BobbyB
05-02-2009, 08:59 PM
Broomfield man knows blessings, not years, best way to measure life
By Sally Bridges
Saturday, May 2, 2009
http://media.broomfieldenterprise.com/broo/content/img/photos/2009/04/30/BE0503ALS01__t220.jpg
LUCKY MAN: Roger Childs watches his son, Brandon, 8, at soccer practice on Tuesday. Childs, who four years ago was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a living example of the power of positive thinking.
HeBROOMFIELD, Colo. — Roger Childs wants you to know he's a lucky guy. has it all. Great wife, great family, great home. Someday soon the whole country might learn the Broomfield man's secret to happiness.
Diagnosed with ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- four years ago, Childs knows his future -- prepares for it -- but lives in the moment.
"I know why Lou Gehrig said, 'I'm the luckiest man in the world,'" Childs said.
The progressive disease destroys motor neurons in the brain and as the neurons die so does the brain's ability to initiate and control muscle movement. In the later stages of the terminal disease, people with ALS become totally paralyzed and lose the ability to breathe. There is hope, but there is no cure.
For Childs, 41, his dance with this disease is not about dying, it's about living. It's about creating memories, legacies and helping his sons become good men. There are 47 DVDs filled with family memories.
Childs shares his positive and persevering attitude with other people living with terminal illness. His online postings captured the attention of television producers.
Childs, Julie, his wife of 18 years, and his two sons, Connor, 12, and Brandon, 8, are being featured in a major television network program that aims to show others how to make the most of their lives. Although the filming for the program is complete, until the pilot is picked up by the network, Childs can't talk about it. As part of the program, Childs got to complete some things on his bucket list and camera crews shot footage of him coaching Brandon's soccer team.
There have been lots of family trips. Australia, Hawaii, the Cayman Islands.
"I'm so lucky to have accomplished just about everything I've wanted to do," he said.
Although a plane ride at zero gravity would be cool, he said, time with family is the most important thing.
"We think of this as our early retirement," Julie Childs said.
Roger Childs, who played soccer growing up in California, has always coached his son's teams. He is now an assistant coach for Brandon's recreational team.
"He's an inspiration to us. There's always a smile on his face," said Jen Kusik, whose son Andrew plays on the team. "Roger has helped these boys be better soccer players and better people."
Childs is compressing a lifetime into years.
An avid skier and double-diamond mogul lover, Childs still skis. He's abandoned the bumps and can no longer buckle his boots or button his ski pants, but this winter he still cruised the intermediate ski slopes with his sons.
His hands, frequently cramped into uncomfortable positions, failed him. It is the only place where this disease is obvious to an untrained eye.
He helps his sons build models and create things with their erector sets. He can't help them with his hands, so he talks them through it.
"The most important time with kids is from birth to about age 12," Childs said. "I am so lucky to be alive during this key time. I'm conveying to them right now how to grow into young men.
"I'm lucky and proud of what I can do with them during these years."
When first diagnosed, the doctor told Childs to get his life in order. He'd live two to five years. But Childs' disease is progressing slowly.
Those life-expectancy years keep expanding, Childs said. Though he has watched the disease progress quickly in some of his friends and slowly in others. It is an unknown. Famed physicist Stephen Hawking has lived 30 years with the disease with the aid of a skilled team of nurses, technicians and physicians.
When he was first diagnosed, Childs and his family had moved to Colorado just two months earlier from San Diego. The Childs had grown tired of constant traffic and the high cost of living and Roger accepted at job as an aerospace engineer with Ball Aerospace.
He sold their California home at the peak of the market and bought a large home in Broomfield with a basement full of toys. Air hockey. The works.
"Life was incredibly great. It was so perfect, I couldn't imagine things being any better," he said.
The diagnosis changed everything. ALS was a thief, Childs said.
"ALS was stealing my job, stealing my abilities, stealing my house," he said. "I loved my job and worked as long as I could."
The family downsized and built a new, smaller ranch-style home with doors wide enough for a wheelchair. They are glad they made the move before they were forced to, Julie Childs said.
"Here we've made happy memories," Julie Childs said.
This won't be the home they moved to because ALS forced them out, she said.
The Childses are preparing for the ALS progression on their terms.
