Loni, a resident at the North Star Community
I was only 22 years old when I was diagnosed with MS. At the time, I was working as a caseworker with Denver Welfare. One day I began to feel that something wasn’t quite right with my body; the tips of my fingers would go numb. In search of answers, I went to visit my family doctor who then recommended that I see a neurologist. The neurologist diagnosed me that day with MS.
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| Team North Star |
To give me a visual of what MS could look like, he pointed to another patient in his office who looked perfectly normal; she was able to drive herself to the office. The doctor told me that he expected that my disease would progress similarly.
The neurologist was right. My progression was very slow, however, I continued to experience the symptom of numbness in my fingers. Luckily, I was able to continue working and live a fairly normal life for 20 years. Unfortunately, over time, my MS progressed and eventually I could no longer live the life I once had.
I moved to North Star in 2008 and I immediately got involved with the National MS Society Colorado-Wyoming Chapter. Every year I participate in the fundraisers at North Star and in 2010 finally participated in my first Walk MS event. It was an incredible experience. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones, but most importantly, seeing everyone out there supporting MS with great enthusiasm.
In 2011, we had around 50 people on Team North Star. Each year our team continues to grow as we add new community members, staff, family and friends to our roster. Fundraising and attending Walk MS together makes us feel like an even closer knit community and we look forward to meeting and exceeding our fundraising and recruiting goals every year.
This year we hope to have even more people walking with us and joining the movement to create a world free of MS!
*North Star Rehabilitation and Care Community is a long term care facility located in Denver. They provide sub-acute rehabilitation, long term care and specialized programming for those with advanced MS. Currently there are 28 adults with multiple sclerosis living in the community. In January 2009, North Star received the designation of “Center for Promotion of Excellence in Long Term Care” from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Please Join The Movement with Loni and Team North Star by
registering for Walk MS today.
We can’t wait to see you on Walk Day!