Jack Kost

Monday, February 6, 2017

Amy Schumer's #KissGoodbyeToMS:

Amy Schumer wants to #KissGoodbyeToMS for her dad, Gordon Schumer.

Why do you want to Kiss Goodbye to MS?

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My personal response:

For my beautiful wife.

I love her with all my heart and I would take the disease from her and carry it myself – in a heartbeat!

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Meet Amy Schumer - Comedian, Writer, Actor and MS Activist Extraordinaire

July 17, 2015

Amy and her dad, Gordon Schumer

Amy Schumer is one of the most popular and admired comedic personalities on the scene today. She is presently best known as the creator, star, writer, and executive producer of the Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer. She is also a 2015 recipient of the Time 100 Most Influential Artists with her show receiving both a Peabody Award and a Critic’s Choice Award.

What also makes Amy Schumer very special to everyone impacted by multiple sclerosis is that her father Gordon Schumer has MS and currently resides in an assisted living facility. In fact, Amy wrote and stars in a funny yet touching film that opens July 17, TRAINWRECK, which draws on her life as a child with a parent who has MS. Amy credits her dad for shaping her sense of humor, which has provided her great strength when faced with adversity, which included her parents’ divorce when she was a teen.

Shares Amy in a recent interview, “I love to laugh. I seek laughter all the time. I think that’s something that also comes with having a sick parent is you don’t know what’s going to happen and so I’ll be, like, ‘I’m psyched my legs still work, and I want to, like, experience all I can and make as many memories as I can.”

Amy is deeply committed to the MS movement and support of the Society’s efforts to help people with MS live their best lives while we strive to end MS forever. Most recently, she and her director, friend Judd Apatow helped to raise over $176,000 through the TRAINWRECK Comedy Tour event held in New York City. She continues to leverage the promotion of the film with the help of Universal Trainwreck and www.CrowdRise.com/Trainwreck to raise funds to support the Society, a site where fans gathered to donate for a chance to win a VIP experience that includes two tickets to the New York Premiere.

Amy, a New York City resident, has also become an Honorary Board Member of the New York City-Southern New York Chapter.

Learn more about how MS has influenced Amy Schumer’s life and career at:

http://www.inquisitr.com/2220693/amy-schumer-opens-up-about-fathers-ms/

About Multiple Sclerosis:

Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are leading to better understanding and moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/About-the-Society/News/Meet-Amy-Schumer-Comedian,-Writer,-Actor-and-MS-Ac

In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:

Never give up!

http://www.nationalmssociety.org

http://msfocus.org

https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com

http://mymsaa.org

http://positivelivingwithms.com

Keep pets warm and safe!

It’s a disgrace that posts such as these have to be made.

You get a pet; you have a responsibility to care for it – for life!

Invisible pain:

In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:

Never give up!

http://www.nationalmssociety.org

http://msfocus.org

https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com

http://mymsaa.org

http://positivelivingwithms.com

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Grief, Self-preservation and Multiple Sclerosis:

January 17, 2017

by Debi Wilson

In Columns

Faith of the Mustard Seed – a Column by Debi Wilson

Grief can weaken our immune system, elevate our blood pressure, and affect our overall health. During a loss, especially one of the magnitude of a loved one, self-preservation is not always a top priority. For those of us with multiple sclerosis, the mental anguish that is grief can exacerbate our already compromised condition. It is important not to lose awareness of ourselves during this overwhelming time. Grieving is an unavoidable, yet natural and necessary, way to help us heal mentally and emotionally. It is, however, not a place to reside.

Staying in an extended state of bereavement can be detrimental to your overall health and to your mental well-being. Everything I have read on this subject stresses that, at some point, you need to move forward. While still honoring, remembering and cherishing the memories of the deceased, you also need to remember yourself.

There comes a time to consider grief counseling, doctors’ advice, eating and sleeping correctly, and making yourself the main priority. That time should come sooner, rather than later, during the grieving process.

After my mother’s death in 1995, I was heartbroken and my grief carried on for years. It then snowballed when it overlapped with my father’s passing in 2003. My progression toward MS accelerated during that time. My symptoms were minor before my parents’ passings, but with my grief my teetering balance, chronic fatigue and abnormal gait became much more apparent. I chose to live with my suffering as my mourning continued; I just couldn’t seem to let go of the pain.

With losing my Mom, I lost my best friend, my confidant and my advisor. With my Dad gone, I lost a loving and caring father.

I went on with my life not being fully present, existing in a state of elevated depression, fatigue and detachment. I had a husband and three teenage children at that time and I continued the motions of living, but I didn’t feel alive. It took time for me to realize that my mother and father wouldn’t want this for me. They would only want the best for my life. I had to move on.

It was like digging myself out of a hole. I had to step back into life and I didn’t know how.

Then came my multiple sclerosis diagnosis. A loss of a different kind, and I wallowed in that grief for a while as well. Eventually, dealing with my MS helped me to regain some of the fight I had lost. It helped to guide and lift me out of my grief. I received help with my depression in the form of therapy, and an anti-depressant I used for two years. Two things I should have sought out much sooner.

Luckily, I am in a much better place in my life today. I have let my grief go and I enjoy living life again. I always make a conscious effort to be aware of my well-being during times of stress and loss.

Debi Wilson:

Debi is a retired Admissions and Marketing Director and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest. She is married and the Mother of three grown children and has three Grandchildren. She was diagnosed with PPMS in 2010. She hopes to help and inspire others that are also dealing with MS.