An aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis robbed Suzanne Edholm of her speech and motor skills more than 5 years ago. Suzanne, 46, who lives in Mesa, AZ, was introduced to us by WYSK Kate Milliken, the founder of My Counterpane, a video based social network for the chronically ill and their caregivers.
“In all my conversations with MS’ers, I have rarely come across someone who had such a difficult time getting diagnosed as Suzanne. It took two years of severe symptoms and three neurologists to finally identify her MS. In that stretch of time, she lost 75% of her vision, as well as her ability to walk and talk. She even has the crazy claim to fame of having a brain lesion the size of an orange,” Kate shared with WYSK.
Kate continued, “The good news is Suzanne is a warrior. When I met her this summer, two characteristics emerged that made me realize that the last thing I was going to feel for her was pity – I saw her courage and her sense of humor.”
Though still debilitated, Suzanne continues to develop her speech and mobility, and is using My Counterpane as a way to share and chart her progress. See her talk about her progression, her low points, and her determination to fight back.
Suzanne shows an incredible amount of courage and, equally as important, that there is always hope!
You can follow Suzanne’s progress and new video uploads here.
Multiple Sclerosis Facts
- Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
- More than two to three times as many women as men develop MS and this gender difference has been increasing over the past 50 years.
- MS occurs in most ethnic groups, including African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics/Latinos, but is most common in Caucasians of northern European ancestry.
- It is estimated that more than 2.3 million people are affected by MS worldwide.
Source: National Multiple Sclerosis Society