Focus In on Children’s Eye Health and Safety in August In an effort to help put an end to unnecessary vision loss in children, Prevent Blindness America, has developed a comprehensive platform on children’s eye health. A detailed strategy has been developed to promote children’s vision and eye health. It also creates a framework for bringing key stakeholder organizations and individuals together to make children’s vision health a national priority.
AIDS Research Foundation (amfAR) amfAR supports innovative AIDS research; educates patients, doctors, and the public about HIV treatment/prevention; works to protect the rights of all people affected by HIV/AIDS.
Knoxville resident Carianne Meystrik, 39, a mother of four who formerly managed the hemophilia laboratory at the University of Tennessee Hospital, now depends on family and friends to assist her with daily living needs because she has lost use of her arms and legs due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS usually has a survival rate of two to five years from the time of diagnosis .
Knoxville resident Carianne Meystrik, 39, a mother of four who formerly managed the hemophilia laboratory at the University of Tennessee Hospital, now depends on family and friends to assist her with daily living needs because she has lost use of her arms and legs due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS usually has a survival rate of two to five years from the time of diagnosis . Meystrik, diagnosed with the disease in June 1998, works very closely with The ALS Association’s Tennessee Chapter which has proclaimed the Meystriks the family that best exemplifies the spirit of “ALS Across America” for the chapter during ALS Awareness Month in May. The “ALS Across America” national campaign recognizes courageous individuals with ALS and their caregivers who are role models to people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
These special individuals reflect the spirit of the organization as they make a positive difference in their community by expanding awareness of ALS and embodying the spirit of living life to the fullest. Meystrik receives daily care from her husband Chris, 40, head of the technology department at Jewelry TV, from daughter and primary caregiver, Rebecca, 13, and most recently by caregiver Patty Bradshaw, who has been with the family since last summer. The Meystriks attended the chapter’s annual Walk to Defeat ALSTM event in October 2008 in Kingsport, Tenn., despite the fact oldest son, Jacob, 16, had been hospitalized with leukemia only four months earlier. “Carianne is inspiring on many levels,” said Jane Luethke, R.N., the chapter’s patient services coordinator. “Her positive attitude and her ability to participate and live life without the use of her hands and feet are amazing. Her courage to step outside her own needs to make her home as normal as possible for her children and family is startling.” Of Meystrik, Bradshaw said the following, “The number one thing is that she is intentional about loving others. She is not self-focused. She is outwardly focused. She wants to know how you are doing. I am her caregiver, but it didn’t take me long at all to be her friend. Her attitude is never ‘look at what all I have to deal with.’” Aside from her family and Patty, more than 50 volunteers assist the Meystriks with meals, laundry, and household tasks that include such things as opening the mail and filing. Their team is mostly made up of volunteers that they met at their church, Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church of Knoxville. Meystrik has home schooled Jacob and Rebecca as well as hers and Chris’ two other youngsters, Jonathan, 8, and Graceanne, 11.
Currently, the three youngest children attend a private school three days a week, and their mother continues to home school them the other two days a week. Throughout May, The Association and its nationwide network of 42 chapters will reach out to communities across the country to educate the public about Lou Gehrig’s Disease and urge people to join The Association in the fight to make ALS a disease of the past. The Association’s National ALS Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference, which has grown to be the single largest gathering of the ALS community, is part of ALS Awareness Month, which will be held this year on May 10-12 in Washington, D.C. In 2003 and 2004, Meystrik and her husband attended this event in the nation’s capital. Due to the fact that Jacob will probably be receiving a bone marrow transplant this May, they probably will not attend this year’s national conference. “The Meystriks epitomize the mission of The ALS Association of trying to help people live a fuller life with ALS,” Luethke said. “Even though they cannot participate in activities in the way they once did, they adapt. They continue to live life to the fullest within the confines of the changes that ALS imposes.”
In an effort to help put an end to unnecessary vision loss in children, Prevent Blindness America, has developed a comprehensive platform on children’s eye health. A detailed strategy has been developed to promote children’s vision and eye health. It also creates a framework for bringing key stakeholder organizations and individuals together to make children’s vision health a national priority. 
Knoxville resident Carianne Meystrik, 39, a mother of four who formerly managed the hemophilia laboratory at the University of Tennessee Hospital, now depends on family and friends to assist her with daily living needs because she has lost use of her arms and legs due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS usually has a survival rate of two to five years from the time of diagnosis .
Knoxville resident Carianne Meystrik, 39, a mother of four who formerly managed the hemophilia laboratory at the University of Tennessee Hospital, now depends on family and friends to assist her with daily living needs because she has lost use of her arms and legs due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ALS usually has a survival rate of two to five years from the time of diagnosis . Meystrik, diagnosed with the disease in June 1998, works very closely with The ALS Association’s Tennessee Chapter which has proclaimed the Meystriks the family that best exemplifies the spirit of “ALS Across America” for the chapter during ALS Awareness Month in May. The “ALS Across America” national campaign recognizes courageous individuals with ALS and their caregivers who are role models to people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 
