Jon Imber was at the peak of his career as an accomplished artist and teacher when he was diagnosed with ALS in the fall of 2012. "Imber's Left Hand," a documentary about Jon's life as ALS claimed the use of his dominant right hand, will air on April 5 at the Hartford Jewish Film Festival.
Jay Fishman was the Chairman and CEO of The Travelers Companies since 2001. He successfully steered the company through the financial crisis of 2007 before ALS forced him to leave his post as CEO in December 2015. His new mission is to spread awareness of this devastating disease.
Jon and Jay are two of the thousands of people diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) every year, a disease more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
It's a debilitating disease with a downward course and no known cure. It comes with little warning and is difficult to diagnose, partly because symptoms of neurologic dysfunction begin mildly, before progressing to almost complete loss of control over voluntary muscles.
ALS can take a psychological toll on patients and their families. The challenge becomes helping people affected by this disease choose to live their lives to the fullest, while dying.
GUESTS:
- Kevin Felice - Neuromuscular Neurologist, Director, Neuromuscular Center at Hospital for Special Care, Professor of Neurology at the UConn school of medicine
- Jill Hoy - Artist and wife of Jon Imber
- Ron Hoffman - Founder and Executive Director of Compassionate Care ALS, and the author of Sacred Bullet, Transforming Trauma to Grace While Tending the Terminally Ill.
- Jay Fishman - Current Chairman of the Board and former CEO for Travelers.
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Colin McEnroe, Chion Wolf, and Greg Hill contributed to this show.
