I am Kristina Nelson
living with ALS
Ohio
It's important for the general population and the medical community to know who we are and what the faces of ALS look like.
My fight began in 2015 with some simple balance issues and tripping over myself. I was sent to multiple doctors in multiple disciplines, trying to figure out what was going on. Meanwhile, my disease continued to slowly progress. I was given a series of misdiagnoses and told I was far too young to have a serious illness. Finally, in 2017, I found my current medical team who took a closer look and discovered I had a rare form of ALS that is dominated by the upper motor neurons.
An organization like I AM ALS is important because this disease is different for everyone. No two people with ALS experience it the same. No two caregivers or doctors experience it the same. This is not a cookie cutter disease that plays by the rule book. It’s important for the general population and the medical community to know who we are and what the faces of ALS look like. It’s important for them to know what we fight, what we lose and why we need a cure.
