Woman with ALS dies at 48

  • Adam Parker
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  • Posted: Sunday, November 15, 2009 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Thursday, March 22, 2012 8:54 p.m.
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Laura Lyn Guerry was diagnosed with ALS in January. In less than a year, Guerry's neurological disease had progressed so rapidly that she had only limited movement of her arms and hands. She died last week.
Grace Beahm /The Post and CourierLaura Lyn Guerry was diagnosed with ALS in January. In less than a year, Guerry's neurological disease had progressed so rapidly that she had only limited movement of her arms and hands. She died last week.

Laura Lyn Guerry, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in January after an active and athletic life, died early Wednesday. She was 48.

Guerry was the subject of a feature story in The Post and Courier last month. More than anything, she wanted to draw attention to "a monster of a disease" that took her by surprise, frustrated her constantly and exhausted her.

She spent many of her waning hours typing e-mails at her laptop, imploring the ALS Association to step up its public service announcements and raise awareness of this unrelenting illness that withers the body even as the mind remains lucid.

"I truly believe if the public understood how devastating this disease was and how many people are forced to deal with burdens of care and financial obligations, it would make a huge difference," she wrote to Jeff Snyder, vice president of communications at the ALS Association.

Her body deteriorated rapidly. In September, she was confined to a motorized chair but retained use of her hands and arms. A month later, she could not lift her arms over her head, tie her shoes or feed herself (though she continued to tap at her computer keyboard).

In the last three or four weeks, she had lost all use of her arms, couldn't swallow and struggled to breathe, husband Jay Guerry said.

The first part of November, she developed a urinary-tract infection, which weakened her further. She was too ill to get a feeding tube, Jay Guerry said.

"When you're that sick, and have other issues, things snowball," he said. "Especially when you can't eat."

On Halloween, Laura Lyn Guerry managed to eat a Whopper Junior Value Meal with her sister, Anne Marie Tracy. "It just went downhill from there," Tracy said.

Confined to her bed, her strength ebbing, she was in a panic, her sister said. She could feel the disease moving through her body, under her skin, up her neck.

Tuesday night, Tracy joined the Guerrys at their home. Lutheran Hospice staff arrived in the early morning hours to monitor Laura Lyn and try to keep her as comfortable as possible.

"I'm done, I'm done. Do something," she begged, according to Tracy. She wanted to fall asleep into oblivion, but couldn't. Her husband lay beside her in bed, taking care of her.

"It was the worst thing I've ever been through in my life," Tracy said.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons degenerate, making it increasingly difficult, and eventually impossible, for neural signals to reach muscles. Muscle tissue atrophies, and those afflicted with ALS often become totally paralyzed.

A little more than 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year, population studies indicate. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time; 60 percent are men, and 93 percent are white, according to the ALS CARE database.

Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. But the disease, which has no cure and no known cause, does afflict people in their 20s and 30s. Life expectancy from diagnosis typically is two to five years. About 20 percent of ALS patients live longer than five years.

Guerry's case was especially aggressive.

She grew up in the Lowcountry, loved horses and cheerleading as a child and had many friends, Tracy said.

Guerry attended Francis Marion College, joined a sorority and enjoyed an active social life. After college, she became a fitness freak and regular runner, working out at the Moncks Corner YMCA.

She met Jay in Myrtle Beach and lived there several years before moving to property in Pinopolis owned by her family, her sister said.

She became involved in youth programs at her church, and enjoyed gardening and traveling with her husband. The couple chose not to have children, Tracy said. But Guerry was like a stepmother to many of the children in the area, attending recitals and events.

She worked 20 years as a sales representative for Brown & Williamson tobacco company, then for Advantage Sales and Marketing, a food broker, for a few years before her ALS struck, forcing her to quit.

Her home, built to order by Jay Guerry, is nestled among the trees far off the road and features hand-made stained glass and custom furniture designed by Guerry.

Tracy said her sister was happy and "very blessed."

"She had a great life, until last year," she said.

At the end, she was a little bitter, Tracy said, angry that she would miss her nieces' graduations and weddings.

Jay Guerry, who had quit his job with the South Carolina Tax Commission to take care of his wife, was stoic, complimenting Laura Lyn's courage and determination.

"She was the reason I was here," he said.

Reach Adam Parker at 937-5902 or aparker@postandcourier.com.