoll says. Shelly and the boys have made special arrangements with their employers, who know they must sometimes miss work to help Alan.

The Grossmans are active in various ALS support groups, an activity that is helpful but can take an emotional toll. In the last three months, a half-dozen people they’ve met through the groups have died of the disease. Upbeat attitude

Grossman began using a ventilator two years ago. He notes that many ALS patients decide not to do because it robs them of their ability to speak.

“He’s floored his doctors,” Shelly says. “We’ve been very fortunate that he’s been able to speak.”

His doctors also have been wonder-struck at the amount of time he has managed to live with ALS.

Garnaas says it helps that he was diagnosed at a relatively young age. Grossman himself credits his long survival to both his body and attitude. The Grossmans use in-home nursing to keep him in his residence and “I also have a lot of friends and family that visit every week.”

Although he can no longer work, he’s able to use a computer with head controls and credits that work -- including running a Web-based newsletter for an ALS support group -- with helping him keep a sense of purpose.

But it’s more than the work. “Alan’s always been so positive,” Shelly says. “It’s been a slow adjustment for all of us. We joke a lot, make fun of each other.”

He has managed to remain largely medication-free. He was on Rilutek, the only FDA-approved ALS drug, for a while. But it only adds three or four months to a sufferer’s life span and, at almost $1,000 a month, simply wasn’t worth the cost, he says.

And the cost of living with ALS is considerable, even without the drug. With nursing care, the ventilator and supplies, the Grossmans figure the disease costs them as much as $150,000 a year.

Still, it’s a bill the Grossmans hope to be paying for sometime yet. Shelly notes they have another seven years before they max out their health insurance. And Alan, already in the top 10 percent of ALS sufferers in terms of life span, figures to live beyond that.

“I’m giving myself at least another five to 10 years,” he says.