Inside ex-Alabama running back Kerry Goode's battle with ALS...

quote:

---

Kerry Goode's world changed Aug. 11.

The former Alabama running back had known something was wrong for almost two years, especially once the rapid weight loss started this spring.

Each day, Goode said, it seemed he was down another pound. Those around Goode were complimentary at first. They quickly grew concerned, as did the now 50-year old Goode.

In a matter of months, a solidly built 230-pound Goode shrunk to 190 pounds. There were other causes for concern as well — the unexplained muscle spasms, the strange and painful abdominal cramps whenever Goode coughed or sneezed, and the feeling of something like an electric current shooting from the back of his head down to his back when he tried to pick something up.

Goode went through a series of tests —a colonoscopy, an endoscopy and multiple MRIs and CT scans. In all, Goode saw more than 10 doctors, racking up "tens of thousands of dollars" in medical expenses. For almost two years, the doctors' answers were always the same: We don't know what's wrong.

That made Aug. 11 a combination of devastating and — in a weird way — somewhat of a relief to finally have an answer.

Goode had gone to a neurologist, who recommended undergoing a nerve conduction study. A week later, Goode sat in that same doctor's office.

Bluntly, the neurologist told Goode, "We figured out what your problem is. You have ALS. Do you know what that is?"

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) — also known as Lou Gehrig's disease — is, according to the ALS Association website, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.

There is no cure. The average life span after diagnosis is two to five years.

---

quote:

---

One year ago, Goode was participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge, an initiative designed to raise money and awareness for ALS, in honor of good friend and former Alabama teammate Kevin Turner.

Turner was diagnosed with ALS in 2010.

Goode found out later that he already had the disease at the time he participated.

Goode is now more invested in promoting ALS awareness and raising money for disease research.

So is his family, creating a website — KerryGoode.com — to raise money for both ALS and cancer research.

In addition to Goode's brother Clyde, another of Goode's brothers, Chris, battled prostate cancer while their mother is a two-time breast cancer survivor.

Once past the initial shock of the diagnosis, the competitor in Goode returned.

"If you're a competitor, the fight will come back," Goode said. "It's like, 'Hey, we're going to do everything we need to do to fight this thing. It's what you've got to do. You can't sit curled up, balled up in a corner and let it go."

---