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Illness and a sour economy is forcing a Wendover couple to give up their beloved pets.
“We just cant afford to keep them anymore,” said Mike Leger. “We love animals but with my Muscular dystrophy and the hour cutbacks to my wife Jill’s job we just can’t do it anymore.”
The Legers are offering an African parrot, a ferret and a Chihuahua to the highest bidder.
“We really want to give them to a good home,” Leger said. “We got the parrot two years ago for $250. We aren’t trying to turn a profit or anything we just can’t afford to keep them.”
Also eating into the couple’s budget are the almost weekly trips Mike has to take to Salt Lake for medical treatment. Unable to open his hands and with his legs in braces Leger still had a sense of humor.
“I was diagnosed when I was 15,” He laughed. “It has gotten worse and there is no cure. Almost every week I break a toe. Eventually it will kill me, but there is no use crying about it. Right now I am concerned about the pets and seeing them to a good home.”
There is no known cure for muscular dystrophy, although significant headway is being made with antisense oligonucleotides. Physical [media id=424 width=320 height=240]
therapy, occupational therapy, orthotic intervention (e.g., ankle-foot orthosis), speech therapy and orthopedic instruments (e.g., wheelchairs and standing frames) may be helpful. Inactivity (such as bed rest, sitting for long periods) and bodybuilding efforts to increase myofibrillar hypertrophy can worsen the disease.
There is no specific treatment for any of the forms of muscular dystrophy. Physiotherapy, aerobic exercise, low intensity anabolic steroids, prednisone supplements may help to prevent contractures and maintain muscle tone. Orthoses (orthopedic appliances used for support) and corrective orthopedic surgery may be needed to improve the quality of life in some cases. The cardiac problems that occur with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and myotonic muscular dystrophy may require a pacemaker. The myotonia (delayed relaxation of a muscle after a strong contraction) occurring in myotonic muscular dystrophy may be treated with medications such as quinine, phenytoin, or mexiletine, but no actual long term treatment has been found.
