Friends,

It’s going to be a busy and exciting week this week.  I hope you’ll join us!

Nancy is really making some nice progress!
I’m so happy for Nancy the past couple of weeks.  She hasn’t been able to stand for many years.  The past two weeks, she’s been able to stand with the Sara Stedy.  She was even standing and sitting on all her own.  Check out how she’s standing straight and her knees aren’t even being supported.  This is exciting!

It warms my heart every time I see people who can’t stand…standing.

Our Nutrition Program is starting back up – tomorrow 😊
Let’s welcome Alison back tomorrow!  We will be having our nutrition program tomorrow @ 11:00.  I hope you will engage and benefit from this.  Nutrition is so critical to us living with MS.  We want to help our bodies heal from the inside, feel good and have more energy.

Here’s our schedule with Alison for the rest of this year.  Please join us!

Dr Alex Ng from Marquette University will be here Friday @ 11:00!
Please help us welcome Dr Ng back again and learn about his dance study and dance opportunities coming up.

Friday, March 24th @ 11:00 – Dr Alex Ng from Marquette University will be here to present his findings on the dance study he did a while back.  Many of you engaged in this study.  It’ll be interesting to learn from Dr Ng the results of this study and how dance can help us living with MS.

Day of Endurance Journey – Progress
Another two weeks have passed already.  Please write down your longest distance / time of your training for each event you’re doing for our day of of endurance.  Some of you need to catch up on your recording.  If you need some assistance writing your progress on the board, please ask me or someone else to help you.  We’re happy to help and it’s really important we share your progress with others.

While you’re at the board, check out my progress and the progress of some of our other friends with MS who are sharing their progress.

For me personally, my body is adapting nicely to the longer workouts I’ve been putting it through.  I’m swimming well over a mile at a time and feeling really good afterwards.  I haven’t started biking yet, that will come soon.  I did a 5 mile walk on Sunday.  This is my farthest walk in a long time…many years.  My feet were burning when I was done but not as bad as when I recently walked 2, 3 and 4 miles leading up to this.  This is getting exciting for me again!  For a while, I was starting to think MS is going to get the best of me; now I feel like I’m staying ahead of it again.  It’s certainly not easy and this certainly is not a cure for MS but we are seeing that our bodies do adapt over time with consistency.

Some people are already doubling what they used to be able to do at the beginning of the year when we kicked off our “Day of Endurance Journey”.  Experiencing this progress not only helps us physically, it’s even more rewarding mentally and emotionally.  Nothing happens quickly for us with MS but if we think about it, any progress is beating the natural progression of MS.

Let’s keep in mind, this is a gradual build up journey from now until August 26th.  Let’s be sure to listen to our bodies and do what we can.  We don’t want you to over do it and get set back.  We are all at such different levels, we need to listen to our bodies individually and gradually build up but not get injured.

Hopefully you will start partnering up with someone with similar goals and share your journey daily with each other as well as sharing your bi-weekly progress with us.

Please engage in this journey and share your progress with the rest of us.  I’m confident we’re going to see some amazing progress with many people with MS between now and August 26th.  Let’s make the best of this journey…together.

Rest, Recovery and Safety
We’ll be having biweekly workshops that focuses on achieving our fitness goals and preventing injuries.  They will be the 2nd and 4th Fridays from 11am – 12pm.  Please join us for hands on activities and learn how to rest, recover and stay safe.

Upcoming Topics:

March 24th – Dr Alex Ng from Marquette University will be here to report his findings on the dance study he did a while back.  Many of you engaged in this study.  It’ll be interesting to learn from Dr Ng the results of this study and how dance can help us living with MS.

April 7th – Assisting one another with stretching.  This is a great way to learn simple stretches to help one another.  Let Ricky know if you want to be a stretch model or learn to stretch and get some hands-on practice.  We will do our best to match everyone up and plenty of room to observe.  Ricky will leading this session and will not be doing massages during this time.  Please plan accordingly.

Future topics could include: emotional health, nutrition, yoga, tai chi, wellness topics, safe use of gym equipment for your body and more.  What topics would you like to see?  Please let Joan, Traci, Ricky or Dan know

Golf Outing June 30th
We are planning for our golf outing and we’re hoping you’ll help us come up with silent auction items and raffle basket items.  If you’re willing to donate an item or service or know someone that would, please either bring them to the gym or let Rick Talbert know about it.  We would appreciate your help with this…thank you in advance!

COVID
We didn’t have anyone test positive for COVID this past week.  I’m thankful!  It’s still around so let’s not let our guard down too far.

