Friends,

Last week was really busy with Alison back to talk about nutrition, Dr Ng here to talk about dance and the indoor triathlon training in full speed ahead amongst everything else we are doing on Wednesdays and Fridays.  It’s exciting!  This week will be a little more normal so let’s have some fun!

Nancy is inspiring Diane.  Diane is inspiring Nancy.  They’re both inspiring me.
The last few weeks Nancy has been making a lot of progress with standing.  So much that Diane wanted to do what Nancy is doing.  With a lot of effort, focus and a little help from some friends, Diane stood as well while Nancy watched with admiration.  I love it!

Alison gave an awesome presentation last Wednesday 😊
Alison gave a great presentation on inflammation and the benefits of Omega 3’s with MS, where to get them and how to test for them.  Nice job Alison and thank you for doing this for us!  I’ve attached Alison’s presentation so you have it for notes and review.

I think it’s awesome that we have the big TV and sound system so we can keep exercising or relax while we have these educational sessions.  A huge thanks goes to Phil Ransom, Jim Oliver and anyone who donated to us for making this possible…Thank You!

Cal recorded the presentation so we’ll make that available on our website as soon as we can.  Thanks for recording it Cal!

Dr Alex Ng from Marquette University gave a great presentation on dance last Friday
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to this presentation because I was out of town.  Fortunately, Cal recorded this presentation and I was able to watch it today.  Dr Ng gave a great presentation and did a nice job of presenting all the benefits of dance for people with MS.  It was encouraging to hear about the benefits especially the positive results with the cognitive challenges of MS.

Thank you, Dr Ng for coming out and presenting your results from your studies!  Very encouraging results!  Thanks also for bringing dance opportunities to our MS community.  I would highly encourage anyone that can engage in these opportunities Dr Ng is making possible to do so.

The first one is this coming Saturday @ 3:30PM at Marquette University.  These are free for people with MS.  I hope you can participate and have some fun!  Please respond to exercisewellness@marquette.edu or call 414-288-3582 if you can make it so they know how many people to plan for.  Let’s dance!

Indoor Triathlon is coming right up!
The indoor triathlon at Westwood Health and Fitness will be Thursday, April 13th @ 10:00am. We have 13 of our friends with MS training hard for this while having fun.  Right Joan?
Family and friends (that’s you!) are invited and highly encouraged to come cheer us on for the indoor triathlon.  You’ll be inspired and we’ll all be thankful you came!
Chris and Tony are making progress together
Chris Wegner and Tony Langtimm were featured on Spectrum news.  Here’s a link to the article and video if you didn’t see it.  https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2023/03/20/wisconsin-woman-with-ms-uses-weightlifting-to-help-manage-symptoms—?cid=app_share&fbclid=IwAR2OIYMB8x0FfM1EV_A4fsxq3l4YiMWta806UWBC6TixLp03yj9OQ0i9JJc&mibextid=kdkkhi#

In case you’re not aware of the programs Tony has going for people with MS, here’s some information from Tony.

Ascent Wellness provides an open gym and fitness trainer-supported classes for individuals with MS in Milwaukee and surrounding areas.  Located at 440 W. Vliet St, Milwaukee, WI 53202 (just north of the Buck’s Fiserv Forum), the classes take place at 10 am every Thursday.  Each class is designed to provide individual attention to the athlete and build a functional fitness program to meet the athlete where they are at in their own movement journey.  The focus on functional fitness includes areas such as bending, stretching, strengthening, balance work, and endurance.  Above all, it’s an awesome space and a supportive community to be a part of.   

In addition, Ascent Wellness has open gym hours from 12-2 pm every Tuesday and Thursday where an athlete can come in and work on the program they developed with their fitness trainer.  During this time Ascent Wellness will keep a staffed trainer on site to assist in the program and any work the athlete is doing. 

info@ascentwellnessprogram.com


440 W Vliet St.
Milwaukee, WI 53212

https://www.ascentwellnessprog.com/

I would highly encourage you to engage in the programs that Tony is providing along with our programs.  We are here for you!  Like John says “We’re going to beat this thing!”

Fairy Food for Easter 😊
Our dear friend Shennan Helbig has been busy again.  Eveyone loved her fairy food candy she made as a fundraiser for our MS-Just Keep Moving mission for Valentine’s Day so she decided to make some more for Easter.  Thank you Shennan!
We have about 35 bags and they will be available on first come first served basis for $10.00 per bag again.  You can e-mail Bonnie @ bonnie.erschen@gmail.com and let her know you’d like some plus we’ll have a sign up sheet at the gym this week and have the candy available next week.  Just in time for Easter 😊  All proceeds go to our MS Just Keep Moving mission.

Day of Endurance Journey – Progress

MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
Day of Endurance Journey
Progress sharing board
January 1, 2023 – August 26, 2023

Please keep in mind this board is only measuring our physical progress and only our longest distance or time.  There are so many other ways we can make progress by engaging in this journey that are hard to measure but way more impactful than our physical progress.

  • Emotional – Feelings of anxiety or depression can be improved upon – we feel good when we’re engaging in this and gain a greater sense of accomplishment and self-worth
  • Mental – cognitive challenges and memory can be improved – many studies show this
  • Social – Creates opportunities to get together and be active with friends and create new friends and relationships
  • Community – Brings us all together with a common worthwhile goal
  • Fun – This is FUN 😊  Let’s keep that in mind as we’re finishing our long days of training
  • Sharing – This is an opportunity for us to share with each other and the larger population of people living with MS.  By us sharing, newly diagnosed people with MS may have a totally different outlook on living with MS than if we didn’t share.  This also goes for loved ones of people living with MS.
  • Gratification – Let’s be thankful for what we “can do” and the people we get to do it with – powerful!
  • Spiritual – Let’s give thanks to God for bringing us all together the way He does and for being with us every step of the way.  Who knows what He has in mind for us next?  I don’t know; however, I trust it’s going to be good in ways we can’t even envision or measure.  Let’s do our part to open our minds, open our hearts and allow God into our lives instead of resisting Him.  Let’s do our part to carry out His plan for us even if it is totally different than our plan.  I know I didn’t plan on getting MS and then having the courage, will and strength to make the best of it.  In God We Trust.

Instructions to fill out the board is real simple:

Each two-week period, record your longest distance or time of each event you’re working toward for the “Day of Endurance”.  Along with that, let us know in two or three words how you felt after your long event for the two-week period leading up to the day of endurance on August 26th.  That’s it!

Each two-week period, try to do just a little more than the last two-week period and record (share) it again.

Let’s enjoy our 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:

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 354 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.   This past weekend, I had an opportunity to drive to Louisiana with Bonnie and my Mom.  We had a great trip together.  I’m thankful we missed the tornadoes in Mississippi but we did see a lot of trees blown over on the way back that were standing on the way down.  I’m certainly praying for all the people in Mississippi that were affected by the tornadoes.  It’s devastating in so many ways.

While we were there, the weather was beautiful…like 89 degrees on Saturday while we had a snow storm here.

The leaves were on the trees…perhaps spring will be here soon too.

My niece and her husband live adjacent to a golf course.  It was fun watching the wildlife on the golf course.

It didn’t seem like the geese were bothered by the alligator.

I don’t know what kind of birds these are but they sure liked the golf course.

I didn’t know alligators would draw golfers to the golf course but the golfers sure seemed to like this alligator.

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.