Friends,
Joy’s Falling Class last week
A huge thank you goes out to Joy Cochran for coming in last week to do her fall class with us again. I heard good feedback right away and these are skills we can put to use right away and benefit from them.
Joy did a great job teaching people how to fall and strategies of how to get up from the ground too. She took people individually to test out what worked for them which was very helpful. About 12 attendees joined, many who use her tips from last year’s presentation when they’ve had falls since.
Thank you, Joy!
Ava’s Thesis project and results
Ava Govek shared with us findings from her master’s thesis project. She researched the effect of antioxidants in people with MS and how it makes them feel. Ava did an amazing job on her thesis project and an excellent job of presenting it. Well done, Ava! Thank you for sharing this information and our gift of presenting so well with us! I’m thankful we recorded it.
Check out her presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ycoiqqQDqpd_zIQDM8gr0WI_FKU4vGz6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=116069757124832431910&rtpof=true&sd=true
Youtube video of her presentation: https://youtu.be/H4pcSesSlJQ
Another FUN bike ride!
I love it when people get together outside the gym and do fun, active things together. This past Saturday, Bill Twieg invited a fun group of people with MS, volunteers and friends to go on a nice 75 mile bike ride together.
We left at 5:00am with a friendly police escort out of Muskego
After riding for a while, we had a enough daylight to get a better picture with our friendly Muskego police officer who so graciously escorted us out of Muskego.
We rode to Lake Geneva and had a few drinks and snacks together along with lots of laughs and fun.
It’s always inspirational to ride with Todd who is 60 years old with Primary Progressive MS as he rides on a hand cycle because he can’t walk too well. Yes, he rode 75 miles with us on Saturday after riding 160 miles in one day during his 507-mile ride across Iowa in the RAGBRAI ride two weeks ago.
I hope to see more fun, random events like this happen as we go forward. Thanks, Bill for organizing this and making it possible.
Also, thanks to our special SAG drivers, Traci and Shelley, who supported us the entire ride. They certainly were good sports and made it fun for us. I’ll leave it at that 😊
Day of Endurance – Saturday, August 29th
Please be sure to invite and encourage your family and friends to come join you and support you and all of us. We will have plenty of inspiration, encouragement, energy and love to share. If everyone brings a dish to pass, we will have plenty of food as well. Please plan on bringing a dish to pass. Please bring your own drink (we will have water) and a chair if you want to sit on anything besides a picnic table. There are plenty of picnic tables to sit on.
For more questions, here is our Day of endurance presentation:
You will need to get a park pass for the park for that day if you don’t have an annual pass. You cannot get this at the park.
Here’s a link:
Thursday Morning Walk
We will be back at St Anthony’s again this week. Come prepared with plenty of water and dress appropriately for the weather. It’s good to train in the heat but we need to listen to our bodies because our MS can be heat sensitive.
Last week, the long-distance walkers that showed up had a nice walk together. We walked out and checked out the park and the route for the Day of Endurance. We made it all the way to the lake and back.
The long-distance walkers will be starting at 6:30 am. The rest of us will be starting at 9:00am. We will be starting from St. Anthony’s parking lot.
St Anthony’s Church
W280N2101 Prospect Avenue
Pewaukee, WI 53072
Come a few minutes early so we can start walking as close to the starting time you choose as possible. It’s going to be warm by the time we are done so bring water and dress accordingly.
For those who wish they could walk but can’t, we are walking for you and have you on our minds and in our hearts.
Friday Morning Bike Ride
Looking at the weather for this Friday, it looks like another beautiful morning for a ride. We have really been getting lucky this summer.
We’ll be meeting Friday morning at 7:00am at Nettesheim Park in Pewaukee. It’s on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street. The GPS address is: N26W27495 Prospect Ave, Pewaukee, WI 53072.
Come a little early so you can get your bike out of your car and be ready to ride as close to 7:00am as possible. We’ll ride until about 8:45. Let’s ride and have some fun!
