Beef & Beer

 Two of my neighbors, Brooke and Andie, along with many other individuals are hosting a beef and beer for me. I am grateful for their support for helping to put this event together. Here’s the info:

 ”The Friends of Tim Heiser are organizing a Beef and Beer charity fundraiser.  Tim was recently diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in July, 2008.  Tim is 31 years old, married, with 2 young children; Lindsey 4 and Jonathan 1.  He is currently receiving alternative therapy, as the only FDA approved medication was ineffective; he suffered several side effects and was unable to tolerate it.  Some of the alternative therapies that Tim is currently receiving are chelation, and acupuncture.  Both of these treatments are considered experimental by the insurance companies; therefore, not covered for payment. 

 The Friends of Tim to Fight ALS are putting on a charity event to help pay for some of these additional costs that the family is incurring.  With your support, we can make it easier for Tim and his family to continue their fight against ALS.  Thank you for your support.”

You may purchase tickets online through http://friendsoftim.homestead.com/index.html.com

Hardships that change your life for the better

So some times I just get the urge to write and this is what I came up with about 2 weeks ago. Most might not understand but this is the way I feel about my disease. Then that same night I was at my small church group gathering where one of the statements from our book really made me express what I had written that afternoon. The statement, “The ‘problem of evil’ is the biggest stumbling  block that non-Christians have with Christianity’s claim that God is good. How can we as Christians better respond to these questions?” This is my response.

written Jan. 30th 2009

I am grateful to have this disease, for I was dead, but now I am alive. Yes, I was saved a long time ago, but now I see the true path to Christ. I am living a new and different life than what I was before I knew I had this disease. A life with God in my life. I am trying to change and focus more on God. He is becoming the center of my attention. I have begun to pray daily, attend church more regularly, attend Disciple class, and worship God with my entire heart, mind and soul. My faith is strong and I believe in what He can do for me. God can heal if it is in his plans and it might not be at this time or at any time at all for that matter. As I said months ago my life is in His hands. I am at ease for I know He is with me, walking with me and carrying me when I am down. The Lord is a awesome and I am truly greatful to have Him in my life for it is through Him that I live. Knowing and truly understanding that makes my life here on Earth all the better. But knowing and understanding what lies ahead in the kingdom of God makes life that much better.

Now does this mean that I want to die! Absolutly not. I want to live. I will fight to live. And God willingly, I will live. For God has the capability to heal me through His touch and by using others and medicines. Through faith I trust that God can heal.

Do you have faith in your life? Do you believe God can heal? Where is your life heading and where do you want it to go? Have faith and believe for you to can be healed. You to can can find life. You to can enter the kingdom of Heaven. Find the courage within you to believe and you will live.

Courage + Believe = Life

If you weren’t at the walk, or even if you were, you might ask where I came up with the saying on the back of our shirts. This quote is also hanging on a wall in my house. On July 2nd, the day after I had been diagnosed with ALS, I was watching ESPN when a clip came on about a kid, John Challis, who was diagnosed with with cancer. He had yet another clip during the world series where I heard that he had passed away. “Courage + Believe = Life” was his saying, I just added a definition. I am trying to follow his footsteps. Here is the link to the video. http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3432355 

Courage

The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., Without fear

Believe

To have confidence or faith in the truth or the existence of something (God)

Life

Physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence

My mom thanks those who supported the ALS walk

Harry and I also would like to thank you all. It especially touched my heart to see you all there Although the rain was a hindrance, I rode the walk with the last of the crowd when it seemed the drops were letting up. Since I was with the last of the walkers I was able to see all those green shirts leave Citizen Bank Park as I sat under the shelter of the ballpark. Tears came as I saw Tim laughing with his crew as they left the gates. I hope I can see that for many more years to come. Thanks for your support and giving. Time is so precious and I so appreciative of all of you giving of your time for this walk.

Again, thank you.

