PLYMOUTH-Retired Plymouth State Professor Jane Babin spoke about living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) for the past year, on Wednesday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m. in Silver Cultural Arts Center.
Babin is a graduate of Plymouth State University and Franklin Pierce Law. She has been teaching at PSU for 16 years as a Management Professor in the Business Department. According to Babin, it is time for a “change in careers.” She is involved in speaking and educating people about her disease at hospitals and schools.
Babin is also currently working on her own book, about people who are diagnosed with serious and terminal diseases, the relationship with their medical caregivers, and some of the issues they will face. The working title of the book is The Medicine of Compassion. “Writing is my healing,” said Babin. “I can’t save myself, but I can heal myself.” Babin also has plans to write a book with her son Christian, 8. The working title of this book is Different, but Special.
ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It is a neuro-muscular disease that attacks the upper and/or lower motor neurons. It is a relatively rare disease. It can occur in one out of 1,000 pre-menopausal women. However, it is twenty percent more common in men than women.
The status of research is close, Babin informed the audience. When it was discovered that ALS is a genetic ailment, the money for the research came in. However, there aren’t enough lab technicians to get the multitude of research done.
Babin is currently participating in a twenty -week drug trial. The twenty-week trial tests for the safety of the drug, and during this time the dose is slowly increased. If all participants can handle twelve grams or more of the medicine then they will continue for forty weeks on a regular dosage.
Babin and her sister will be traveling to Rome this summer. Her sister hopes that Pope John Paul II will make Babin one of his final miracles.
Babin closed by saying that “If you have close friends, keep them close; if you have family, embrace them; if you have children, hug them and tell them you love them.”