Friends,
Pam did awesome in her triathlon!
Pam trained hard and was a little nervous going into the triathlon this past weekend with 58 other cancer survivors. Add Pam’s challenges with MS to that…it was an amazing accomplishment for her. Check out how happy she was as she neared the finish line. I don’t know if she was so happy because she was almost done or because she accomplished this.
Perhaps it was because she had so many good people cheering her on.
Way to go Pam, I’m so happy for you! I know…it wasn’t easy. You’re just about ready for the day of endurance 😊
Janice Beaton (Tom Beaton’s wife)
It’s with a heavy heart I’m letting you know that our dedicated volunteer Tom Beaton’s wife Janice lost her battle to cancer this past week. Tom you and your family have my deepest condolences. Please know you and your family are in my prayers and we are here for you.
Here’s link to Janet’s obituary. Her visitation / funeral is Friday and Saturday https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/janice-beaton-obituary?id=55663851
Bike MS Ride – this weekend
This is always an exciting weekend for all of us living with MS as so many of us ride to raise money for the National MS Society. If it wouldn’t have been for these MS bike rides through the years, many of us would not have met because we met at one of these rides.
The National MS Society funds the research we so desperately need. Many of us have participated in research that has been funded by the National MS Society. It’s critical for all of us living with MS to have research funded. In order for them to do that, we need to help raise money.
Why do I ride? To be with friends and do my part. When I look at how MS affects all of us, we need help. Just think about everything that still needs to be figured out. Spasticity, neurological pain, fatigue, depression, cognitive challenges, balance issues, vision, bladder issues, weakness, drop foot, loss of mobility, loss of use of hands, mental and emotional challenges, etc., etc. MS is tough and we need to continue to make progress with it.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to all who have rode with us in the past and all who are riding again. A huge THANK YOU also goes out to everyone who has financially supported or sponsored us on the bike ride for the National MS Society in the past and this year.
If you are able to and willing to support us on this ride again this year, it would be much appreciated. You can support me by making a donation to the National MS Society on my behalf, you can do this on my personal page at this link.
You could also make out a tax deductible check made out to the “National MS Society” and either give it to me or mail it to me at the gym’s address.
Dan Erschen
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
Let’s have a great ride and continue to help make progress to get this MS thing figured out. Again, THANK you for your support!
Day of Endurance Volunteers – August 24, 2024
Dr Kate put together a live document that you can enter what you are willing to do for volunteering for the Day of Endurance. We will start this now and this will help us for planning.
We want to safely provide an amazing day and experience for you and your family and friends. I hope your family and friends will join you on this journey through training leading up to it and on the Day of Endurance.
Here’s a link to the volunteer sign-up sheet: Volunteers DOE.docx
You can add to this/edit it yourself. You can also let Kate or Mike know what you’d like to do. They will put you on the sheet.
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
This week, Ed and Adam offer advice to the younger generation with some humor, advice and memories.
Here’s a link:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ava-g4/episodes/Advice–Memories-e2mg1i9
Thanks Adam, Ed and Ava for doing these podcasts together!
Volunteer Appreciation
We have a lot of incredible volunteers that we are so thankful for. Without our volunteers, we would not be able to provide the services and programs we provide for free. Once per month, in no particular order, we will be spotlighting one volunteer.
This month, it’s JoAnn Enk. Jo Ann shares lots of love every time she’s here and she’s here often.
Day of Endurance 2024 – August 24, 2024
Dr Kate put together a really nice presentation answering questions about the Day of Endurance. We’re going to have a really fun day. Here’s a link to the presentation in case you missed it. DOE Presentation 7.19.24.pptx
We only have 3-1/2 weeks left until the Day of Endurance. Whoah! It’s coming up fast. Hopefully, you’re feeling pretty good by now. Just stay consistent the next two weeks. Let’s not get injured now.
The last week, we will want to taper off a bit and let our bodies recover a little from all the hard work we are putting in now.
You’ll enjoy the event on the Day of Endurance at a whole different level if you train properly for it now and then back off a bit the week before. The day of…just enjoy the whole day with friends and family doing what you can.
I’m really excited that so much progress is being made. I just love how so many people are engaging in this journey and making progress personally.
I hope you’re feeling good about this journey. Please be cautious, it’s during these times when we start feeling pretty good that we get a little too confident and get injured somehow. Let’s avoid injuries and setbacks by being conscious of our limits. We need to push our limits but not get hurt. That’s a fine line.
Consistency is key. Let’s exercise every day. It’s not only fun and rewarding to be active every day, it helps us stay ahead of our MS. It’s the gradual, consistency that our bodies will adapt to over time. Let’s do one long workout per week so we can appreciate that we are making progress each week. Dr Kate can help you with a program based on your abilities. Please feel free to reach out to her.
