Take action MS in Orlando!

Dark from night and lack of street lights the big black SUV waits to pick up its target. Me. Girlwithms. Going out in style and heading to Orlando for an amazing http://takeactionms.com event with fellow life experts and the amazing Madeleine Stowe, spokesperson for Aubagio, an MS once a day oral treatment. Madeleine doesn't have MS but her father did. She shares her experiences living with a parent with MS.

LAX is always a fishbowl within which to watch folks. And that's what I did for over an hour before my flight. Mindless, flying. If you've got a driver and watch and no stressors.

A group of 80 employees from a tech company descended on lax. And they did not look Like techies at all! High, high heels, and all dressed up in black or nude. Spray tans, straight or curled hair, everything looking coifed and perfect. Their voices were a bit like cackling hens but they were having fun. 20 year olds in career mode. I remember those days. So long ago it seems from those corporate days to this life of illness and making every day count.

Sitting at Hilton, having a beer. Tomorrow is our event and I'm on from 9:30 to 2. Then fly fishing Sunday. There's so much to do here and I feel pretty stupid leaving after a day but alas, work to be done at home and more.

So, what's with the MS? It's been mellowing lately, due to stress management and more. Honestly my nutritional intake has been crap. I have nothing to credit my recent success except for stress management. It's been the true key to my recent good feelings.

Well, time to manage some stress!

Off to meditate and to breathe deep. Breathe deep my friend, breathe deep.

Check us out at http://takeactionms.com

Let's do this!

And here we are! At the Hilton Orlando helping hundreds of folks with MS learn tips and tricks to managing stress with MS. This information would have been extremely helpful when I was diagnosed 13 years ago. These events are quite the uplift and inspiration for me, meeting so many folks who understand what I am going through. The dynamics of which are still beating strong the day after.

Connecting with folks who have MS is inspiring. Learning ways to manage MS is inspiring. As Madeleine Stowe says during her presentation, so much has changed over the years. The medicine. The knowledge. It's a different world.

And one day, we will find a cure!

 

2015 is here! Time to be rescued.

Wow! Another year has come and gone with many, many wonderful happenings, despite the multiple sclerosis. I've met many new MS friends this year across the nation. As the world gets smaller so does the illness. We will beat this disease!

My most recent adventure was a New Years Celebration to remember. With the Oregon Ducks going to the Rose Bowl and my home town of La Canada Flintridge producing their annual float for the Rose Parade, we had a week of fun filled activities!

My friends and I working on Our float, To the Rescue, which won the Founders Day award. Yay us! This is a self built float, one of only a handful in the parade. Which means it's all made with volunteers and donations plus some expenses.

Here is Clifford the big red lobster, as named by Oregons SMART reading program in Eugene, Oregon. A fundraiser for more seafood.

A variety of fun sea creatures getting dressed with their flowers, seeds, leaves and fruit. An amazing process overall!
Clark with his "namers", my nephews.

Here are my friends decorating Clark the Shark. Clark was named by my nephews as a fundraiser for seafood.

Some of the crew assembling the octopus. It takes a village!
The rendition of the float prior to the build:

Voila! The float:

 

click here for more info about LCFTRA.

"To the rescue" is a term I think of often with my MS.

What brings us down so that we need to be rescued?

What part of our MS has us feeling like the shark in the net?

Who is our Clifford the net cutting lobster that will save the day?

Friends and family and even strangers at times have rescued me. Also the wide variety of natural, alternative, nutritional and western medicines to choose from have helped. And now the new TakeActionMS program with their MS nurses can help rescue us all. The fact is we have many,many options to help us escape the net of multiple sclerosis. The first step is asking for help. Then accepting help. Then helping others.

Join us next year for the float build!

Decorating and volunteers come from all over. It does take a village.

Now...to take on 2015!

Let's do this!