"Even though this is the worst thing, I'm not letting this disease take things from me," Roger Childs said.
http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com:80/news/2009/may/02/broomfield-man-blessings-best-way-to-life/
By Sally Bridges
Saturday, May 2, 2009
http://media.broomfieldenterprise.com/broo/content/img/photos/2009/04/30/BE0503ALS01__t220.jpg
LUCKY MAN: Roger Childs watches his son, Brandon, 8, at soccer practice on Tuesday. Childs, who four years ago was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a living example of the power of positive thinking.
HeBROOMFIELD, Colo. — Roger Childs wants you to know he's a lucky guy. has it all. Great wife, great family, great home. Someday soon the whole country might learn the Broomfield man's secret to happiness.
Diagnosed with ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- four years ago, Childs knows his future -- prepares for it -- but lives in the moment.
"I know why Lou Gehrig said, 'I'm the luckiest man in the world,'" Childs said.
The progressive disease destroys motor neurons in the brain and as the neurons die so does the brain's ability to initiate and control muscle movement. In the later stages of the terminal disease, people with ALS become totally paralyzed and lose the ability to breathe. There is hope, but there is no cure.
For Childs, 41, his dance with this disease is not about dying, it's about living. It's about creating memories, legacies and helping his sons become good men. There are 47 DVDs filled with family memories.
Childs shares his positive and persevering attitude with other people living with terminal illness. His online postings captured the attention of television producers.
Childs, Julie, his wife of 18 years, and his two sons, Connor, 12, and Brandon, 8, are being featured in a major television network program that aims to show others how to make the most of their lives. Although the filming for the program is complete, until the pilot is picked up by the network, Childs can't talk about it. As part of the program, Childs got to complete some things on his bucket list and camera crews shot footage of him coaching Brandon's soccer team.
There have been lots of family trips. Australia, Hawaii, the Cayman Islands.
"I'm so lucky to have accomplished just about everything I've wanted to do," he said.
Although a plane ride at zero gravity would be cool, he said, time with family is the most important thing.
"We think of this as our early retirement," Julie Childs said.
Roger Childs, who played soccer growing up in California, has always coached his son's teams. He is now an assistant coach for Brandon's recreational team.
"He's an inspiration to us. There's always a smile on his face," said Jen Kusik, whose son Andrew plays on the team. "Roger has helped these boys be better soccer players and better people."
Childs is compressing a lifetime into years.
An avid skier and double-diamond mogul lover, Childs still skis. He's abandoned the bumps and can no longer buckle his boots or button his ski pants, but this winter he still cruised the intermediate ski slopes with his sons.
His hands, frequently cramped into uncomfortable positions, failed him. It is the only place where this disease is obvious to an untrained eye.
He helps his sons build models and create things with their erector sets. He can't help them with his hands, so he talks them through it.
"The most important time with kids is from birth to about age 12," Childs said. "I am so lucky to be alive during this key time. I'm conveying to them right now how to grow into young men.
"I'm lucky and proud of what I can do with them during these years."
When first diagnosed, the doctor told Childs to get his life in order. He'd live two to five years. But Childs' disease is progressing slowly.
Those life-expectancy years keep expanding, Childs said. Though he has watched the disease progress quickly in some of his friends and slowly in others. It is an unknown. Famed physicist Stephen Hawking has lived 30 years with the disease with the aid of a skilled team of nurses, technicians and physicians.
When he was first diagnosed, Childs and his family had moved to Colorado just two months earlier from San Diego. The Childs had grown tired of constant traffic and the high cost of living and Roger accepted at job as an aerospace engineer with Ball Aerospace.
He sold their California home at the peak of the market and bought a large home in Broomfield with a basement full of toys. Air hockey. The works.
"Life was incredibly great. It was so perfect, I couldn't imagine things being any better," he said.
The diagnosis changed everything. ALS was a thief, Childs said.
"ALS was stealing my job, stealing my abilities, stealing my house," he said. "I loved my job and worked as long as I could."
The family downsized and built a new, smaller ranch-style home with doors wide enough for a wheelchair. They are glad they made the move before they were forced to, Julie Childs said.
"Here we've made happy memories," Julie Childs said.
This won't be the home they moved to because ALS forced them out, she said.
The Childses are preparing for the ALS progression on their terms.
"Even though this is the worst thing, I'm not letting this disease take things from me," Roger Childs said.
http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com:80/news/2009/may/02/broomfield-man-blessings-best-way-to-life/