Water Worth The Price For Lake
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Playing soccer their entire lives, brothers Ryan and Lake Price probably can't think of too many things more important to them, but there is at least one - knowledge of Multiple Schlerosis (MS).[[In-content Ad]]After seeing their father, Brent, diagnosed the day before Thanksgiving in 2001, Lake received word that he also suffered from MS on President's Day 2005.
This past January, Lake had a flare up with his disease, which he didn't fully recover from until May.
"He got sick in January and lost the feeling on his left side for all of February," Christi Price said of her son. "We tried to cutback on the traveling we were doing with (travel soccer team) in Carmel. After tests, it was shown that he had broken some new lesions on his brain and spine."
Lake's first sign of suffering from MS, which affects 300,000 Americans, came when numbness extended from his foot all the way up his leg, a common sign of the disease.
According to MayoClinic.com, "MS is a chronic, potentially debilitating disease that affects your central nervous system. . . . In MS, the body mistakenly directs antibodies and white blood cells against proteins in the myelin sheath, a fatty substance that insulates nerve fibers in your brain and spinal cord."
Upon repeated attack from the proteins and white blood cells, the detached myelin, which acts like insulation in an electrical wire, may eventually be destroyed. However, when the myelin just hardens or scars, scar tissue may form over the nerve fibers, either not allowing or just delaying nerve signals to and from the brain.
Over the past two years, Brent hasn't had any relapses, but Lake's recent flare resulted in him receiving a shot each night, which helps to slow the progression.
"He really hates those," Christi said.
Outside of the shots, Lake's been acting like every other high school freshman. In fact, after getting cleared to play following his flare-up earlier this year, Lake hit the field again, only to get a broken nose.
"If I get overly tired, my legs feel weak and more heavy," Lake said of playing with MS.
Doctors cleared Lake to play based on the fact that aerobic exercise "may improve strength, muscle tone, balance and coordination."
The only thing Lake really worries about out on the field is overheating, which is not a good thing for a person with MS.
"Basically whenever it gets over 90 degrees," Christi said. "We have a cooler on the sidelines, so we make sure he drinks lots of water."
When mom can't be around, Lake's still got someone watching his back in older brother Ryan, a senior starter for the Warsaw Tigers.
"I'm just always reminding him to get water," Ryan said. "If I see him struggling during practice, I always tell (coach Scott) Bauer, 'Lake needs water.'"
His younger brother's disease may have also given Ryan a direction to go in after high school.
Upon learning about MS through a number of papers he's written on the subject, Ryan may now go into a related field.
"He's looking into getting into the chiropractic field," Christi said. "It does kind of affect 50 percent of our family."
Lake may get some added slack from Ryan, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily getting pampered.
"I just keep pushing him," Ryan said. "But if he does need water, I tell him to go get it."
On top of having a family to support and help him out along the way, Lake's also got someone who knows first hand about dealing with MS.
"It's nice to be able to go to him if something happens that may just be normal," Lake said of communicating with his father.
While their lives may center around keeping everyone in the family healthy, it's pretty safe to say that some of that may be forgotten in the 80 minutes that the boys are on the soccer field, looking to advance the Tigers to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2002.
"This is something we've been working toward all season," Ryan said of reaching semistate.
"Since the middle of the summer, at open field, we would talk about it."
The Tigers will get the chance to go even further when they face Jay County at 6 p.m., with the victor of that match moving on to play the winner of the Homestead-Westview semifinal match in the championship Tuesday at 4 p.m.
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Playing soccer their entire lives, brothers Ryan and Lake Price probably can't think of too many things more important to them, but there is at least one - knowledge of Multiple Schlerosis (MS).[[In-content Ad]]After seeing their father, Brent, diagnosed the day before Thanksgiving in 2001, Lake received word that he also suffered from MS on President's Day 2005.
This past January, Lake had a flare up with his disease, which he didn't fully recover from until May.
"He got sick in January and lost the feeling on his left side for all of February," Christi Price said of her son. "We tried to cutback on the traveling we were doing with (travel soccer team) in Carmel. After tests, it was shown that he had broken some new lesions on his brain and spine."
Lake's first sign of suffering from MS, which affects 300,000 Americans, came when numbness extended from his foot all the way up his leg, a common sign of the disease.
According to MayoClinic.com, "MS is a chronic, potentially debilitating disease that affects your central nervous system. . . . In MS, the body mistakenly directs antibodies and white blood cells against proteins in the myelin sheath, a fatty substance that insulates nerve fibers in your brain and spinal cord."
Upon repeated attack from the proteins and white blood cells, the detached myelin, which acts like insulation in an electrical wire, may eventually be destroyed. However, when the myelin just hardens or scars, scar tissue may form over the nerve fibers, either not allowing or just delaying nerve signals to and from the brain.
Over the past two years, Brent hasn't had any relapses, but Lake's recent flare resulted in him receiving a shot each night, which helps to slow the progression.
"He really hates those," Christi said.
Outside of the shots, Lake's been acting like every other high school freshman. In fact, after getting cleared to play following his flare-up earlier this year, Lake hit the field again, only to get a broken nose.
"If I get overly tired, my legs feel weak and more heavy," Lake said of playing with MS.
Doctors cleared Lake to play based on the fact that aerobic exercise "may improve strength, muscle tone, balance and coordination."
The only thing Lake really worries about out on the field is overheating, which is not a good thing for a person with MS.
"Basically whenever it gets over 90 degrees," Christi said. "We have a cooler on the sidelines, so we make sure he drinks lots of water."
When mom can't be around, Lake's still got someone watching his back in older brother Ryan, a senior starter for the Warsaw Tigers.
"I'm just always reminding him to get water," Ryan said. "If I see him struggling during practice, I always tell (coach Scott) Bauer, 'Lake needs water.'"
His younger brother's disease may have also given Ryan a direction to go in after high school.
Upon learning about MS through a number of papers he's written on the subject, Ryan may now go into a related field.
"He's looking into getting into the chiropractic field," Christi said. "It does kind of affect 50 percent of our family."
Lake may get some added slack from Ryan, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily getting pampered.
"I just keep pushing him," Ryan said. "But if he does need water, I tell him to go get it."
On top of having a family to support and help him out along the way, Lake's also got someone who knows first hand about dealing with MS.
"It's nice to be able to go to him if something happens that may just be normal," Lake said of communicating with his father.
While their lives may center around keeping everyone in the family healthy, it's pretty safe to say that some of that may be forgotten in the 80 minutes that the boys are on the soccer field, looking to advance the Tigers to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2002.
"This is something we've been working toward all season," Ryan said of reaching semistate.
"Since the middle of the summer, at open field, we would talk about it."
The Tigers will get the chance to go even further when they face Jay County at 6 p.m., with the victor of that match moving on to play the winner of the Homestead-Westview semifinal match in the championship Tuesday at 4 p.m.
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