At the end of 2010 my sister asked if I wanted to create a team for the MS Walk, which was March 26, 2011. My immediate answer was no, I didn't know how I'd feel about being around so many others with MS. I was still trying to figure out how to deal with the disease myself and I didn't know how I would feel emotionally seeing people at all different stages of the disease. When I was originally diagnosed I only knew one person who had MS, that person was diagnosed before there were any medicines to treat the disease. After really thinking about it I gave in, and decided that if I couldn't handle it we would leave. Plus, my family was going to be there and they've always been very supportive, helping me through the dark days.
I really didn't have many expectations that year, except that if we were going to do the walk, we'd do it in style of course! At that time Bridget was all into tutus, which we had worn for the red dress run in August of 2010. After thinking about it we decided we'd wear pink and lime green tutus (my favorite colors) and that's when Tutu Cute Fighting MS was born! When I was diagnosed with MS I said I always had to look cute, to hid the fact that I wasn't feeling good at all. Also, I joked that if I ever did need a wheelchair I'd start wearing my heels again because no matter what I'd always stay stylish.
That year we didn't fundraise much, I sent e-mails to my close friends and family and figured we'd go out there and just have a good day. Well, that year we ended up raising $1500, I was in shock because I never expected to really raise that much money. Of course after that my competitive side wanted to raise more money the next year.
Over the past four years our MS walk team has raised nearly $20,000!!! This year we are holding strong as the #2 team with $6, 480 and not to brag, but I'm currently the New Orleans #1 individual fundraiser!!! If someone would have told me 4 years ago that I'd do whatever I can to raise money for MS and spread awareness I wouldn't have believed it.
There are times where I feel as though I haven't been successful since I haven't had a full time job because of the chronic pain I struggle with and how sick I was once I graduated from college. But, if nothing else I've raised a lot of money for the MS Society (with the help of my amazing support system of family and friends) and I've also raised awareness. When I was first diagnosed I went through a period where I was very emotional over the diagnosis, wondering why I had to deal with this after struggling with other chronic illness growing up, it wasn't fair. But, now I realize maybe God knew I'd do everything in my power to raise money and awareness for MS. Even though our team hasn't raised as much as some teams, we do a lot of fundraising throughout the year and every dollar counts.
Since July 2010 when I was diagnosed, the FDA has approved 3 new ORAL medicines to treat MS (which is huge since all the others were injections or infusions). Each year the society funds new research to stop disease progression, restore what has been lost, and end MS forever.
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