It’s really important that we’re active and we enjoy the journey of training for the Day of Endurance…preferably “together”. I hope you can find some workout friends to enjoy this journey with. It can be others with MS, friends, neighbors, family members, movie stars, it doesn’t matter. It really only takes one other person to have shown up and do whatever you’re going to do each day. You can pick different people different days.
Let’s make this a recreational adventure. A social adventure. A rewarding experience. And… “share” it. So, let’s start inviting friends and family members to join us on this journey and have some fun with it.
I hope you’ll engage in the journey and make progress yourself. I’m confident you will make progress in some way if you engage in the journey.
Cardio and Balance Programs
These classes are aimed to get everyone exercising together. I like that word “together” 😊. We’ll need help from volunteers before and after the cardio class on Wednesdays and Fridays to get members on and off equipment. All are welcome and encouraged to join.
Wednesdays
8:30am – 9:00am: Cardio exercise
Location: in the big room using aerobic equipment in front of big TV
Pick your favorite piece of equipment to use, bring a water bottle, and arrive a few minutes early to get the equipment set up to your height.
10-10:30am: Cardio exercise
Location: in the big room using aerobic equipment in front of big TV
Pick your favorite piece of equipment to use, bring a water bottle, and arrive a few minutes early to get the equipment set up to your height.
10:30 – 11:00am Tai Chi led by Ricky
Fridays:
9:30 – 10:00am: New Class! High intensity interval training (HIIT) body weight circuit class. Great for those who aren’t attending Friday morning bike rides and want to get their heart pumping! Geared to intermediate to advanced ability level. Class may be indoors or outdoors depending on weather. Find Dr Kate at the start of the class time.
10:00 – 10:30 am: Seated balance class
10:30 – 11am: Standing balance class
Pick the class / classes you feel most able and comfortable participating in. We will have chairs set up to sit on and/or use for balance support.
Email Dr Kate at kborn1234@gmail.com with any questions.
Friday Morning Bike Ride
We had another really nice ride last week. We got out of the parking lot fairly early and got some nice miles in. We had 28 riders again last week…amazing! 😊
It sure helps having more volunteers on the ride with us. We’re getting a pretty good rhythm going. Thanks to all for showing up and doing your part!
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 7:00 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 Sessions
Friday August 2nd 11:00am – noon. Dr Kate will present on tips and tricks to using your smart watch (Fitbit, Garmin, Apple watch)
Friday, August 9th, 11:00 am – noon. Research review with Kate. Kate will review the importance of sleep for people with MS.
Friday, August 16th 11:00am – noon. Don Beard from Matia Mobility will be demoing a standing machine which is mobile. https://www.matiamobility.com/tek-rmd/
Friday, August 23rd 11:00 am – noon: Day of endurance organizational event. Help us get organized for the event the following day!
Friday, August 30th 11:00 am – noon: Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) is returning to host a “TryIt” session to play pickleball!
Friday, October 4th 11:00 am – noon: Physical therapists, Kimberly Sawall, Emily Hill, and Jennifer Kolesar-Springhetti, from ProHealth Care will review balance tests and the importance of testing balance for walking and translational movement abilities. They will also address fatigue, fatigue management, and assessment of fatigue for people with MS.
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.
Let’s get together! – New Hours
We’ll be getting together from 8:00am – 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 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 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 this Friday, August 2nd 2024. 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!
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 at 533 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!
Thai Massage with Ricky Heldt
Ricky will be here on Wednesdays doing Thai Massage. Ricky will be taking Fridays off for a while. Perhaps through the summer.
There is a sign up board to be used to accommodate your needs for your exercise plan. Some people with spasticity need to be massaged / stretched out before they can exercise. Some people need a massage after a hard workout to loosen up their tight muscles or relieve pain.
We have limited spots for massages, please be considerate of people that need the massage the most in order to do the exercises they need to do or recover from the exercises they just did.
You can pick the time slot that works for you.
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 with 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’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.
Let’s keep moving, smiling and loving 😊 It helps!
In God We Trust…we are in good hands.
Dan
Our Website: http://msjustkeepmoving.org/
P.S. I had another pretty good week with the camera this week. Cal and I went for a walk at Lapham Peak on Saturday. As soon as we started our walk, we saw a deer laying down. It stood up to get it’s picture taken.
The spiders were busy. How can a small spider at the bottom of the web spin such a big web?
Here’s another little buck 😊
These flowers looked pretty nice
The butterflies were active too
It’s hard to get a clear picture of them flying. I happened to get one.
Cal and I watched two owls for quite a while
The larger owl was flying around in the trees
The smaller owl flew right towards us and landed on the ground in front of us. I got lucky and got a good shot of it.
For those 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.
