Choice cuts School district must trim $5.4 million from budget. PAGE 11 Man cold Comedian from popular commercial performs at the Queen’s. PAGE 29 Crushing competition Roller derby season underway.
GATEWAY
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2014 ISSUE
Nanaimo:
Looking back, moving forward
INSIDE
Celebrating
1988
• �
1889 2014
2013
1
Years
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014
VOL. 25, NO. 108
Serge’s story
Serge Vaillancourt, who has Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is using his battle with the disease to raise public awareness about ALS research.
Serge Vaillancourt and his family share their journey of hope and fear with ALS, a fatal, debilitating disease
CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
STORY BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM PHOTOS BY CHRIS BUSH
S
erge Vaillancourt coughs, the sudden attack making his blue eyes water. His wife settles a steaming mug of green tea in his hands and he takes a slow sip. He tries to talk, but can’t seem to get the words out so he swallows. His throat works. He takes another sip to soothe his muscles and tries again. “It’s been a bad morning,” he says, his speech slurred and slow. “The worst is, it’s happening more and more.”
The 66-year-old was diagnosed two years ago with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, an incurable disease that destroys the motor neurons that send electric impulses between the muscles and brain. He knows he faces a challenging journey, full of ‘mini deaths’ of things he’ll never be able to experience again – the freedom of roaring down the road on his motorcycle, dressing himself in the morning and eating a homecooked meal. But Serge is determined to find the silver lining. Sure, he can’t clench his fist any longer, but he can still feel the warmth of his wife’s hands, he says. The muscles in his
OF DEALONTH! M THE
A journey with ALS
throat are weakening, making it hard for him to talk, but he can still sing a few lines of a serenade. He now has a feeding tube attached to his stomach, but at least it means he could be alive for his daughter’s wedding. “Even with ALS you can find something to be happy about,” he said. “I’m glad for the life I have and the support that I do. I’m not going to go negative.”
Today the News Bulletin begins a four-part series on Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, through the eyes of Serge Vaillancourt and his family, documenting his day-to-day challenges living with the muscle-wasting disease. On Thursday (April 17), readers will learn about medical advances in the fight for a cure for ALS.
ing that could have only been fate, says his wife Nicky, her eyes sparkling behind frothy, blonde bangs. She was going through a divorce and wanted nothing
Breaking the news
Serge calls her his angel. She calls him her prince charming. They met more than two decades ago in Campbell River by chance, in the kind of meet-
to do with men, and he was driving with his son and just happened to spot a friend in his rear-view mirror. He pulled over in a cloud of dirt and dust, nearly hitting Nicky as she crossed the street. When he spotted her, he forgot all about his friend. She was a “goodlooking little honey and I was a single guy,” he said, chuckling. The couple married 23 years ago this spring. Now, as they sit together in their living room, Serge says the disease is out of his hands. All he can do is cope the best he can and thank his lucky stars he has his wife. Having her gives him reason to live.
See ‘DISEASE’ /7
Care for ALS patients often falls to spouse BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
Focus on today. Not tomorrow and not what’s coming. It’s the only way Nicky Vaillancourt says she can sleep at night. Two years ago, Nicky’s husband, Serge, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, an incurable and rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease that attacks and paralyzes muscles in the body. It started with twitching and muscle loss. Now he spends a lot of his time in a wheelchair. It’s hard enough to watch the person you love die, Nicky says, but caring for him while it happens is the cruelest part of all. She feels the weight of responsibility to keep her husband alive and give him the best quality of life she can, “but when you are seeing the person you love struggle … mentally they are still the same person, they are still all there, but their bodies are basically dying and there’s nothing you can do, it’s absolutely … it’s devastating,” she said, her voice trembling as she holds back tears. “It’s emotionally and physically and mentally draining and it’s difficult because – knock on wood – I am still hoping for a cure but I know what the reality is and it is …overwhelming.”
See ‘PRIMARY’ /6
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