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Jenny Frantz • Start at the TOP Work with the BEST • 330-329-7220 • Extraordinary Custom Home Designed for Today's Entertaining Lifestyle. • 6900+ Square Feet of living space perfect for Extended Living, 2000+SF in Finished Walk-Out with NEW Kitchen, Workout Room. • Stunning details include: Mahogany Moldings and Built-ins, India Gold Slate Floors, Birdseye Maple Cabinets, 12-foot ceilings. • Expansive Outdoor Living with Huge Cantilever Deck, Covered Gazebo with Fireplace, Hot Tub, and Stunning Views. Listed: $1,350,000 http://3466muirwoodln.howardhanna.com HOME HAPPENS HERE Glencairn Forest - 3466 Muirwood Lane – Richfield IT IS WELL KNOWN that Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), aka Lou Gehrig's Disease, is caused by progressive motor neuron degeneration and typically a…ects people ages 40 to 75. However, can medical professionals truly discern what it is like to live with ALS? 1, 2 Each person su…ering from ALS is unique, with individualized ways of coping with the challenges of living with and dying from ALS. 3 Patients are understandably terrified of facing unknowns and losing control over their bodies. The unpredictable trajec- tory of the disease also makes it particularly challenging for family caregivers — especially when patients need feeding tubes, ventilations or tracheotomies. ALS patients and their families want and need a voice in deciding how the final phase of life will be spent. Some elect to follow a natural course with optimal symptom management. Many choose to stop eating. Others prefer to gradually wean from respiratory support. The implementation of palliative sedation is selected by others. Regardless of choice, a hospice team can provide the most comprehensive care possible throughout the disease progression. O…ering the patient the ability to choose a comfortable course of action maintains personal dignity. It provides control over one's life at a time when control over physical capabilities is lost. For primary medical providers, early goals of care conversations with ALS patients followed by hospice referrals should be a standard procedure. Involving patients in the process and seeking hospice care earlier on is critical to optimizing quality of life. D r. Marina Lazbin is a medical director at Hospice of the Wester n Reserve, where she oversees hospice teams in the Mentor, Fairhill , and Summit County areas. She also directs the hospice care of pediatric patients across the Northern Ohio service area of Hospice of the Western Reserve. ■ References 1. A LS association . Living with A LS . 2 . Marco O rshini , Acary Bulle Oliveira , Osvaldo J.M. Nascimento, Amyotro phic Late ral S cl e ros i s: n e w pe rs pectives an d upd ate . Neurolog y Internationa l 2015 , 7:5885 . 3 . Anna Tiirola , BM, Tarja Korhonen , MD, Tiina Surakka , PhD, Juho Lehto, MD, PhD, End-of-Life Care of Patients With A LS and Other Nonmalignant D iseases. Benefits of Hospice Care for ALS Patients and Their Caregivers BY MARINA LAZBIN, MD that Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), 1 3 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C L E V E L A N D /A K R O N / C A N T O N n S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 016 C L I N I C A L S E C T I O N 1 3