Fundraising

Fundraising Events         

To raise money for finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis, The National MS Society reaches out to the families that have MS and have them raise money for at least a week or more until they go to the MS Walk. The dollars raised support life-changing programs and cutting-edge research. They've been walking since 1988 and have raised more than $10 million dollars to help support people living with MS. Sometimes they give out free Walk MS shirts to people and/or groups. They have your group come up with a name to show your support. Groups come and they ask you to at least walk 1 lap of the course they have set up. They allow you to bring a dog with you along your walk. In 2009, my mom and the rest of my family raised up over $200 for the fundraiser.

There are multiple MS Walk events coming up in Maryland in April. There is one by the Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick coming up on Saturday, April 6th. The walk will be from 9 am to 2 pm. The length of the route is 5k or about 3 miles. There will be others in Maryland throughout April. The link of the exact dates and times is on the website, Walk MS Maryland List. The amount of money they are trying to get to is one hundred and ten thousand dollars. They currently have eighteen thousand and nine hundred and seventy dollars. Even if you don't know someone with multiple sclerosis, they allow people to come and walk anyway. They also are looking for volunteers to come and help for the walk.

 

 



How MS Effects My Mother

How MS Effects My Mother

Multiple Sclerosis effects my mother in different ways. There are days where she feels a small amount of pain in her legs while there are other days where the amount of pain is so extreme that she will barely even get out of bed. The days where she needs help getting around she uses a cane if she needs the help. Most days she can deal with the pain.

My mom has to go see a nuerologist about her MS and pain once in a while. She takes a needle in her arm to get the medicine in her body. She takes some medication for the pain she feels.

My mom used to have a job, but because of the pain in her legs she wasn't able to hold the job. Due to her not being able to hold a job. She gets some money from the government.

In the house, she can do mostly anything but sometimes she needs help with a chore. Most of the time she will ask for my help or one of my brothers to grab something for her if she can't reach it or if it is too heavy. We normally help her with a chore anyways or do it for her so she isn't in pain while doing it. If she needs to get up and her legs are in extreme pain she'll ask some one to get her something or help her to another room.

There are times where she'll deal with the pain but she may have to sit down or lean against something to relieve herself from some pain.

Daily Life/Treatment

The Daily Life

 MS can affect your emotions as well as important cognitive functions like memory and concentration. Multiple sclerosis can have a significant impact on every aspect of life, including the world of work. Maintaining financial security is a high priority for people living with an unpredictable disease. For a person living with MS, the road to wellness involves more than treatment of the disease. Equally important are health promotion and prevention strategies, satisfying personal relationships, a strong support network, fulfilling work and leisure activities, a meaningful place in the community, and adequate attention to one's inner self.

Treatments

Strategies to treat attacks

• Corticosteroids-Corticosteroids are mainly used to reduce the inflammation that spikes during a relapse. Examples include oral prednisone and intravenous methylprednisolone (Solu-Medrol).
• Plasma exchange (plasmapheresis)-This procedure removes some blood from your body and mechanically separates your blood cells from your plasma, the liquid part of your blood. Doctors then mix your blood cells with a replacement solution and return the blood to your body. Plasma exchange sometimes may be used to help combat severe symptoms of multiple sclerosis relapses in people who aren't responding to intravenous steroids.

Strategies to slow progress of the disease

• Beta interferons-These types of drugs appear to slow the progress of multiple sclerosis, reduce the number of attacks and lessen the severity of attacks. Interferons can cause many side effects, including reactions in the injection area and liver damage. However, it's rare to have serious, permanent side effects. You'll likely need blood tests to monitor your liver function and blood count.
• Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone)-This medication may reduce the number of MS attacks. Doctors believe that glatiramer acetate works by blocking your immune system's attack on myelin. You must inject this drug under your skin (subcutaneously) once daily. Side effects are uncommon, but may include flushing, chest pain or heart palpitations after injection and reactions at the injection sites.
• Fingolimod (Gilenya)-An oral medication given once daily, this works by trapping immune cells in lymph nodes. It may reduce attacks of MS and short-term disability. To take this drug, you'll need to have your heart rate monitored for six hours after the first dose because the first dose can slow your heartbeat (bradycardia). Other side effects may include diarrhea, cough and headache.
• Natalizumab (Tysabri)-This medication may reduce the number of MS attacks by interfering with the movement of potentially damaging immune cells from your bloodstream to your brain and spinal cord. Natalizumab generally is reserved for people who see no results from or can't tolerate other types of treatments. Side effects of natalizumab may include allergic reactions, infections or liver damage.
• Mitoxantrone-This immunosuppressant medication can be harmful to the heart, and it's associated with development of blood cancers like leukemia. Because of these risks, it's usually only used to treat active severe, advanced multiple sclerosis, based on both clinical assessment and MRI studies.
• Teriflunomide (Aubagio)-This oral medication reduces attacks and lesions in people with MS. You'll need blood tests to monitor liver function, as it may cause serious liver damage. It can also cause serious fetal damage, and it must not be taken during pregnancy. It may also cause side effects such as diarrhea and nausea.

Strategies to treat symptoms

• Physical therapy-A physical or occupational therapist can teach you stretching and strengthening exercises and show you how to use devices that can make it easier to perform daily tasks.
• Dalfampridine (Ampyra)-This oral medication may improve walking speed in some people. The major side effect is seizures.
• Muscle relaxants-If you have multiple sclerosis, you may experience painful or uncontrollable muscle stiffness or spasms, particularly in your legs. Muscle relaxants such as baclofen (Lioresal) and tizanidine (Zanaflex) may improve muscle spasticity.

Basic Info on Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis, also known as MS, is a disease of the Immune System. MS is an immune system attack against the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. The disease is thought to be triggered in a genetically susceptible individual by a combination of one or more environmental factors. Although MS is thought by some scientists to be an autoimmine disease, others disagree strongly because the specific target of the immune attack in MS has not yet been identified. For this reason, MS is referred to as an immune-mediated disease.

 

As part of the immune attack on the central nervous system, myelin (the fatty substance that surrounds and protects the nerve fibers in the central nervous system) is damaged, as well as the nerve fibers themselves. The damaged myelin forms scar tissue (sclerosis), which gives the disease its name. When any part of the myelin sheath or nerve fiber is damaged or destroyed, nerve impulses traveling to and from the brain and spinal cord are distorted or interrupted, producing the variety of symptoms that can occur.