By Charlotte Reicks

"What's Huntington's Disease?" was the response of Scott and Rebecca Lampton of Grand Junction when they were told by a neurologist last year that this was what was causing Scott's erratic behavior. His reply, "Go home and look it up on the internet." They felt relief with finally having a name for the uncontrolled movements of Scott's body, arms and legs, which have become increasingly worse over the past five years. However, several hours after reading about Huntington's, they felt overwhelmed and saddened by the prognosis of the isease. The brain cells gradully die with the HD person losing physical and mental abilities.

Hungton's Disease (HD) is a rare disease affecting about 1 in 10,000 Americans. It is inherited from a parent with the disease. Everyone who inherits the gene will develop HD. Most people know, when the symptons begin to appear, what it is because they have seen it in a parent. Not so for Scott and Rebecca because Scott was adopted at birth.

Scott has the apperarance of a typical Huntington's Disease person: very thin with arms and legs flailing and body jerking uncontrollably.

Emotionally, these are difficult times, especially for Scott who is home-bound, cannot drive, and can no longer use the computer because of his erratic movements. Scott and Rebecca both state that their faith in Jesus Christ is their rock. As Rebecca says, "We rely on God and prayer as that is all we have."

The Good news is that the search on the internet did lead them to the local Grand Junction HD Support Group that meets monthly. This has been a tremendous help, realizing that they are not alone and that local support is available.

For more information, please call Charlotte Reicks at (970)245-7491 or by email at careicks@bresnan.net