
In a word, the video is heartbreaking. For 9 minutes and 20 seconds, Ryan and Martha Tofteland talk about it all. About how they first met and fell in love. About how they went on to marry and start a family. And about how an ALS diagnosis at Mayo Clinic in August 2016 is threatening to take it all away.
"We went on a Friday," Martha says in the video. "We had already had that whole next week scheduled with tests." But during that initial consultation, a neurologist told the couple he suspected Ryan had ALS, a fear that was confirmed later that day by phone as they drove home. "That's my most vivid memory," Martha says. "Because we had to, on our way home, pull over in Cannon Falls and just release."
Family members and friends were heartbroken after being told of Ryan’s diagnosis. But rather than accept defeat, they — like Ryan and Martha — have chosen to pool their collective energy into raising awareness and money for ALS research.
________________________________________________
This story originally appeared on the In the Loop blog.
The holiday season can invite unwelcome guests into your life, such as loneliness, money problems, family demands and unrealistic expectations. The stress and anxiety that ...
National Handwashing Awareness Week will be observed Dec. 3–9, so this is a good time for a reminder that washing your hands is one of the ...
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide by Dec. 8 on a new therapy to treat sickle cell disease using gene editing technology called CRISPR, ...