Intro to the 2012 Tour to Tanglewood

Have you ever been so deeply affected by something out of your control that you are left feeling helpless to do anything about it?  I have, and it started in 2003 when my Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  It is hard to really describe this disease because it affects everyone differently, and to different extents.  Some people who have it you would never know.  Others who have it, can't do much for themselves.  You see, MS affects the central nervous system, and impairs parts of the brain in a very random nature.  Things like balance, hearing, sight, memory, and even the sense of touch can be affected to one degree or another.

Without getting into clinical detail, my Mother has a progressive form of MS meaning it gets worse as time goes by.  There is no cure, only medications that slow the spread of the lesions on the brain.  The thing is, over time, these medications lose their effectiveness as the body gets used to them.  Mom is on a currently on an experimental medication as a last ditch effort to control the progression of the MS.  This is not to say that her MS is worse than others.  In fact, she can function quite well.....for the most part.  She still has flares that put her in the bed for days and sometimes weeks at a time.  She has a lengthy history of falling due to her unsteadiness, and has even choked on soft foods because the part of the brain that controlled swallowing failed for a short time.

Because of MS, Mom had to take early retirement from her job as a special needs teacher where she taught and cared for pre-school handicapped children and tried to prepare them for a possible life in mainstream schools.  She succeeded in this quest many times which  is a tribute to her abilities.  However, just a couple of years after being diagnosed she was faced with a very difficult decision.  The MS had started to affect her fatigue level, as well as her cognition.  It was an inner fight to determine whether or not she could stay until retirement.  The decision was finally made for her, when she started to lose control of her arm and hand muscles....making her a liability because she could no longer hold the children, or change them.  She went out on full disability, and later an early retirement.

As if losing her dream job wasn't enough, MS made it to where she could no longer take care of the house that she had custom built just a couple of years before.  This was the house she had dreamed of all of her adult life, and she could no longer take care of it, and was finding it difficult to take care of herself in such a large environment.  She had to sell the house, and she went into assisted living.  Oh, and I forgot to mention, her ability to drive diminished to the point it was no longer safe for her to operate a car.

So, here we have a woman in the prime of her life with everything that she ever wanted, and in a period of about two years it all vanished because of MS.  Talk about unfair!

This is why the Tour to Tanglewood is so important to me each year.  I am helpless to do anything about MS.....at least on my own.  However, when partnered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Association my small contributions are added to all the other contributions and that promises change in the future for existing and future MS patients.  As you have read earlier, 2011 was my first year participating in the Bike MS, Tour to Tanglewood.  What started as just wanting to ride 30 miles each day turned into riding 50 miles each day.  I was also able to raise $610.00 which was pretty cool considering I only had about a month to get the money together before the Tour started.

This year, I am planning on raising more money, and riding further as well.  My goals are to raise $1000.00 and ride a full 100 mile century on Sept 15th, followed by an additional 70 miles on the 16th, for a total of 170 miles.  Both are lofty goals, but as you can see, I am dedicated to doing my part to find a cure for this disease.  I am currently raising money for this event, and ask that you share just a couple of dollars to help people like my Mom find a cure for this disease that takes so much away from otherwise healthy and vibrant people.

You can read more about my Mom and donate to the NMSS here.