Why We Fight MS

Having multiple sclerosis means that you may suddenly have blurry vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. Or that you may not always be able to walk, let alone ride a bike. The symptoms of MS are different, and devastating, for everyone - the only certainty is that it will affect yet another person every hour of every day.

Why I Ride

I want to thank all of you who helped out in the past from the bottom of my heart.

Maryellen and I have been touched by the outpouring of support; not just monetarily, but also all the notes and cards we’ve received.

The National MS Society is a great charity, raising money for research and patient education and support. They’re a national charity, but the money you donate stays here in NWOhio to help some of the 3000+ MS patients right here.

Those of you who have supported me in the past, again, thanks! You know my story and can just get right to writing that check to the National MS Society and sending it to P.O. Box 73, Elmore, OH (or by clicking the link to the left, under the "thermometer")!!

If you can’t give monetarily, please keep us in your
thoughts and prayers!!

Those of you who may be new, don’t know me very well, or if you just like to read... here’s why I do this every year... In 1999, my beautiful wife, Maryellen, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. MS is a terrible, scary, unknown that not only robs its victims of their motor skills, vision, strength, sleep, coordination and more, but also of their innocence and often all of their hope.

MS isn’t a well known disease, people remember reading books to raise money back in school, or maybe recognize the Bike-To-
The-Bay each year, but they don’t really know what MS is. It’s NOT “Jerry’s Kids.” (that’s MD)

Maryellen, woke up one morning (7/25/99) and couldn’t see out
of her right eye. After a trip to the emergency room and several
doctor visits later, she was diagnosed with MS. Neither of us
really knew what that meant. MRI’s showed scars in her brain
where the electrical impulses “jumped the circuit” and caused
damage. Since then she’s lost feeling in her legs, experienced
numbness, dizziness, fatigue and depression. Maybe more devastating, she never knows what tomorrow will hold...it’s very
probable that one day she’ll wake up and not be able to walk or
stand up.

I've given her a shot of a drug called Avonex once a week to help
slow the progression of the disease, and now she's taking a 3-times-a-week shot called Rebif. Thankfully, she’s recovered
from each of her exacerbations (although there’s always some
residual damage that holds on…her vision returned, but isn’t
normal, etc.), and she’s only had to miss a few weeks of work. I
can’t stand wondering what tomorrow may hold for her and can
only imagine what it’s like from her perspective.

It’s not easy for me to be public about this very private part of
our lives...I hope you all don’t mind my openness. If you can’t
help, that’s fine, but if you can, please do! If not for Maryellen, then for someone you may or may not know. It seems like almost everyone knows of someone with MS. Now would be a
great time to help do something about it! Thanks for reading.

Why You Should Sponsor Me

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society will use funds collected from the Bike MS Event to not only support research for a cure tomorrow, but also to provide programs which address the needs of people living with MS today. Because we can fight this disease by simply riding a bike, because we have chosen to help thousands of people through a contribution to the Bike MS, we are now getting closer to the hour when no one will have to hear the words, "You have MS."