Staying alive

COEUR d'ALENE - Richard Braffett is facing a death sentence.

He wishes he wasn't, but he is, he knows it, and there's nothing he can do about it.

Still, he manages a smile.

"I stay pretty positive. I live each day one at a time. I don't get depressed," the Coeur d'Alene man said.

In July, Braffett was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

Since, he has been confined to a wheelchair while living at the home of his mother, Sandra Foley, and his step-father.

The fit 52-year-old was always active, always healthy, upbeat and employed. For more than six years, he had been a front desk manager at the Coeur d'Alene Best Western Inn.

Then ALS came calling.

"It can happen to anybody," he said while sitting in the living room on a sunny Tuesday morning.

It was last year, in December, it came for him.

Braffett looked forward to the 2 1/2 mile walk home each day from his job. It was a great time to relax, think, enjoy the sights of the city he called home.

And it was during one of those walks he noticed he was having trouble. Just a little, but there was something slowing his steps, something was wrong as he strolled along.

"I noticed my foot wasn't working right," he said. "I thought it was kind of strange."

The 5-11, 168-pound Braffett assumed it was a virus of some sort that would run its course and he would return to normal.

But it didn't.

"It just kept getting worse," Braffett said.

He mentioned his condition to his primary caregiver during his next appointment.

"She goes, 'We better look into it,'" Braffett said.

What followed was the proverbial battery of tests, including CAT scans and MRIs. Initially, doctors didn't find a specific problem.

But there was one possibility that wouldn't go away: ALS.

According to the ALS Association: ALS starts with muscle weakness and progresses into paralysis of the muscles of the limbs and trunk as well as those that control speech, swallowing and finally, breathing.

Anyone diagnosed with the disease generally only lives another 2-5 years.

"They were trying to eliminate everything because there's a lot of diseases that mimic ALS," he said. "There's no black and white test for it. You just eliminate everything and that's what it is."

Soon, the discomfort stretched from his feet to his legs and he had to use a walker. In late May, he had to quit working as his hands no longer answered to the commands of the brain.

"I couldn't handle the paperwork," he said.

By then, doctors at the Spokane VA Medical Center were 90 percent sure he had ALS. They sent him to an ALS specialist in Seattle, and by July, they confirmed it.

His future is grim.

"I feel devastated for him," said his mother.

"The irony of the situation is, he moved up here to help us out," Sandra Foley said.

His mom said her son has been courageous in facing the disease.

"He's remarkable. For such a horrible disease, it's amazing how he's doing," she said. "We love him and we take care of him."

According to the ALS Association, about 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people, and it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any given time.

Braffett said there is no real therapy for ALS. There is a drug that can help your lungs keep working as the rest of the body shuts down, and extend your life by some two or three months, he said.

"There is really nothing," he said.

Braffett can no longer walk, but can push himself to his feet as he transfers from the wheelchair to the car or to his bed.

"I pretty much stay in this power chair, 10-12 hours a day," he said.

"With this disease you have to pace yourself because you get tired," he said. "The muscles you have left are working up to 100 times as much as your muscles worked before you had the disease."

His brother gave him an iPad, which has a touch screen and allows him to maintain contact with friends via his Facebook page.

Since he served in the Navy for two years in the mid-70s, Braffett receives VA benefits and has insurance through his work.

"The VA's been really great about taking care of everything," he said.

He and his family are trying to come up with money to buy a wheelchair-accessible van, but that costs about $50,000.

He meets monthly with other people afflicted with ALS, which helps with keeping his spirits up.

Braffett will be at Saturday's ALS walk fundraiser at Riverstone. His fellow workers at the Best Western Coeur d'Alene Inn formed a team, too. Family and friends have been there for him, and he wants to be there for them this weekend.

"It's great," he said.

Meantime, he'll continue to rise each morning, have a cup of coffee, have breakfast and watch a little TV.

His future is what it is, he says.

"It's not anything you've done," he said. "It can happen to everybody. You never know."