National MS Week

Last week was National MS Awareness week. I'll admit that I am not the most outspoken MS publicist. But, I do know that learning about, and helping to further the cause of MS research is important. So, here are a couple of facts about MS, and a few of my experiences so far:

-MS affects around 400,000 Americans, or close to 2.5 million worldwide.

-MS is thought to be an auto-immune disorder of the central nervous system. Meaning your immune system attacks healthy parts of your body. With MS, the myelin, or protective sheath surrounding the nervous system, is attacked. The holes left in the myelin are then filled in with scar tissue, also know as sclerosis (hence the name Multiple Sclerosis).

-MS affects everyone differently, so it's hard to diagnose. In my case, I get numb, tingling legs and feet. Sometimes I have that same sensation in my back and spinal cord. I've been pretty lucky that my vision, balance, and muscle control haven't been affected. For the most part I lead a normal life.

-I was diagnosed a little over two years ago. Here's the story of how I came to be diagnosed. I've had very few flare ups since then, so I consider myself pretty lucky. I'm over my flare up from January and I'm back to feeling just fine. Really. That's the strange thing with this disease, sometimes you're completely OK, and a week later you're not. That's what can make it difficult to diagnose and treat.

So now you know a little more about MS and me. If you have the time, join the movement. Get involved. The National MS Society has lots of great resources and information on their site. Also, my brother is again riding in the MS 150 Bike Race this year. Click here if you want to help him help fight MS. Let's MOVE IT!