FEATURE (continued on page 16) JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • SPRING 2017 15 Among the millions who would not be candidates to compete in a bicycle race across the length of North America, from California to Maryland, from the Pacifi c to the Atlantic, over mountains and across plains, day and night, non-stop start to fi nish, as part of a team competing in the legendary Race Across America, would be someone with FSH Muscular Dystrophy. Which is exactly why George Pollock Jr. ’85 is doing it. Pollock has been an avid cyclist since graduate school in Gainesville, where he competed for the University of Florida. A few later years later in 1997, he noticed something was wrong with his right leg, in the shin muscle, causing foot drop. For years, it was misdiagnosed. Then, a decade after the muscle weakness began in his lower right leg, something was amiss in his lower left leg. More and varied symptoms this time. He saw doctors again, took more tests, and fi nally, at long last, received a defi nitive answer. It was 2006 when Dr. Jan Korthals at the University of South Florida administered some painful tests that confi rmed Pollock had FSH Muscular Dystrophy. Now, Pollock has vast knowledge about Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy, or FSHD for short. In February 2016, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the FSH Society, a 25-year-old, Boston-based charity that funds research to fi nd a cure for FSHD. The Society has earned the highest rating, 4 stars, from Charity Navigator for eight straight years. There are an estimated 870,000 individuals worldwide living with FSHD. For many, it is extremely debilitating – there is no cure or treatment. Pollock has been fortunate. His muscle weakness has been progressing slowly, beginning with his lower legs and now just beginning to cause noticeable weakness in his shoulders and upper arms. “FSHD typically causes weakness in an asymmetric manner, which makes it hard to diagnose,” Pollock said. “There is a dead gene that for some reason is reactivated and is toxic to certain muscle cells. FSHD is typically genetic and always progressive. Symptoms typically start in the face, shoulders, and upper arms and people who get it earlier in life will have much worse muscle loss and weakness.” Pollock no longer races for fear that a bad moment with a leg muscle could cause him to momentarily falter. He still rides regularly, albeit at somewhat less than 100% capacity. As he continued to live with a muscle disease that will lead to more muscle loss and less mobility as time goes on, Pollock wondered what else he could
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