Trish Heiser

Eli Barkan Memorial Challenge Charity Game

To John DeBenedictis & the Tri-State Senior Baseball League, LLC,

I would like to thank each and everyone of you who made this event possible. If I was not able to introduce myself to you, then I am sorry, for the day meant a great deal to me. To see individuals go out of their way to support others is an incredible sight. In the past few months I have been fortunate to be on the receiving end of unlimited support. I am grateful for those of you have reached into your own pockets, who sought out donations, and who gave up your time to make this event happen. Thank you to all.
Your donation has already been used for alternative treatment.I have been going for 10 weeks now and I think, well I hope, that I am seeing or feeling a difference. Little things like walking up and down steps seem to be a little easier. It could just be my mind playing tricks on me, but I truly believe that something is working. With the help of God and the use of medicine, I pray that I will not get worse and that I will either stay the same or get better. I’ve even started going to the gym. Imagine that, that I can still lift weights and that they are actually increasing in small increments. My last visit to the neurologist showed no signs of further degradation, but it has only been three months since my last visit. It was still good news.
Something is happening. I wish, no I hope and pray that something good is happening. Thank you for giving that chance. That hope. The glimmer of getting better has pushed me to fight, to got give up, to survive. My family thanks you. May God be with you and bless your lives for the blessing that you have bestowed upon me.

Sincerely,
Tim Heiser

Walk to Fight ALS

On November 8^th, the ALS Association is holding a “Walk to Defeat ALS” in the Philadelphia region. This is one of many walks that they are putting together to raise money and knowledge of ALS. I will be there walking. There are two ways for you to support this event: 1) Walk with me and/or 2) Donate to my team.

Here is the link to sign up to walk or donate: http://www.alsphiladelphia.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=526

To join our team as a walker, click the “Join a Team” under the Walk button. To donate to our team or individual walker, click under the donate button.  A search will then come up. Type in the last name of who you are looking for. If you type Heiser, you will see that Jen, my dad and I are there along with a link for Team Heiser. If you would like to donate to me or Jen click our names, else click the team name. Now click “Sponsor Me”.

Here is the link to see the team sight: http://www.alsphiladelphia.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=510&frtid=251

As you see, several people have already signed up to walk and to donate.  I appreciate any donation you can give for this goes to bettering the lives of individuals with ALS.

 

God is my strength

Dear church family and friends,

 

Jen and I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts. The love and compassion that we have received from our family and friends has helped us to get through this difficult time.

Many of you are aware that I have been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that usually leaves an individual with a life expectancy of five years, although I have heard of some individuals living 10, 15 and even 20 years after diagnosis. Many of you know that I recently went to Johns Hopkinsfor a second opinion where they came to the same conclusion, that I have ALS. Now I live with the utterly fearful knowledge that my life can be ended short. Everyone knows that they will pass on someday, but knowing that your life may be ended short makes you look at what your life is really all about. Think about not growing old with your wife/husband, not seeing your children grow up, not being able to see future grandchildren… The list can go on. I t’s devestating to imagine those thoughts let alone to live through them.

My saving grace is knowing that God is with me, walking with me and many times carrying me. Through the pain and heartache he has not left me but instead has filled my life with hope and blessings. My faith in God has grown even stronger. Without Christ I would be lost. Everything is now in His hands. It is His will that can set me free from this disease. Even through the the pain I have still been able to see God’s greatness. There have been so many individuals who have given up their time to help my family out, whether it’s doing basement construction, watching our children, or contributing to our much needed Disney vacation. Seeing everyone come together is an incredible sight that my family is very appreciative for and will cherish forever. Most of all, I am touched by the countless number of people praying for me, both believers and non-believers, from across the country. The power of prayer can be an awesome thing.

There is still hope out there. My faith is still strong. I won’t just lie down and give up. I will fight and do everything I can to live, and right now that means praying. Praying consistently and with the faith that God will answer my prayers. I ask that you don’t stop praying, not only for me, but for criseses in your life, your family’s life, your friends life and others who need to be prayed for.

I know there are many times that we question God for the hardships in our lives, but in the end we need to have faith that God is using them in order to better our own life or to touch other lives. I know that some how, some way, God is using this for his good. It’s tough to say that, because it’s my life, but I’ve given my life over to God. I know that he is already working in my life and I trust that he is working in others.

Sincerely,

Tim Heiser

 

Eli Barkan Memorial Challenge Charity Game

The Tri-State 48+/55+ Senior Baseball League, LLC has been challenged by the Long Island Men’s Senior Baseball League (LIMSBL) to an inter-league doubleheader to be played on Sunday, October 5, 2008 at Campbell’s Field in Camden, New Jersey starting at 10:00am. Pre-game ceremonies are scheduled for 9:30.

