Hail to the Chief!” – A Profile of Jennifer T. Emenhiser
If you were your high school class president back in the day, chances are you are and always have been a gregarious, charming, and good-hearted individual. Such is the case with Jennifer Emenhiser, dedicated wife and mother of two and active volunteer with the National MS Society…and, yes, former class president.
Jennifer’s winning personality has been invaluable in her personal battle with MS and in her desire to reach out to others. It has also led to some heartache as she found some lifelong friends failed to understand her challenges.
“I have had a very difficult time with people understanding. I was shocked with how some close friends couldn’t deal with it. Yet other people I didn’t know very well surprised me with their unending support,” notes Emenhiser. “My one girlfriend who has brain cancer drove an hour every week for nine months to help me. You realize who really supports you. This allowed me to view relationships differently and value what is really important…simple things, true friendship and family.
This experience taught Emenhiser the value of empathy and communication in creating a strong support network. “I used MySpace when I was at Mayo Clinic and detailed my course of treatment and what was going on. It helped my friends & community better understand my journey. I think, by being open and honest about my diagnosis and the process of the diagnosis, it allowed people to understand me and the disease better.”
Emenhiser, who was officially diagnosed last year, has suspected for years that she had MS. Her symptoms began after her high school graduation day when she woke up unable to walk. She went through years of false diagnoses, including one of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and well-meaning if misguided medical treatment. Through it all, though, she had strong family support.
“It was hard for my family to cope with it because they were used to me being a busy person. I move at 90 miles an hour but now I crash at 90 miles an hour,” laughs Emenhiser. “My dad calls and says, ‘There’s a special on TV about MS.’ They all help in their way. For them to find a name for something that had caused me problems for years was in its way a relief. Some days I will walk with a cane and some days I will not. My family and I have realized that my symptoms are like an iceberg: 10% is on the surface and 90% is below the surface.”
Emenhiser beams when she talks about her children, a four-year old boy and a two-year-old girl: “My kids see me give myself an injection every day. My children probably think everyone’s mom gets a shot every day. My husband and children help me when they know I am having a tough day. Last year, they walked in the Walk MS event with me. That’s why developing a local support network is important so my children see me setting an example of fighting this disease.”
Indeed, in addition to her work with the Kalamazoo Walk MS, Emenhiser’s most immediate goal is the creation of an MS support group, comprised of patients and clinicians, in her hometown. As a former insurance agent, Emenhiser believes that, in this economy, a local support group could help MS patients in two ways: 1) to better understand the emotional and physical ramifications of the disease and 2) to navigate their benefits and deal with the impact of potential job loss.
“I thought it would be great given the challenges in Michigan. I thought it would be important if people lost their jobs that they had a resource of support. I am still trying to identify folks who would participate,” she observes.
And with the enthusiasm a high school class president carries with her whole life, she ends on a hopeful note: “Being a mom and having MS has been challenging, and I thought I could use my experience to help. I would like to educate both people living with the disease as well as medical professionals to know what it is like for us. I know that we will find a cure, and I want to help people with MS here and now know that they will have and should have a productive and happy life!”