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Steve Gleason Hospitalized Over the Weekend, Doing Better

By Andrew Schuster

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Sep 8, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton with former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason (left) midfield lead the pre game “who dat” chant against the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Our beloved Steve Gleason viewed the Oscars from a hospital Sunday night.  However, according to family, friends and Team Gleason’s Facebook page, he is doing better and plans to return home Monday night.

Steve was pleased to see Eddie Redmayne take home the Oscar for best actor.  In the picture ‘The Theory of Everything,’ Redmayne portrays Stephen Hawking, a theoretical physicist, cosmologist and one of the brightest brains in the world who suffers from ALS, the same life-threatening disease the former New Orleans Saints‘ special teams connoisseur has been battling with since 2011.

From Team Gleason‘s Facebook page:

"Having an Oscar dedicated to those battling ALS was fitting, as Steve and countless others with ALS experience extreme physical challenges daily.  While it is incredible to have life with ALS in an Oscar winning film, the brutality of the disease is incomprehensible unless directly exposed to it."

For those of you who don’t know exactly what ALS is, it’s called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is also known as Lou Gherig’s disease.  It is considered a terminal neuro-muscular disease that basically kills off neurons (neurodegeneration), which are electrically inspired cells that transmit and processes information through electric and chemical signals.  Neurons are used in your everyday functions from basic to complex.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS are incurable and they do not discriminate.  Stiff muscles, twitching and weakness are all symptoms caused by a decrease in muscle mass.  The results from this horrible disease are difficulty in speaking, swallowing and eventually breathing.

More from Team Gleason:

"ALS does not discriminate.  It can affect anyone at any time.  Unless a patient chooses to live through assistance, via tracheostomy and feeding tube, the prognosis is typically 2-5 years.  The cost to live with ALS is an estimated $250K per year.  Most people with ALS lose all motor function, but can still communicate through the use of technology, either with switches or through the use of their eyes.  But, unless the means and support are available to sustain life after diagnosis, living with ALS is often not an option"

Steve Gleason will always be remembered by the Who Dat Nation for his blocked punt against the Atlanta Falcons on the night the Saints reopened the Superdome for the first time since New Orleans and the Gulf Coast were devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Now, he is fighting to find a cure and to help ease the lives of those battling with ALS.  From all of us here at Who Dat Dish, we wish Steve, his family and friends the best.  You are a hero, Mr. Gleason.

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