As someone quite amazed to find herself in her 23rd year of ALS and still busily, happily, and contentedly engaged in living, I have reached the point where I find myself saying "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself!" For that reason, the main focus of this site is dealing with some of the medical complications we face as a result of ALS. All too often these things are inadequately addressed because the expectation is that we will not be around long enough to worry about "long term" problems. These are problems that can and must be minimized in order to assure a good quality of life even if that life is short. This is increasingly important because several factors are likely to extend the life of ALS patients in years to come:

	The development of medications to slow progression.
	Continued improvements in supportive care (nutrition, respiratory support etc.)
	Computer aided communication and environmental control equipment to greatly improve the quality of life for ALS patients who opt for ventilation. As a result more of us will take that option and live for many more years.