Whitefish doctor battles Lou Gehrig's disease

A 37-year-old physician in Whitefish is taking up the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, after being diagnosed with it in July.

Dr. Erik Schroeder, a non-operative family physician with Flathead Orthopedics, continues to work and remain active.

In fact, being an avid hiker, mountain biker and skier, he shows no outward signs of any malady.

But he’s facing the fight of his life against a mysterious disease known to affect people in the prime of their life, with no known cause other than rare hereditary cases, and no known cure.

A disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, ALS causes muscles to waste away as control of them is progressively lost, but the disease doesn’t typically affect the functioning of the mind. Death usually results in three to five years.

Schroeder said the symptoms leading to his diagnosis were subtle.

At first he fell a few times, which was unusual for him. Then he noticed in May that his foot was weak and didn’t feel like his own when walking. In late June he noticed an unusual number of muscle fasciculations, or rapid twitches.

“I saw a few docs in town and pretty quickly came up with a diagnosis,” he said.

Such a fast diagnosis is unusual for ALS, Schroeder said. Unlike some other diseases, ALS affects both the upper motor neurons linking the brain and spine and the lower motor neurons linking the spine and muscles.

“There’s not a single blood test or study you do ... It’s a clinical diagnosis combining a lot of factors and excluding other things.”

Still early in his battle against ALS, Schroeder and his family and friends already are taking up the fight.

He formed a team with his wife Andrea and family, friends and coworkers to participate in the ALS Walk in Missoula last month.

Organized by the Evergreen Chapter of the ALS Association, the Missoula walk aimed to raise $26,000. With donations still coming in, it has raised more than $59,000.

The money raised by the event is used to help pay for research, fund certified ALS care centers and purchase medical equipment that can be loaned to people who are fighting the disease.

Schroeder’s team alone raised $24,979 and he and his partners at Flathead Orthopedics plan to pitch in another $10,000.

“We had a pretty good showing,” he said of the event.

“It was a good experience to see all those other people supporting us ... And it was really good for my wife and I to see all the other people and families, to know there are lots of people affected by this.”

SCHROEDER IS ALSO participating in clinical trials for NP001, an ALS drug that has been fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drug attempts to regulate macrophages in the brain that are activated and for some reason attack the nervous system, possibly because of abnormally packaged proteins, he said.

Rilutek, the only drug approved for ALS treatment, is expensive and increases by just a few months the amount of time until a person has to go on a breathing tube to stay alive.

The other treatment options available for ALS patients are supportive and deal with symptoms of the disease.

“In my review of things, this is the best thing we have so far,” Schroeder said of the trials.

“It’s comforting for me just to say I’m involved in the best thing that’s out there now. I’m just going to do this and live.”

Schroeder said he will continue to work as long as he can be effective.

“It’s really therapeutic for me, a great distraction. And it’s a really enjoyable thing for me to not focus on myself and to go out and help other people,” he said.

While some of the worst news that a person could hear, the diagnosis has helped Schroeder live for the moment and realize what is most important in life.

“I’m going to try to live my life as an example and reflect my faith and anything good people see in me, I hope it reflects up to God. I’m going to try to enjoy the time I have the best that I can,” he said.

Because he is still active and able, he hasn’t yet told his three young children, one age 7 and 4-year-old twins.

“If ever there was a good time to have ALS it is now,” Schroder said of the state of research and patient advocacy.

The support of his wife and family and friends has been amazing, he said, and together they maintain hope, courage and trust.

“We’re praying for miracles and we believe in them,” Schroeder said.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.