Monday, June 8, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
David Osmond at WAMS June 5th...I can't wait!
This great event will be at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale. Tickets can be purchased by going to www.ctfightsms.org
MS Walk 2009
Dear Friends and Family,
The MS Walk, that took place on April 19th was once again a success! Thank you for your contribution to Team Dixie!! I set our goal to $5000 this year, and I am pleased to announce that our total is $7442.20!! The donation deadline has been extended to June 15th, which means we may even rise above this total!! I am always in a big hurry to get my thank you's out, so if you keep checking my team page, you will see any updated totals! http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/teamdixie2009.
Thank you for your great photography: Stacey Hale, Jess Ludorf, Ali Moran, Wendy Nielsen, Mike Renzullo, Mary Root, and Ivana Walker. Thank you Paul Berg (http://www.technologyoncall.com/) for helping me get the blog started. I will also be posting our team total on this blog after the June 15th deadline!
One day, as I started fund raising for the MS Walk, I ordered Chinese. I opened up my fortune and loved what I saw, “An important person will offer you support”. My fortune rests, taped to my computer monitor. As the donations came in, and my team grew, I realized that my fortune came true! YOU are that important person! YOU are so appreciated, THANK YOU so much!
Most Sincerely,
Shannon
Shannon
UPDATE: The final total raised by the 86 members of Team Dixie is $7923.45! Thank you so much everyone, for your contribution!
Shannon
Friday, May 1, 2009
Shannon's Story
I share my story to help spread awareness to this devastating disease, and to give hope to my sisters and brothers living with MS…
My Story
I was just 23. It was Friday, July 24, 1999, and I was working as a bookkeeper in Hartford. After work that day, I stopped at a gas station to fill my tank. I pulled up to the gas pump and, as hard as I tried, I could not lift my right leg to push the brake. I ended up hitting the car in front of me. The driver of that car was also pumping gas. Fortunately, no injuries incurred. After giving the driver my insurance information and leaving, I dismissed the ordeal as an unlucky mishap, thinking I was just overtired. Besides, I had bigger and better things requiring my attention. I had a fun evening planned for the upcoming Saturday. Bob Dylan was performing at the Meadows, and my friend and I had tickets!!
At about 3 p.m. that Saturday I jumped in the shower. I seemed to be extremely clumsy. I kept cutting myself with the razor as I shaved my legs. I got out of the shower and soon called my mom because I was tripping and could not keep my balance. As I tried to speak, the words came out slurred. My mom came right over. At the time, I was living with my uncle and he was at work. I tried to write him a note to let him know that I was going to the emergency room but my hand was like Jell-O. I could not even squeeze the pen to write.
By the time I got to the hospital, my entire right side was completely paralyzed, including my face. I spent the night in the ER getting a spinal tap and a MRI. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to the concert! The next day the neurologist came into my hospital room. He told me I had an “acute attack of MS”. I was in a wheelchair in a rehab for weeks. There, I received physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I had cognitive problems also. I remember a therapist holding up a picture of a dog. I knew it was a dog, and the word was at the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t know how to say the word. I was put on high doses of steroids.
I was so scared. I went from being a healthy young woman with the world at her finger tips to a patient in a wheelchair, unable to do anything without assistance. I felt like I had lost my future – my birthright to health and happiness. Remember how unsafe we all felt on 9/11? That’s how I felt, trapped in my body that wouldn’t cooperate – one I no longer could control and one in which I could no longer depend.
I remember one day when my mom came to visit me at the rehab. She was putting lotion on my legs for me. As she did this, she assured me that I would be fine and she tearfully said she would give anything if she could take this on in my place. My family has suffered as much as I. In some ways I sometimes even feel more than I.
After a lengthy recovery I began to drive again. My face eventually became symmetrical again! Everything started getting better but nothing returned to 100 percent. I was left with a slight limp and my speech was somewhat halting. My doctor put me on injections to slow down the frequency of MS attacks. And despite not feeling 100 percent, I was feeling so much better!
In 2001 I was very happy to land a job at an insurance company. I liked the job and my co-workers. But then, after time, my MRI’s came back abnormal again. I was totally exhausted by the time I got to work and I could rarely complete my eight-hour workday. I tried parking in handicapped to save energy by not having to walk so far. It didn’t help. I was clumsy, falling and losing my balance, once again. I tried using a cane. My work week was reduced from 40, to 35 and eventually 15 hours. My health just kept getting worse. Overwhelming fatigue, a common symptom of MS, now ruled my life. I had very little stamina. I had to make two of the most difficult decisions of my life. I stopped driving and I resigned from the job I loved.
I experienced incredible loss and consequently descended into a depression (it did not help that depression is also an effect resulting from MS). I went to therapy to get help. I would cry in my therapist’s office on a regular basis, feeling very powerless and very much alone. One day my therapist said something that really clicked with me. Her words helped change my attitude. She said “ Each day holds something for which to be happy and something for which to be grateful – even if it is the sun shining or a smile directed your way.” She told me that my job was to get up every day and actively look for those things for which I should be grateful and happy.
That is exactly what I did. I started going to seminars held by the National MS Society to get more informed about MS (knowledge is power!). I began taking my injections as prescribed. I began using my time to help my friends and family at every opportunity. I began volunteering at a nearby animal shelter. I began attending MS support group meetings. And I began volunteering weekly at the National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter.
