Our very own HoJo was kind enough to send this little submission over to me. I normally would save these submissions for a Guest Writer Spot, but after reading through this, you'll totally understand why I chose not to wait the extra day, or even week, to post it.

So without further ado...

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Like many of you I started to do Folding@Home as part of a fun little competition here amongst my friends. It seemed like it would be fun and if you could maybe help out a good cause along the way so much the better. I didnÂ’t really give too much thought into how folding could effect the lives of others in the future if any good medical findings came out of it.



Recently IÂ’ve had reason to rethink my position on just how important Folding@Home can be. Last month my wife was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis). While MS is not life threatening it is quality of life threatening. On February 27th she lost the use of her left leg, had limited use of the right and had severe lower back pain. At first the doctor thought it was sciatica but when x-rays and an MRI of her lower back showed no real cause for the problem they ordered an MRI of the brain and upper back. A neurologist was called in and his diagnosis was probable MS. Luckily massive doses of steroids took care of the pain and gave her back some of the use of her legs.



Last month we went to see a neurologist who specializes in MS, and he confirmed the diagnosis given by the first neurologist. We were given four packets with info on the drugs available to treat MS so we could decide which drug was best for her. Notice I said treat and not cure. That is because there is no cure for MS. I wonÂ’t get into a full explanation of what MS is but suffice it to say that it affects the central nervous system and causes problems with muscle control and balance among other things. The drugs do not stop the progression of the disease but only slow it down. They require an injection anywhere from once a day to once a week depending on which one you choose and are very expensive, approximately $1500 to $1900 a month. We are covered largely by medical insurance but there are many out there who are not. Needless to say, most of those people may go without treatment.



I used MS in this little article because that is what my wife and I have had to learn about these last two months. There are many out there with far worse ailments and no hope for treatment. I hope this has not come off as a plea for sympathy because that is not what I intended. I am trying to make you all aware that Folding@Home is a very worth while endeavor and there are many out there who could use our help. If you have fun competing with F@H, great. The important thing is that you fold. For all of you that are already folding I thank you. For those of you not folding, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Remember, it could be you or one of yours who may need the advancements in medical science folding may help with in the future. WouldnÂ’t it be nice to know that a cure for some disease was there when you needed it at least partly because of your folding contributions?



Click here for more info on Folding@Home



Click here if you want to learn more about MS




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Thanks for sharing this with us Hojo...and thanks to everyone for Reading.

-Iron

Thanks for posting that Iron. Writing it was good therapy for me.

HoJo, if you wanted sympathy, you'd look in the dictionary between s**t and syphillis, right?

On a serious note, though, I hope you don't mind, I've taken the liberty of adding you and your wife to my list of prayers... All the best to you and yours, bro...

What GN72 said. Prayers are with you and so are my Ghz. Will be adding some more here soon hopefully.

My prayers also go out to you HoJo and your wife...

Thank you all. As I said, I was not looking for sympathy, but your prayers I will gladly accept. You can never have enough of those.

You and your wife will be in my thoughts and any / all the juice I can spare will be F@Holding for your wife along with all those who need it.

And your right , its a fun compitition, but even if it wasnt, I'd still be doing it for just this kind of reason, because IF I CAN in some way help a friend , it would be wrong not to do it.

Sorry to hear about Jos diagnosis. For me, it really kicked the chair out from under me. How dare someone telling me when I was going to die ! Really sucked. Karma I guess for telling my kid there was no Santa Claus and forget about the damn Bunny too!!
But you have faith.That's alot. WID

Putting a personal note to something so important can sometimes give that last push to someone who needed a reason to help. Thank you HoJo for sharing the very personal side for you and Jo.

My prayers and thoughts are with you both.

I hesitated to fold when I first heard of F@H and the more I read and heard about
Folding the more I felt the urge and desire to do so.

Yes I do feel the fun and competition here with our collective team mates.

However I too have personal motives as I have family members that have been diagnosed with MS and others with Cancer so Folding at home is the very least that I can do to help them as well as mankind.

My heart felt thoughts and prayers are with your wife, you HOJO, and your entire family too.

I encourage everyone to fold.
ItÂ’s so little effort to start folding. If you have not already started what are you waiting for?
And many thanks to those who are folding.

A informitive read HOJO. Thanks for shareing and bringing this to the fore front.

Sorry to hear that, I do fold, even if its just 2 computers.

My thoughts are with you both .

I wonder if things like this will get more people folding...

While I respect your commentary, I'd also like to suggest Prime95 is important.

We need to find new, larger prime numbers.

If we run out of prime numbers, imagine the disaster that would result: Literally tens of mathematicians could be out of jobs! Do you want to have to share a subway car with an out-of-work, disheveled mathematician? I thought not!

Think of the poor mathematicians.

bah... In poor taste Hak Foo,

Best of luck HoJo! I don't do much praying... sorry, but I will give ya my machines to help out as best I can brother.

Love and Respect,
G