A diagnosis of ALS can be a hard blow to take, but one group in Swift Current is hoping the lessen the effects of the disease.

ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fatal disease that affects thousands of Canadians.

As the disease progresses, loss of bodily functions is common before death, and estimated two to five years after diagnosis.

Presented with a gloomy outlook, a group headed up by two Swift Current residents is looking to help deal with the process of ALS.

One of those residents is Corinne Brown, a facilitator and founder of the ALS support group in Swift Current.

After her mother passed away due to ALS, she wanted to offer support to those who go through similar experiences.

The group has been active since last year, and is open to those diagnosed with the disease, as well as their family and caregivers.

She said that they hope for a small audience when they host the event.

"It's nice not to have people show up, because then we hope people haven't been diagnosed, but on the other hand, if there are people out there that have been diagnosed, them or their families, or their support, it's nice to have them come to the meeting too."

"It's a difficult disease to, first of all, be diagnosed with, and for family and friends to watch the deterioration."

Locally, support for ALS can be hard to come by.

"When my mom was diagnosed, there was nothing other than in Regina or in Saskatoon, and trying to find somebody to talk to that even knew anything about it or had been through it themselves, it was really difficult," she commented.

The group looks to each individual case separately, as each of their members are going through different scenarios.

"It's not really something we really plan out, it's more just being there and being able to ask questions of other people that have gone through it."

"We try to find out if there is anything that they want to learn more about, whether it's ways to deal with loss of mobility, ways deal with grief, because you grieve before the person is gone. It's simple things like how do you take care of someone's teeth, because when they no longer have the ability to brush themselves, what's the best way to do that?"

The event occurs once a month at the Pharmasave gathering room.