February 24, 2021

Hi everyone,

I have some personal news to share with my friends here that I haven’t had a chance to talk to or who haven’t heard through the grapevine. Just before Christmas, I was diagnosed with ALS. For those unfamiliar, ALS is a progressive disease that affects the motor neurons, limiting motor function over time. It is incurable, but there are a few treatments I am undergoing to help slow the progression.

The positives are that they caught it relatively early, and it appears to be progressing slowly. The challenges are that this disease affects everyone differently, so it’s very hard to predict any kind of timeline. I will caution you to be careful what you read online, as there is lots of new research and treatment methods, and much of what you’ll find online is outdated and won’t necessarily be the case for me.

Overall I’m feeling pretty good about things. I’ve started to experience some motor function loss in my legs and hands, but am still able to live life pretty much normally. I’m undergoing various treatments, and attacking the problem from many different angles, with the help of an amazing group of family, friends and specialists. I’m also incredibly lucky to be working with a medical team that are leaders in ALS research and treatment in North America.

A diagnosis like this, along with the loss of my mom last year, really helps put things into perspective. I’m doing my best to take this opportunity to make the best of the time I have left, and to squeeze as much joy and fun as I can out of every day. I’ve got a lot to look forward to: a wedding to plan with my beautiful fiancé, a new home to buy, a company to grow with my brother, an album to record, and as many adventures with friends as I can manage, to name a few. Jackie and I, along with our pup Lou, are also tackling one of my life long dreams of hiking the Bruce Trail, a 900km continuous path from Niagara to Tobermory. In the past month we’ve completed about 35km and are trying to get out a couple times a week. Hopefully as the spring arrives we’ll be able to do much more.

In a year that has been full of bad news, hard times and negativity for everyone, I think it’s more important than ever to look on the bright side. For example: No one can tell me not to have an extra ice cream sandwich for dessert anymore, and I no longer need to worry about silly things like saving for retirement, putting on sunscreen, or wearing anything but sweatpants. In a lot of ways, this disease has inadvertently caused a lot of my dreams to come true. If you no longer feel any sympathy for me, good, that was the point.

I want to thank everyone who has sent kind words, thoughts and prayers my way in the last few weeks and over the course of the last year. My family and I are incredibly fortunate to have so many caring and generous friends across the continent, and in no small way that support has helped us through some trying times.

Thanks,

Jake