For those who wish you could join us but can’t; please know we have you in our hearts on these rides. We’re riding with you and for you. I hope you too can join us someday.
Educational Videos
More of our speakers and educational presentations are being uploaded on our YouTube channel. Here’s a link, check them out.
https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UClvyB43uSl1wJSoGBJkSeCw
Let’s get together – Open Gym plus programs!
We’ll be getting together from 7:00am – noon on Monday through Friday mornings at the gym. Plus, Monday and Wednesday evenings from 4:30pm – 6:30pm and Tuesday afternoons for the aquatics program. I hope you’ll join us!
Where:
Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
Email Dr Kate Kern at kborn1234@gmail.com with any questions.
Exercise class schedule Feedback welcome to make this as best as it can be!
Nutrition Program.
Maria Garcia hosted her second series of “Beyond the Mediterranean Diet” talk with our group this week.
If you are not engaging in our nutrition program, I would highly encourage you to do so. At least read the handouts that Janine and Maria prepare for us each week and apply the information into your lifestyle.
Here’s a link to the full handout:
Nutrition: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jvagzH_6SdD9SL84K11Yam90ZmgUvnzz/view?usp=drive_link
Janine and Maria put a lot into these presentations. It’s wonderful for them to share these presentations with those who can’t be here. It’s even more impactful for people who can be here in person to get the information first hand and be able to get questions answered and learn from others living with MS.
I would highly encourage you to engage in our nutrition program Monday mornings @ 9:00am so you can benefit at a high level. All are encouraged to come; people with MS, loved ones, care takers, volunteers, etc.
Thank you, Janine and Maria!
Prayer Group We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday from 11:00am – noon.
I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly. It’s truly amazing!
Thanks go 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, August 21st, 2026. 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!
Member Spotlight – Holly Thom
When do we use a scooter? This is a real challenging and humbling spot to get to as we live with MS. We are all so different and it really depends on how hard it is to do the things we love. We want to keep moving on our own as much as we can. We also want to do things that have just become too hard. Holly is taking a combination approach which makes sense to me.
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
Adam and Ed made a new podcast this week talking together about whatever came up.
Here’s the link:
All About Everything by Positive Vibes Living with MS
Educational Sessions
Wednesday, September 9th 9:00 – 10:00am: Independence First is a resource organization for people with disabilities located in Milwaukee. They will share information related to their services and their assistive technology program https://www.independencefirst.org/
Friday, September 18th 11:00-12:00pm: Lauren E. Shuda, MD, Assistant Professor Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Medical College of Wisconsin, will talk to us about spasticity management.
Future topics could include: emotional health, nutrition, yoga, tai chi, wellness topics, safe use of gym equipment for your body, best exercise for you and more. What topics would you like to see? Please let Dr Kate, Joan, Traci, Ricky or Dan know.
Dr Khatri’s Living Well with MS Conference – Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
We have all been invited to Dr Khatri’s event. I would highly encourage you to go to this. They are always educational and beneficial for us living with MS.
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Day of Endurance Training
Event is Saturday, August 29,2026 – Training is now
What: Do what you can
- Consistent Daily Exercise
- One long day per week – increase each week – no more than 10% per week
- Buddy up and exercise together
- Enjoy the journey 😊
Shoe Donations
Do you have any shoes you can donate? Becky Thomas is collecting old or new shoes supporting Soles for Jesus. These shoes will be distributed to people in need of shoes in Africa. Becky dropped off a box for us to drop them in. Please bring in shoes if you have any extras.
Coughs, colds, flus, etc. – Let’s not share
There are a lot of bugs going around. If you are experiencing any symptoms, please stay home and recover from them instead of sharing with the rest of us at the gym. We look forward to you getting over it and having you back quickly.
Research Needs us!
Marquette University, UW Milwaukee, University of Illinois, and Carroll University have research opportunities they would like us to engage in. We have flyers and more information about these opportunities at the gym. Please engage in these opportunities if you qualify. You could make improvements yourself and you could be helping so many other people with MS as they face their challenges. We really need to get this MS thing figured out and you can help by engaging in these research opportunities.
