the Diary of Mariëtte van der Meijden
is the personal site of a Dutch woman (mother of 2 children Manon 11 and Esmee 8) who suffers from the muscle disease ALS. ALS is a terrible muscle disease where your muscles will slowly stop functioning. On average the life expectancy of an ALS patient is 3-5 years. Besides Rilutek, that will slightly slow down ALS for several months, there is no official cure or medicine available.

In February 2005 Mariette will travel to China with her husband Menno and a good friend Jan Arie van Arendonk for the last possible medical treatment, an OEC surgery. They will have to stay in Beijing for 4-6 weeks. It will cost a lot of money, an estimated 20.000 dollars for just the treatment for which Mariëtte and her husband will have to pay themselves as this treatment is not supported by the national healthcare. In addition there is the cost of the journey and the 4-6 weeks stay.

Some people in our village have joined forces and are now trying to raise funds with local people and companies to support their journey and her treatment in China, this is the 'steunfonds Mariette'. If enough money is raised the fund will donate the remainder to a general fund for ALS.

This website will be Mariette's digital journal when she will travel to Peking in January so her family and friends at home will be able to have contact with them and share her experiences during their stay in China.

You can use the links on the right for more information about ALS.