by David Miller
Loveland, Ohio – In August 2022, Loveland resident Steve Rumberg was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 51. His family was devastated and slowly began to share the diagnosis with friends and family.
On Sunday, September 17, they participated in the ALS Cincinnati Walk to Defeat ALS. The Rumbergs organized a team to walk in the Cincinnati Walk to Defeat ALS and welcomed friends and family to join in the mission. The team had approximately 80 team members join the walk and was recognized in the top 3 teams, raising over $19,000.
They have now launched a Non-Profit called “Pals for pALS” (palsforpals.org) and the community of Loveland and the surrounding area is now participating in an activity called Operation Stadium Skeleton to support the family.
The idea for Pals for pALS began when offers of support started to pour in, including an offer from Steve’s fraternity brothers to set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for medical bills and college tuition for his daughter, Eliana. Steve and his wife, Orly, discussed the offer and decided to go a different route.
Steve learned a lot about community service while active in his college fraternity and he and Orly have been involved in community service throughout their adult lives. They wanted to be able to help other families affected by ALS and not just themselves.
Steve and Orly came up with the idea of Pals for pALS based on their own needs. Steve did most of the cooking during the week. A few months after diagnosis, Steve no longer had the hand strength to cook and Orly was going to have to take over cooking, in addition to all of the other family responsibilities that she was taking over.
The idea for Pals for pALS grew from their need to have assistance continuing to provide home-cooked meals for the family.
Pals for pALS recognizes that each family affected by an ALS diagnosis has different needs that arise after an ALS diagnosis and seeks to provide help to these families to fill these needs.
Pals for pALS is just getting started and the Rumberg family says they are excited to see how its mission will evolve.
The pALS Mission
Pals for pALS was formed for the purpose of supporting families in the Greater Cincinnati Area who are affected by an ALS diagnosis.
Pals for pALS hopes to provide support to pALS and their families to address needs that are not currently addressed by medical insurance or other organizations.
Operation Stadium Skeleton brings MLB ballparks TO Steve
Steve had a bucket list of seeing a baseball game at every MLB ballpark with his son.
Here are photos provided by the family of some of the ballparks they have visited:
While they were able to visit 21 out of 30 real MLB stadiums, travel has become difficult. Steve loves baseball but also loves Halloween. This fall, the community is bringing Operation Stadium Skeleton to Steve and his family.
The intent of this activity is three-fold: a) provide Steve and his family an activity to do together outside of their home, b) demonstrate a show of support for him and his family in a very personal way, and c) raise awareness of ALS and the non-profit, Pals for pALS.
Members of the community, including business partners and friends, are showing support by displaying a skeleton dressed for each of the 30 MLB teams in their yard. In addition to representing all 30 MLB stadiums, others are displaying Zombie baseball fans to join in the show of support. While all 30 MLB teams are spoken for and on display, the community can still get involved!
PROGRAM DETAILS – See if you, a family member, or someone you know would qualify for help.
Here are a few of the Operation Stadium Skeleton MLB Ballparks around town.
WHAT IS ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe.
Every 90 minutes a person in this country is diagnosed with ALS and every 90 minutes another person will lose their battle against this disease.
The life expectancy of a person with ALS averages 3 to 6 years from the time of diagnosis.
ALS can strike anyone. ALS occurs throughout the world with no gender, racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic boundaries.
Presently there is no known cause of the disease, yet it still costs loved ones an average of $250,000 a year to provide the care people living with ALS need. Medical insurance coverage does not come close to providing the range of support that an individual with ALS needs. Pals for pALS hopes to fill gaps in support that are not covered by medical insurance or other organizations.
For more information on ALS and local resources, click the link below.
ALS is a cruel disease. My mum is 83 and had great difficulty speaking and swallowing much of anything. Food was getting trapped in her throat and blocking her air way was happening more often. she battled for each breath. The riluzole did very little to help her. The medical team did even less. Her decline was rapid and devastating. The psychological support from the medical centre was non-existent and if it were not for the sensitive care and attention of our primary physician, there she would have died. There has been little if any progress in finding a cure or reliable treatment. Acupuncture eased her anxiety a bit. this year our primary physician started her on Natural Herbs Centre ALS/MND Ayurvedic treatment, 6 months into treatment she improved dramatically. It has been a complete turnaround with her speech, she no longer needs the feeding tube to feed, the treatment is a miracle. She recovered significantly!