To all who have reported their positive testing to me…thank you for letting me know and for being socially responsible and staying away until your symptoms are all cleared up.  If you do come down with it, it’s important we let people know that you have been in close contact with so they can watch for symptoms and help stop the spread.

We’ve all been dealing with COVID long enough and are very well educated on it by now.  I’m not telling you what to do but I’d highly encourage you to wear a mask again if you haven’t had it recently.  Let’s make good choices and be safe.

Please stay home if you have any symptoms or know you’ve been exposed to someone with the virus.  Please don’t come until your symptoms go away.  Let’s also give each other some space when talking to one another and continue wiping the machines down before and after you use them with disinfectant.  Again…let’s be socially responsible and stay safe!

Let’s get together!
We’ll be getting together again from 9:00am – noon on Wednesday and Friday mornings at the gym.  I hope you’ll join us!

Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186

Prayer Group  We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday @ 11:00am.
I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly.  It’s truly amazing!

Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us.  Let’s get together to share, listen, talk, give thanks, and pray however God leads us.

MS Just Keep Caring – Our Caregivers support group will be the first and third Friday of each month from 10:00 – 10:30am.  The next one will be Friday, April 7th.  If you’re a caregiver of someone you love with MS, please join us and share your experience of caring for your loved one.  This has been very helpful for many.  Thanks to all who participate!

Friday Morning Bike Rides
Spring is getting closer.  Be sure your bike is tuned up, fitted to you and ready to ride.  As soon as we get to 45 degrees at 7:00am, we’ll be back out there.  Think spring! 😊

Our Facebook page is private.  That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress.  We’re now up to 353 members…awesome!   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709

Our Facebook page is very active and fun.  Lots of people are doing more and sharing some of their journey on Facebook.  Feel free to join, post and share your experience and comments.  Thank you to all who are sharing!

There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week.

Thai Massage with Ricky Heldt
Ricky will be here Wednesday and Friday again this week doing Thai Massage.  Ricky says he is comfortable to work with you even if you’re not wearing a mask.  Ricky will continue to wear one to protect you.

Many continue making great progress with chronic pain relief, range of motion, walking better and a new sense of hope when Ricky works with them.  Please keep in mind that consistency is key.  Not only with Ricky…with exercise too.  We need consistency to realize the benefits long term.  We want you to have long term relief.

Ricky has a sign up sheet based on first come first serve.  You can pick the time slot that works for you.  I highly encourage you to take advantage of Ricky’s Thai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.

Reiki with Linda  Linda will be here on Fridays doing Reiki.  Many people say Linda’s Reiki work is “magical”.  We’re thankful for Linda sharing her gifts and talents to us.  Feel free to let Linda know you’d like to do Reiki with her.  She also has a sign up sheet.

Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
We’ll be having our inspirational humor zoom call with Adam again next Tuesday.  Adam is a gift to all of us.  Thanks to all who joined us today!

Please join us if you can.
Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Here’s the link to join us…I hope you do!
Join Zoom Meeting with this link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431389152?pwd=bWlYbFNaazVnM1M1cWxWMitlODdXUT09

Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
Passcode: 3qP2hu
Phone:   1-312-626-6799

Let’s reach out
I encourage you to share a smile and encouragement with someone.  Perhaps you could call someone that you have not talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they are doing.  We all could use a little extra love and encouragement.

MS is tough.  Let us have faith, remain calm, be flexible, help each other and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices.

Let’s keep moving and smiling 😊

In God We Trust…we are in good hands
Dan

http://msjustkeepmoving.org/

P.S.   Let’s see, what did I take pictures of this past week?  I had to look in my camera to see what was in there.

There was a beautiful sunrise on my way to exercise at Westwood.  I decided to pull over and take a picture to share with you.

Here are a few deer that were in our backyard this past week.

With the cold weather we had last week, Pewaukee Lake froze back over a bit.  I found a couple ducks enjoying the ice-cold water.

And a big goose standing on the ice

The cranes in our yard were having some fun together.  I’m not sure what they were saying but they sure were squawking and jumping around together.

On Sunday evening, it was really cold and windy out.  The cold and wind didn’t stop these two lovers from enjoying God’s beautiful sunset on the beach at Pewaukee Lake.

For those of you who can’t get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you.  You are with me every time I’m out there.  I enjoy being out there and I also enjoy sharing with you.  I know how hard it is not to be able to get out and enjoy nature.  Let’s enjoy nature and God’s beauty together this way.