When I was first diagnosed with MS in 2003, I thought I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was 30, and that I would never have children.  After going through 5 months of testing, MS was ruled out and I was diagnosed with Unknown Encephalitis that caused double vision, and told to contact the doctor if I ever had any other symptoms in the future.  Since I was told I did not have MS, I decided that I would live life to the fullest, and not let things hold me back, so when my sister in law said she was training for the Chicago Marathon in 2013, despite me never running more than 5 miles each Thanksgiving, I said, “I’ll run it with you!”.  Raising money for Alzheimers Association in 2013, and then Breast Cancer in 2014, when I ran the NYC marathon, are some of my proudest accomplishments.  Only surpassed by the births of my three children.  

In 2020, I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, and began treatment at Tisch MS.  I am so thankful to all the doctors, researchers, nurses, admin staff, social workers, and fundraising team at Tisch, who I have been able to interact with in the past year and a half, and who, along with amazing friends and family, have supported me physically and emotionally through the hardest year of my life. I now know that for the past 18 years that I have had multiple relapses, the worst string being from November 2019 through my diagnosis in May of 2020, which included issues with mobility (having trouble walking at the end of 2019, which I thought was related to a pinched nerve, and later flu), visual issues (optic neuritis that led to ultimate diagnosis), mental health struggles, and various pain, numbness and spasticity.  

Not knowing that I had MS in 2003 and the subsequent years never held me back, and I don’t plan in knowing that I have MS hold me back now or in the future.  So, when I was talking with my uncle at lunch about how enrollment was down for the 2021 NYC marathon, I said “I’ll run it!”, and so here I am.  

Thank you for reading my story, and for any donation that you desire to provide to the organization that helps me and so many others fight this currently incurable disease.  With your support, there is hope that we will find a cure!