Today, I am the captain of a MS walk team known as Team Dixie. I left the sidelines and ditched the self pity to become actively involved in the fight to find a cure for my disease – raising funds and awareness by sharing my story. Incredibly, by getting involved I am now more fulfilled and empowered in a way I didn’t think possible. Most importantly, I am the captain of my life . . . MS, unfortunately, will remain the co-captain until a cure is found.
However, I do believe a cure will be found. It is not a matter of if, but when. The work of the National MS Society gives me great confidence that this will happen sooner than later and science says we are closing in on a cure. In fact, we could be in the homestretch. This gives me more incentive to stay in the fight, support the cause and urge others, like you, to engage in the quest to create a world free of multiple sclerosis.
Shannon O’Donnell
My Story
I was just 23. It was Friday, July 24, 1999, and I was working as a bookkeeper in Hartford. After work that day, I stopped at a gas station to fill my tank. I pulled up to the gas pump and, as hard as I tried, I could not lift my right leg to push the brake. I ended up hitting the car in front of me. The driver of that car was also pumping gas. Fortunately, no injuries incurred. After giving the driver my insurance information and leaving, I dismissed the ordeal as an unlucky mishap, thinking I was just overtired. Besides, I had bigger and better things requiring my attention. I had a fun evening planned for the upcoming Saturday. Bob Dylan was performing at the Meadows, and my friend and I had tickets!!
At about 3 p.m. that Saturday I jumped in the shower. I seemed to be extremely clumsy. I kept cutting myself with the razor as I shaved my legs. I got out of the shower and soon called my mom because I was tripping and could not keep my balance. As I tried to speak, the words came out slurred. My mom came right over. At the time, I was living with my uncle and he was at work. I tried to write him a note to let him know that I was going to the emergency room but my hand was like Jell-O. I could not even squeeze the pen to write.
By the time I got to the hospital, my entire right side was completely paralyzed, including my face. I spent the night in the ER getting a spinal tap and a MRI. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to the concert! The next day the neurologist came into my hospital room. He told me I had an “acute attack of MS”. I was in a wheelchair in a rehab for weeks. There, I received physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I had cognitive problems also. I remember a therapist holding up a picture of a dog. I knew it was a dog, and the word was at the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t know how to say the word. I was put on high doses of steroids.
I was so scared. I went from being a healthy young woman with the world at her finger tips to a patient in a wheelchair, unable to do anything without assistance. I felt like I had lost my future – my birthright to health and happiness. Remember how unsafe we all felt on 9/11? That’s how I felt, trapped in my body that wouldn’t cooperate – one I no longer could control and one in which I could no longer depend.
I remember one day when my mom came to visit me at the rehab. She was putting lotion on my legs for me. As she did this, she assured me that I would be fine and she tearfully said she would give anything if she could take this on in my place. My family has suffered as much as I. In some ways I sometimes even feel more than I.
After a lengthy recovery I began to drive again. My face eventually became symmetrical again! Everything started getting better but nothing returned to 100 percent. I was left with a slight limp and my speech was somewhat halting. My doctor put me on injections to slow down the frequency of MS attacks. And despite not feeling 100 percent, I was feeling so much better!
In 2001 I was very happy to land a job at an insurance company. I liked the job and my co-workers. But then, after time, my MRI’s came back abnormal again. I was totally exhausted by the time I got to work and I could rarely complete my eight-hour workday. I tried parking in handicapped to save energy by not having to walk so far. It didn’t help. I was clumsy, falling and losing my balance, once again. I tried using a cane. My work week was reduced from 40, to 35 and eventually 15 hours. My health just kept getting worse. Overwhelming fatigue, a common symptom of MS, now ruled my life. I had very little stamina. I had to make two of the most difficult decisions of my life. I stopped driving and I resigned from the job I loved.
I experienced incredible loss and consequently descended into a depression (it did not help that depression is also an effect resulting from MS). I went to therapy to get help. I would cry in my therapist’s office on a regular basis, feeling very powerless and very much alone. One day my therapist said something that really clicked with me. Her words helped change my attitude. She said “ Each day holds something for which to be happy and something for which to be grateful – even if it is the sun shining or a smile directed your way.” She told me that my job was to get up every day and actively look for those things for which I should be grateful and happy.
That is exactly what I did. I started going to seminars held by the National MS Society to get more informed about MS (knowledge is power!). I began taking my injections as prescribed. I began using my time to help my friends and family at every opportunity. I began volunteering at a nearby animal shelter. I began attending MS support group meetings. And I began volunteering weekly at the National MS Society, Connecticut Chapter.
Today, I am the captain of a MS walk team known as Team Dixie. I left the sidelines and ditched the self pity to become actively involved in the fight to find a cure for my disease – raising funds and awareness by sharing my story. Incredibly, by getting involved I am now more fulfilled and empowered in a way I didn’t think possible. Most importantly, I am the captain of my life . . . MS, unfortunately, will remain the co-captain until a cure is found.
However, I do believe a cure will be found. It is not a matter of if, but when. The work of the National MS Society gives me great confidence that this will happen sooner than later and science says we are closing in on a cure. In fact, we could be in the homestretch. This gives me more incentive to stay in the fight, support the cause and urge others, like you, to engage in the quest to create a world free of multiple sclerosis.
Shannon O’Donnell
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