Name: James West

Hometown, State: Englewood, CO

Age: 42

Family:
Wife: Lecia West
Sons: Logan (5) and Vincent (4)

Hobbies/Interests:
Vegetable gardening and Texas Longhorn football

Date of ALS diagnosis:
October 2006

Tell us about your life before ALS:
I was a very active person. I liked to mountain bike in the summer and go skiing in the winter. During the summer, I would spend hours in my vegetable garden and chase my kids around the park. I was only unhappy when Texas lost.

Tell us about your life with ALS:
My life has slowed down, literally. I have changed in many situations from a participant to a watcher. The biggest challenge is not dealing with the physical challenges; it is transitioning from offering help to needing help. I try to live my life as I did before, only slower.

Tell us how ALS has brought new significance to any aspect of your life - family, attitude, hobbies/passions, career, etc.:
I try to impart memories to my children. It’s not really something I gave much thought about before diagnosis. I want my sons to remember the things we do. Even if it is as little a thing as building a spaceship with Legos.

List your favorite quote:
“The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do you have a “life motto” or “profound words to live by”:
I strongly believe that if you see something that is wrong; you need to be proactive and get it fixed.

Has there been an “a-ha!” moment or a specific turn of events that has helped you live with ALS?
Early in the disease I was fixated on “I can do nothing.” Then I realized that I could raise money and awareness. I stopped worrying about the outcome of the disease.

Is there anything else about you and/or ALS that you want to share with people who read your story?
At a technical seminar that I had arranged my boss to speak at someone asked, as a joke, “What is it like to work with Jim West?” His response was, “He is quite the firebrand.” For years, I wondered whether that was a compliment. I now relish that story since I want everyone I meet to remember me.