INBOX
Let us hear from you!
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to Momentum Editor, National
MS Society, 733 Third Avenue,
3rd floor, New York, NY 10017. We
need your name and address, but
we won’t print your name if you so
request.
Single with MS
I just wanted to say thank you for
the recent article on being single
with MS (“The Many Faces of
Single,” Fall 2011). A lot of us
are left stranded by our partners
out of fear that we will wind up
in wheelchairs, or worse. Instead
of talking about it and supporting us, they leave emotionally or
physically. Yet we go on living
quite healthy lives, in spite of the
diagnosis.
Donna Duff, via email
that he was around.
When he moved out
to live with a girlfriend,
I became free to turn to
friends and colleagues, to
spend my time doing things
I care about with others who
share my interests, to help
others with the skills, talents
and energy that remain and—the
biggest surprise—to realize that,
if it gives me pleasure to help
others, it certainly gives others
pleasure to help me.
Marion Leeds Carroll,
Massachusetts
Momentum
wants to know
What’s keeping you
from exercising?
Tell us at
nationalMS
society.org/exercise
challenges
Keep moving
I was diagnosed with MS in
1972 and, like a lot of people,
was told to take it easy and not
exercise. I went home and told
my wife I was not going to stop
living. I had been jogging a
couple of miles a day since 1966
and continued to keep it up
as well as adding other exercise,
including yard work, to my
regimen. I was able to keep going
like this until 2005 when I had
to quit jogging—and my job. I
was then 60. I now use a brace,
a Walkaide and take Ampyra—
although I’m not sure how well
any of it is working. My advice to
anyone recently diagnosed: Keep
as active as you can. You may
have to adapt to challenges here
and there, but keep moving.
After my first MRI, more than
20 years ago, I came home with
no key to find my husband out.
So I sat on the porch for an
hour, holding the big manila
envelope full of films and feeling
very lonely. In fact, I never felt
as alone as I did during the years
If You or Someone You Know Has MS
Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve
quality of life for many people with MS. Talk to a health-care professional or contact the National MS Society to learn about this and
other ways to help manage MS.
Address Drop, Add, or Change
Enclose your label and request in the Join the Movement envelope
on page 34 or telephone us at 1-866-675-4787.
A dirt bike for MS
When I was diagnosed with MS
in 2004, my three children were
just getting involved in Motocross, or dirt-bike racing. My
daughter Jennifer is very much
into the sport, even racing in
some pro-national events.
Every year she likes to get new
graphics for her bike. This year
she surprised me for my birthday
and Mother’s Day when she
revealed her new bike graphics
with an MS awareness theme.
I was speechless. The rear
fender explains what MS is and
the bike and her protective gear
sport a number of MS awareness
orange ribbons.
Martha J. Mead, New Hampshire
Dark horse
I was shocked to learn that spasticity can sometimes manifest as
a charley horse (“Mobility Alert,”
