Progressive MS Teleconference

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease for which no cure has yet been found. Although we have treatments to manage the disease course, they are only partially effective, which means that some people’s MS will worsen in spite of everything they and their doctors do to try and prevent it.

While researchers are working to identify new and better strategies to stop that progression, people whose MS has become more disabling—and their family members and friends—need information about how to manage the challenges they face. Therefore, each year the Hampton Roads Chapters collaborates with other chapters across the East Coast to provide a teleconference specifically targeted for those with advanced MS.

Each teleconference lasts just one hour and is accessible via a toll-free number. You can ask questions or just listen to the information. Best of all, you can do so from the privacy of your own home.

2012 Teleconference:

Management and Rehabilitation of Advanced MS

Guest Speaker: George H. Kraft, M.D., M.S.

•Director of the Western Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Center and Alvord Professor of MS Research

•Professor, Rehabilitation Medicine and Neurology at the University of Washington in Seattle

 Handouts:

• Brochure - Managing Progressive MS (.pdf)
• Brochure - So You Have Progressive MS (.pdf)

The following National MS Society websites may also be useful:   

• Progressive MS
• Living with Advanced MS

Caring For Yourself While Caring for Others

Caring for someone with a chronic illness like MS can be deeply satisfying. Spouses and partners, family, and friends can be drawn more closely together by their shared concerns and collaborative efforts. But caregiving can also be physically and emotionally exhausting, particularly for the primary caregiver. While this is most often a partner or spouse, the primary caregiver may also be an adult child, parent, or friend. Whoever you are, remember that paying attention to your own health and well-being is essential to being able to care for someone else. This teleconference will discuss the challenges faced by caregivers and provide tips for staying well, avoiding burnout, and getting the support and help needed.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Rosalind Kalb 

Dr. Kalb is the Director of the Professional Resource Center at the National MS Society. She has edited two books—Multiple Sclerosis: The Questions You Have; The Answers You Need­, now in its 4th edition, and Multiple Sclerosis: A Guide for Families, now in its third edition. She is also the senior author of Multiple Sclerosis for Dummies, and co-author with Dr. Nicholas LaRocca of Multiple Sclerosis: Understanding the Cognitive Challenges.