At least 2 times a year I remember Adrenoleukodystrophy: during the month of February and during the month of July. Why? Because my son was diagnosed with ALD (adrenoleukodystrophy) in 2007 and died February of 2008, he was born July 3, 1980.
“Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a rare, inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body’s ability to break down very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs). This buildup damages the adrenal glands and the protective myelin sheaths surrounding nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing neurological decline and hormonal issues.” (Google)
Today, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, is the first time I actually took the time to understand what the disease was. Yes, the doctors explained it to me when she explained that my son did not have MS but adrenoleukodystrophy and that he could have developed it independent of me passing on the genetic code or it could have just developed. I did not receive the ramifications because at the time, my son was dependent on a ventilator to keep him alive. C. William Morris III was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis around 2004/2005 and at that time he was deteriorating rapidly. I doubted the diagnosis before he went from walking and talking to being in a nursing home.
Upon seeing my son the Pomologist instructed his staff to put my son in a wheelchair and push him across the street to the hospital, no time for an ambulance. At the hospital, apparently a team was waiting at the door, he was immediately intubated. While in the ICU he was correctly diagnosed with ALD, because of his condition, he did not regain consciousness, it was determined that it would be best to remove him from the ventilator.
It was about within a months’ time that I went from talking to my son to standing by his wife’s side as she made the grave decision to take him off the ventilator. I remember being in the room with her, my husband (at the time) and my daughter, watching the process. Rodney, his step-father, whispered in his ear something to the effect “keep breathing”. He lived another two months.
At some point he went graduated from ICU to a unit where he was closely monitored to a regular hospital room to a nursing home. It was the doctor at the nursing home that informed me that this was treatable.
The doctor at the hospital only wanted family blood samples for research purposes, my opinion, she did not tell me about alternative treatments or how it would affect me or my son’s 3 children. (“Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) affects approximately 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 17,000 people in the United States. This equates to less than 0.01% of the general U.S.” Google Ai) I was not ready to give my blood to a lab, I did not want to know if I had the disease or, if I was a carrier or had his genes just mutated.
What the doctor did not know was my mother was being treated for pancreatic cancer.
Nineteen years later, I am now ready to face the pain, and learn more about the disease. At 66 it is apparent that I am fine. Here is what I learned of it today”
“ALD affects individuals differently based on the age of onset and the type of progression:Childhood Cerebral ALD (CALD): The most severe form, primarily affecting boys between ages 4 and 10. It causes rapid neurological decline, including behavioral changes, learning disabilities, seizures, and loss of motor skills. Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN): An adult-onset form that progresses more slowly, typically appearing in men in their 20s or 30s. It causes stiffness, weakness, and paralysis of the legs, as well as bladder and bowel dysfunction. Addison’s Disease: Some individuals may only present with primary adrenal insufficiency, where the adrenal glands fail to produce necessary steroid hormones”
What about the adrenal gland? back to Google: “The adrenal glands are small, triangular-shaped endocrine glands located on top of both kidneys. Their primary function is to produce essential hormones that regulate metabolism, blood pressure, the immune system, sexual development, and the body’s immediate response to stress.”
There is more information about ALD but the bottom line: diet and exercise play an important role in living a long life.
There are so many rare genetic diseases out there and, I believe, the quality of our foods today aggravate and stimulate the progress of most diseases. It is more profitable to treat most diseases, including cancer, thus the motivation is towards research and pharmaceuticals and not cure.
In addition; health care is not about caring it is a business with a financial bottom line. As long as medical schools cost thousands of dollars to complete, insurance companies place a dollar amount on the cost of care, governments regulate what can and cannot be used to treat a disease and THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ABUSE THE SYSTEM, we will have doctors like the one at the hospital who talked to me about my son’s diagnosis. It is important that people care for their own health and stop depending on doctors to tell them the truth.
My son was a Believer in Jesus and spent the final years of his life telling others about our Lord and Savior. I love God with all my heart and soul and firmly believe he is resting in eternity until the resurrection. It is because of my faith that I can miss his physical presence but have peace and comfort believing that he is on the better side of eternity.
On this day in which he would have celebrated his 46th birthday I remember him. He was my first born and only son, he was not a perfect child but he not only confessed to me his transgression but to God. He repented seeking Father God’s forgiveness before his death. I am not the only parent who has planned a child’s funeral. I do not celebrate my grief, this is probably the first time I have publicly acknowledged his death. I have seen, mostly women, grieve to the extent that they become unable to function, their life seems to have ended at the time of their child’s death; these individuals had made their child their god.
When Elohim is your God then you allow His Spirit to comfort and guide you and you live in Him not your child’s memory. (Unfortunately, some people know their child was not a follower of Christ.) No, I will not forget that my son lived but I do not worship him, which is why I can be sad when I remember the reason for his death but celebrate his transition from earth to eternity.

Written by Marsha L Floyd
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ADDENDUM: ALD vs ALS, many people have heard of Lou Gehrig’s Disease but not Adrenoluekodstraphy- ALD.
ADL is Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis commonly referred to is Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, and affects approximately about 0.007% to 0.01% of Americans at any given time. It is a progressive disease usually ending in respiratory failure.
When I was a Licensed Practical Nurse I cared for a woman who was diagnosed with this disease. She was ventilator dependent, on a feeding tube and communicated with a child’ abc toy. She would spell out her words. Her loving husband cared for her, which included: putting on her makeup as after the nurse had bathed her, preparing a special meal which was liquified and given via her feeding tube. The couple was the first example of a “till death do we part” marriage that was filled with love.