Geoff Bailey made the drive home from Miami alone. This was the way he wanted it. The 40-year-old filmmaker had crossed Alligator Alley dozens of times before, but this trip was different. No other trip before or after was like it. This was the day he learned he had a disease that would take his life.

Geoff Bailey

“He didn’t call me on his way home,” says Nancy Bailey, Geoff’s wife. “I knew immediately something was wrong.” Nancy and Geoff had been married for years. It was a second marriage for both. When Geoff got home he sat in his car in the driveway searching for the strength to go inside. Nancy couldn’t wait. She said “I went out to him and he looked at me and said ‘it’s Lou Gehrig’s disease,’” Nancy recalls. “That’s where we broke down crying, holding each other in the driveway in front of our home.”

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the official name of the progressive neurodegenerative disease that would rob Geoff of his life and Nancy of her husband in less than two years. Geoff Bailey died at the young age of 43.  “When we got the diagnosis, I got on the computer and read about the disease,” says Nancy. “I then went into the bathroom and threw up.”

Some know Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis simply as ALS but even the simple three letters confuses some. “Mention ALS and people think you are talking about Alzheimer’s,” Nancy says. “ALS is very misunderstood.”  According to the ALS association, 15 people are diagnosed with ALS every day nationwide. It is also 20% more common in men than women.

“ALS is a degenerative disease of the nervous system,” says Fort Myers neurologist Dr. Nima Mowzoon.

Neurologist Nima Mowzoon

ALS is also incredibly difficult for the patient and caregivers. Until now ALS patients have had to travel at least two hours to ALS Clinics in either Miami or Tampa. The Baileys chose the clinic in Miami. “We had to get up at 4 a.m. to make the 300 mile roundtrip,” says Nancy. “It was exhausting.”

But now, thanks to Lee Memorial Health System, ALS patients can be cared for in Lee County. A first-of-its-kind ALS Clinic is opening September 12, 2009 at 13601 Plantation Road. “This is a wonderful thing Lee Memorial is doing,” says Nancy who will volunteer as much time as she can to help other families dealing with the effects of ALS.

“Patients with ALS have a lot of different needs,” says Dr. Mowzoon. “Now they won’t have to run around to meet with different specialists. ALS patients come to one place and the doctors come to them.” Dr. Mowzoon will be one of three neurologists working at the ALS clinic.  In addition to neurologists, the clinic will provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, speech therapy and social services. Caregivers will also get support services. The clinic is located at the Sleep Disorder Center on Plantation Road across from Gulf Coast Hospital.

Alan Cunningham

Alan Cunningham, director of the Clinic, says the one-of-its-kind Lee County clinic came about after the Lee Memorial Board of Directors received letters from families dealing with ALS. “We took it very seriously and saw there was a great need,” says Cunningham.

Cynics might question Lee Memorial Health System’s motives, saying money is the real reason the clinic is opening. But when you question Cunningham, it is clear money was not the driving force. “We didn’t wake up one morning and say ‘hey, here’s another revenue stream,’” says Cunningham. “The main thrust was to do the right thing. This is one of those right things.”

The clinic will serve a 10 county area in Southwest Florida. Currently, from Sarasota south to Marco Island there are approximately 100 people diagnosed with ALS. The first clinic and grand opening is Saturday September 12^th.  After that, clinics will be held the second Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to noon.  “Each patient will spend about 20-25 minutes with each specialist,” says Cunningham. “And on the same day, when they leave the clinic they will have a written report to take with them on managing the disease until their next visit.”

During his battle Geoff Bailey reached out to his friend Harry Horn, a popular

Former News Anchor Harry Horn

news anchor in Southwest Florida. Harry helped produce a Public Service Announcement on ALS. In a strange twist of irony, about five years after Geoff passed away, Harry and his wife were eating dinner on the lanai at their Cape Coral home when Harry said to his wife Toni, “I think I have what Geoff had.” “I thought he had a stroke,” recalls Toni. Harry’s self-diagnosis was accurate. After an 18-month fight, Harry died at the age of 62.

“We went to the ALS clinic in Tampa until we just couldn’t make the trip anymore,” says Toni.  “I learned to cry in the shower so he wouldn’t notice.”

Toni says a Lee County ALS center was Harry’s dream. “Harry’s ambition and goal was to get an ALS center in Lee County.”

Besides providing a one-stop center for tests and treatments for the patient, ALS centers help caregivers as well. “The ALS center in Tampa taught me how to lift Harry,” says Toni. “They taught me how to live better.”

“There’s no cure for ALS, but a multi-discipline approach at one location is such a blessing,” says Nancy Bailey. “An ALS center offers comfort and hope.  If you lose your hope, you lose everything.”

You can find out more about ALS at http://www.alsa.org. Toni Horn has also created an interesting fundraising project. Check it out at www.ties4ALS.com.

ALS Clinic Information

ALS Clinic
13601 Plantation Road
Fort Myers, FL 33912
239-343-0776