Dr Alex Ng from Marquette University reached out to me this week with this message. I would highly encourage you to participate in this research if you’re able to.
HI Dan,
I want to resend our study recruitment notice for our “singing study”. We actually have two studies going and we can sort eligible participants into the best one for them. Note that our age range has expanded to 20 to 80 yr. Still not completely inclusive but a step in the right direction. Any help you could give us to help get the word out would be appreciated! Thanks for what you created for the MS community.
Take care,
Alex
Alexander Ng, PhD, FACSM
Professor Emeritus
Program in Exercise Science
Department of Physical Therapy
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
414-288-6209 (ph)
414-288-6079 (fax)
Here’s a research opportunity that Marquette University is doing for all of living with MS. I would highly encourage you to engage in this if you qualify.
Health and Wellness Massage Opportunity – Carroll University
Our Facebook page is private. That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress. We broke 700 friends! We’re now at 700 members. That’s awesome! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709
Our Facebook page is active and fun. Lots of people are doing more and sharing their journey on Facebook. Feel free to join, post and share your experiences and comments.
There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week. Thank you to all who are sharing!
Metals for MS
Thank you to all who brought in aluminum cans, gutters, copper, brass, etc. Please keep bringing them in…you are helping us. We took some more in last week and received another $136.40. Our total up to $2,437.19 so far. That’s really good…thank you!
Parking
If you are able-bodied and willing to park across the street in the Acuity Foam lot so people with mobility challenges can park in our lot, please do so. We want to make it easy for people with mobility challenges to park and get into our building safely. Thank you for doing that!
Gym Open and Close Procedure
If you’re the first to come or the last to leave the gym, please use this procedure for opening and shutting down.
Thai Massage with Ricky and Nyani
Ricky will be here on Wednesdays doing Thai Massage.
Nyani will be here on Fridays doing Thai Massage
Our goal is to serve as many people who come to the gym consistently as we can with these Thai Massage services. Going forward we will be doing a rotational schedule to accommodate as many people as we can who need and want a massage.
There are some guidelines written up at the gym. Please respect the guidelines so we can serve as many people as we can. Please sign up according to the guidelines.
Here’s a link to the guidelines: Thai Massage at MS-Just Keep Moving
Reiki on Fridays
Reiki is available at the gym, for FREE on Fridays with Linda C, 9:30am until noon. Sessions typically last 20-30 minutes. Sign up for a session on the white board.
Reiki (ray-kee) relaxes the body so that healing can occur! The “magic” of Reiki has helped some of our members with pain, insomnia, constipation, and so much more! Try it the next time you are at the gym!
Here’s a Link to information about Reiki: Reiki at MS-Just Keep Moving
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’s 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 and take action.
Let’s keep moving, smiling, and loving 😊 It helps in many ways!
In God We Trust…we are in good hands.
Dan
Our Website: http://msjustkeepmoving.org/
Phone: (262) 232-8552
P.S. I got lucky with a couple pictures in our backyard this past week. This deer came by as the sun was setting.
I was able to watch this guy for quite a while and then he just walked off into the sunset.
A little later the same evening, a Great Horned Owl was doing some hunting out there. I’m not sure what he/she was after but he/she sure was alert.
We lived here for 42 years and this is the first time I saw an owl in our backyard. I hope he/she visits us often going forward.
The next night, I had my camera ready hoping the owl would come back. As the sun was setting this little hummingbird was hovering around.
Here’s another picture of him / her in some nice light. I asked AI to add these words to it. I thought it fit the picture pretty well. Kind of fun.
I usually don’t put pictures in from the week before but this one kind of spoke to me as I was creating the scene and all week. As we live with MS, we can get more and more isolated. Especially if we are going through some additional life challenges and don’t really feel like being around people or talking about what’s on our heart. This week, I added the words that were coming to me as I was out in nature creating it.
For those who cannot get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you. You are with me every time I am out there. I enjoy being able to share 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.
