Yahoo! Chat Transcript

Transcript of Yahoo! Chat with Michael Zaslow and Susan Hufford
September 10, 1998:

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Susan: Hi everyone! We are very happy to do this. We are sitting here in breezy New York City going a little crazy with preparations for an historical event: The first ever ALS awareness and fundraiser at Yankee Stadium, this Saturday, Sept. 12.
Michael: Hello
Susan: Teresa Brown is here with us too. She has flown in from West Virginia, where she is an Assistant Attorney General. And she is here to help us with our Yankee Stadium event. Last night she also held down the fort with Marika and Helena, our children, because Michael was getting an award at Kennedy Center in Washington for the awareness that he's been able to bring to assistive technology.. computers that enable people who cannot speak to communicate. It was a great evening.The award was presented to Michael by astronaut John Glen's wife Annie, who herself overcame a speaking disorder

WNNZelda ask: Michael, where do you get your strength?
Michael: From Helena! She's a strong cookie.

rosellen ask:   How is your family coping with your condition?
Michael: Great. They lift me and get me moving.

Soap_City Rose ask:   Do you think they are close to finding a cure?
Susan: We think .. we are looking at everything. We don't know where it will come from.
Michael: I pore over every piece of information that comes in regarding ALS research.

Tammy_1998_99 ask: How long ago were you diagnosed with this disease?
Michael: it will be a year this coming october.
Michael: End of october, first of November.

smiley_15_98_83 ask: Did GL offer you your role back since you started acting on OLTL?
Michael: No. No word from P&G.

brazeaut ask: Michael, glad to see you here, first how are you feeling? Do you like working on OLTL? I am a GL fan but switched
Michael: I'm feeling good. Tired tonight, very tired because of the trip to Washington, and I have to work tomorrow morning. I love being on OLTL. I love so much support, from cast and crew, right up to the top, to the president of ABC, Pat Fili Krushel.

Tammy_1998_99 ask:   Does the disease effect the mind at all or just the body?
Susan: Not the mind at all
Michael: My mind is clear. As clear as it ever was!

Rosie1952 ask:   How much does positive thinking and humor play a part in your daily regimen?
Michael: It plays an enormous part. I work with a wonderful psychotherapist and healer, Michael Elner, who has had great success working with AIDS patients. He has a very high success rate.

janeeb8965 ask Michael, what was your favorite Roger storyline on GL?
Michael: We'll come back to that...

TKishbaugh ask:   Michael, it's really nice to see you here. First, how has everyone at OLTL reacted to your illness? Second, did they ever pass the bill for Myotrophin that I read about on the ZazAngels web site?
Michael: First, the cast has just been so welcoming. The first day I went to the studio there was a big sign, "Welcome home Michael." We have lots of laughs.
Michael: Second, no, myotrophin has not been passed by the FDA. In all honesty, we're not sure what's happening.

coles_98 ask:   Michael, My wife has ALS and we have been following your fight closely. How is your wife handling this. I find it very hard.
Susan: Well you are right. It is very hard. It's shard for all of us. Don't be hard on yourself is all I can say. Know that everyone finds it hard to deal with.

Michael: My favorite GL storyline: Falling off the cliff in Santo Domingo in the 70s. And also the Cliffhouse in the 90s.

Piglet1973 ask What are your feelings on the way P&G handled your illness?
Michael: Painful.

Willy34_ ask: Michael, i just wanted to make a comment rather than a question. I remember watching you on The Guiding Light as Roger Thorpe; you were truly one of the legendary soap opera villains in history, and I truly enjoyed Roger's adventures. I appplaud your courage also..........
Michael: I like hearing this!

Rosie1952 ask:   Michael, I am a speech-language pathologist and I want you to know I never noticed your speech difficulty. You covered it well.
Michael: I worked very hard.And also you weren't the only one who didn't notice. Most people didn't.

annieRob ask:   Michael . . . I have loved your work on GL, but my favorite has always been ''David'' . . . any chance Jenny will be found on an ice flow and Brynn will return . . . at least for awhile?
Michael: In daytime, there is always a chance... just as in life.

sunstarr ask:   Who do you enjoy working with most on One Life to Live...and who are some of the people who've become your good friends on the show?
Michael: Well, I like working with everybody, but I always love to go back with Robin, of course, and I've made great new friends with Laura Koffman and Bob Krimmer, to name just a couple.

FiNe_FeMaLe_44 ask:   Do you feel pressure from the producers of the show at times???
Michael: Never. No pressure. Read my lips!