Ray Lammie and Tony Cabrera of the Long Island Men’s Senior Baseball League were instrumental in the planning, fund raising, and execution of the Guinness Book Marathon game (that Tri-State’s own Bill Shields contributed to immensely) has delivered the challenge. We have accepted.

Ray is also the author Random Thoughts on Life. Ray is a courageous survivor of four bouts with cancer over the past 28 years. He has become a champion in cancer support and in raising money for various charities.

We have agreed that each team will donate a minimum of $1,500 to a worthy recipient. The qualifications for the recipient include someone courageously struggling, despite financial difficulties, to battle a life threatening disease. We expect this will become a yearly event and together with our funding of the Prostate Cancer Foundation will reaffirm our commitment to share our blessings with those that courageously struggle with life threatening diseases.

We have selected Tim Heiser, 32 year old son (and Father of two children) of Harry Heiser who plays for the Delaware Diamondbacks in our league. Harry’s team has dedicated their season to Tim in support of his battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”).

The name of the tournament honors Eli Barkan. Eli was very instrumental in helping to organize our league back in 1998. He fought prostate and bladder cancer courageously for many, many, years. At the end, Eli carried several fluid bags taped to his body each time he took the field. I had the privilege of seeing him and marveling at his continued unmitigated optimism the evening he finally succumbed and passed away. He had just finished tutoring a child and making plans for another session two nights later.

Eli’s widow, Dolores Barkan will be on hand to present the check to Tim Heiser. Samantha and Amanda Toth will sing the National Anthem. Ray Voorhees will give the invocation,

Admission is free. Come on out and enjoy the games. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund may do so by sending a check made out to John DeBenedictis at:

Tri-State Senior Baseball League, LLC

200 West Old Squaw Road

Middletown, DE 19709

302-376-3739

302-588-2987 (cell)

johnadebenedictis@verizon.net

ALS Golf Tournament – Support for Tim

All-

I have been participating in the annual www.kakcup.org (not accessible via LM Intranet) golf tournament for over 5 years which supports the ALS Foundation of Greater Philadelphia.  This year’s event is at www.makefieldhighlands.com in Yardley , PA on Friday, 9/19 at 12:30.  The tax deductible contribution of $150 affords you a great round of golf, range balls, dinner w/ drinks, welcome gifts, silent auction and a 50/50 raffle.

If you are interested in supporting Tim and the ALS Association, please join Ernie Binder, Rich Budka, Tim and myself for this event.  Please email your interest, four/three/twosome pairings and forward me a check made payable to the ALS Association by next Wednesday 9/10.

I hope to see you there!

Regards,
Dean

My 2nd opinion…

As I said I would let you know the news after my 2^nd opinion at Johns Hopkins. But before I get to that I want to say thank you to everyone for their prayers, thoughts and helpful hand during this time. Without the encouragement of others I don’t know how I would be. It has been my friends and family that have gotten me through the tough times in the last two months.

I won’t beat around the bush, the news still wasn’t good. After an hour of questions and some of the usual physical activities/exams, I was still diagnosed to have ALS. Nothing has changed since my last visit at Drexel Univ. – College of Medicine and the doctor at Hopkins considers my symptoms to be caused by having ALS. The analyst who administered the EMG also stated the same based on the test results in which they tried to look specifically for known signals tied to having ALS. I also had blood drawn for 4 different tests. It’ll  be a while before results are given.

So, I have to assume I have ALS. All paths point to it. This won’t stop me from being the same person. As the doctors state, I am still strong and it looks to be progressing slowly which is abnormal for ALS. There are definitely cases out there where individuals can live for 10, 15, 20 yrs. I can only hope and pray now that the doctors are still missing something, that they are wrong or that if this is ALS, like they say, that because I am young and in decent physical shape that I can push the limits.

So you might ask, what else is there that I can do. First, I am looking into holistic medicine to see what is out there. Second, I can start a clinical trial. There are always new drugs being developed and trials being performed. Besides those two things, I will hope and pray.

Again, you may forward this on to others to make it easier on me.

Respectfully,
Timothy E. Heiser