WNNZelda ask:   What did it feel like to win the Emmy?
Michael: Much better than not winning! It felt great. It was a real high, it was a beautiful night. The year before Susan and I had sneaked out of the basement to avoid the press, and that year we could walk right out.

janeeb8965 ask:   What made you decide to return to acting after being let go from GL and having your illness definitively diagnosed?
Michael: I like acting. I love to act. I missed being surrounded by that family of friends, fellow actors. Financial, as well--we have two young daughters in school. There is sometimes I think an assumption that financial considerations don't matter. They matter very much. One thing about the disease of ALS is that it's an extremely expensive disease, because many of the treatments are alternative, and the support system requires enormous financial output. It's a great comfort to know that there's a paycheck.

MZRRTINA7 ask:   Are you thinking about writing a autobiography Michael???
BTW...MZRR= Michael Zaslow Real Roger...Love ya Zaz
Michael: I'm working on it. I unfortunately haven't had much time, but I will. I've started it.

coles_98 ask:   Michael, are you on the March of Faces ALS awareness banner
Michael: I think I am
Susan: We have been so blessed with publicity, we just don't know what's hit us here. We met the people who do the March of Faces and they are terrific. I don't know if Michael's face is on there.

Thisaintgood ask: Is ALS covered under the MD fundraising/research projects?
Susan: The MDA sends us a small portion of the funds raised, which is why when we formed ZazAngels, we wanted to have autonomy over where our research funds are allocated. All monies raised by Zazangels go to support promising ALS research. We really trust and consult with our neurologist Dr. Jay Lombard who has recently been appointed to the Cornell staff. He'd be with us tonight except he is on vacation in Italy. First vacation in four years. Jay Lombard is author of the book "The Brain Wellness Plan"

Davidd_held48 ask: Hi Michael, this Dan who directed you in Michael Stewart's Play "D" Do you remember the show with Jason Alexander. You were fantastic.
Michael: Sure! Absolutely! It was a great show.

janeeb8965 ask:   Just a comment, Michael. . .I don't watch OLTL regularly, but I did see your first few appearances and I think you can express more with one raise of your eyebrow than other actors can say with 10 pages of dialogue! You are truly gifted!
Michael: That's very kind.

annieRob ask: MZ -- are you able to use your voice at all, generally? One day you laughed on OLTL and I have to say, it was a thrill to hear you.
Susan: It is a thrill when he laughs. And he does laugh. And frankly his laugh is sounding like his laugh.

Dr_Glad ask:   I don't know much about the disease. Is it always so fast acting as yours was?
Michael: Yes, that's one of the major and most frightening characteristics of this disease. That's why our goal, ZazAngels' goal of a cure by 2000, is so important.

upstart22 ask:   when guiding light dumped the former hart after his hang-gliding accident, you spoke out about lack of health care for actors. do you think that's why they were ready to dump you at the first sign of trouble?
Michael: I don't know.

Marni48 ask: Michael, I am a PALS and I would like to know all of the medications that you are taking for your ALS.
Susan: We are talking Rilutek, that's the only FDA approved drug for the disease.
Michael: I'm on the Sanofi trial. We take a lot of antioxidants, they include vitamin E, vitamin D, lipoc acid, DHEA , borage oil, flaxseed oil, some vitamin C, a combined B complex... I'm afraid I'm going to leave something out. There is evidence with this disease that people with ALS need many more nutritiional support, much more nutritutional support. I get some of these vitamins in an IV drip. The days that I don't get the IV drip, I take them by mouth. There's a trial going on for something called ambrotose. This is basically a nutritional supplement of amino acids that has already been found to be extremely effective with autoimmune diseases Call Dr . Purcell at 702-360-5051 for information. The email is purcellglycomed@aol.com I also do a lot of phsyical therapy, something called PNF.

Phantom_Bass ask: You once played the piano on Guiding Light so beautifully, are you still able to play?
Michael: With my left hand.

Jenni60266 ask: Michael, I am an 8 year AIDS survivor myself. How do you keep your spirit up?
Michael: Well, as you probably know, some days are easier than others.
It's good to have friends around. It's good to stay busy.

dcafep ask: is there a fund that we can donate to for a hopeful potential cure??
Susan: Absolutely! ZAZangels fund accepts all contributions . On the Internet, AT&T has provided us with a secure buy web site. You can donate by credit card or whatever to www.zazangels.com and also contributions are accepted in the name of ZAZangels at the ALS Association of Greater New York, 40 Wall Street, Suite 428, NY, NY 10005

onelifer ask: Hello Michael- I am so happy that you are on One Life to Live right now. What do the writers have planned for you now?
Michael: I don't know. But I know that they're planning something.

susan09_ ask: Was your work on Law & Order much different than working in daytime TV?
Michael: Yes. Much more time.

sujafo ask: How did you meet your wife? She's great
Susan: Well, we played opposite each other on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof. I was actually in the show when Michael auditioned, and I auditioned a lot of men for his prospective role.

Victory56 ask: Hi, just wanted to let you know you've got great courage! My husband is 45 and has ALS - diagnosed earlier last year. He'd like me to ask what types of vitamins are you taking and what was the iv therapy and massage/stretching shown on Larry King Live?
Michael: The physical therapy is proprioceptic (I'm not sure I'm spelling this right) neuromuscular facilitation. It's been around since the 1940s, is used a lot in europe and was originally used a lot with polio victims.
Michael: It's very time consuming, and I think very effective, since I've been doing it my right side has gained in strength, and even my doctor at Johns Hopkins is very interested. in the effects of PNF.
Michael: The IV drip is Vitamin E, D, lipoic acid, magnesium is very important, and glutathione.
Michael: Different people have different IV drips. Another friend who has ALS has a lot of vitamin C in theirs, but our neurologist uses this formula.

billy_wes ask:   my name is wes cornwell, and if i'm not your #1 fan, i don't know who is. i pray for your recovery, and i intend to donate to zazangels. Have any stars from GL rallied for you and your cause yet? I saw you Live with Larry King, and i just want you to know how i feel about you...God bless.
Michael: Many of my co-workers at Guiding Light are supporting me. As a matter of fact, ZazAngels is doing a major fundraising benefit on December 7 at New York's historic Royale Theater. And one of the members on our fundraising committee is Holly, Maureen Garrett. I have had good support. Also Ron Raines and Grant Aleksander and Jay Hammer.
Susan: When Michael first left the show, Jay Hammer sent him lots of postcards, funny stuff. He was right there.

annieRob ask: Michael, the machine that you use to talk . . . is it a regular keyboard or does it have keys that mean specific words . . . brief forms, as it were? You're very fast!
Michael: It's a regular keyboard

MLK__ ask Michael: are you still in touch with Kim Zimmer?
Michael: Not directly, no.

d_loretta ask Michael:   is there a genetic predisposition with ALS? Do siblings very often get it?
Susan: Yes there is .
Michael: Ten percent genetic.
Susan: That is one of the major breakthroughs
Susan: there is a phenomenom in Guam where there is a rate of ALS incidents is about 80%. It is significantly higher

fredandchar ask: Michael, where does Dr. Lombard practice?
Michael: In New York.

sabiee1 ask: Where you shocked by the outpouring of fan support for you when you left gl?
Michael: Yes, and very gratified.

robertrab ask: Michael, I thought your guest appearance on Law and Order was extremely powerful. Which performance through your distinguished career do you consider your best?
Susan: I loved him when he did A Thousand Clowns, Henry Higgins, and The Petrified Forest. And Taking Steps, an Alan Ackborn play. He played a very funny part.
Michael: These are stage performances -- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway and the Kennedy Center. And My Fair Lady.

cookiecop98 ask: Michael how can we get tickets to the SOS game on the 12th @ yankee stadium?
Susan: Call 800-672-8857

annieRob ask: If TPTB at GL were to ever get smart . . . would you reprise ''Roger'' and have Roger face his strongest foe? It would be an amazing story!
Michael: OLTL beat them to the punch, and P&G could not be smart in that respect, as they have demonstrated.

AJ1567 ask:   People view you as s spokesman or role model for people afflicted with ALS, are you comfortable in that role?
Michael: Yes, very.

Thisaintgood ask:   How close are we to discovering the treatment or cure of ALS?
Michael: Close in regard to coming up with a treatment protocol.

Susan: Thank you to everyone who has joined in. I need to go now.

fired_up_4_life ask:   How did you become an actor?
Michael: I will give the short answer -- when in high school I figured that was the way to meet girls.(laughs) It worked. And how!

daisey_44 ask:   Michael you are as handsome as your were 20some years ago when I first started watching you and I love your courage Hang in there!

Dr_Glad ask:   Why does it take so long to make a diagnosis of ALS?
Teresa: There's not one test for ALS, and you have to rule out a lot of diseases. It can take more than a year to do that. From then, the symptoms become more noticeable.

Timba_2 ask: I hope you find the cure, ALS can cause so much heartache in a family. Do you and your wife attend support groups to help you cope with ALS?
Michael: Our friends are our support and I see a hypnotherapist weekly for going on a year and a half.

annieRob ask:   What about the Roger videotape -- any chance P&G will get classy, give Zazangels the rights and profits, and use it as a fundraiser?
Michael: We asked and were turned down not once but thrice.

Igraine_Pendragon ask:   Michael, I'm 25 years old and have been a fan of yours since I was a kid. I'm also a member of a family that ALS runs in and I just wanted to thank you for the visibility you're giving this disease. I applaud your efforts to find a cure for it and hope that you are one of the people who benefit from such a cure.
Michael: I hope so too.

Michael: I had a great time and I'm very moved by your support.

SoapCity_Justin: Ok, everyone, thanks for coming. It meant the world to Michael.