Friends,
Ask Lisa about her dance with her son
We all know how long and how hard Lisa has been working on being able to dance with her son at his wedding. The wedding was this past weekend. So many have helped her on this journey.
Dr Becky saw that the spasticity in her feet was not letting her feet go to the floor so she went and picked up some wedged shoes to take up the gap. Dr Becky shared a video of the mother-son dance at his wedding. Lisa made it through the whole song. I know it doesn’t take much to make my eyes leak but this one touched my heart and they were leaking…again.
Nice job Lisa! And thanks so much to all who helped Lisa on this journey. So beautiful!
Shaun is working hard
It was really good to see the effort Shaun put in on the trampoline last week. He made it 5 minutes total. Nice job Shaun! Let’s go for 6 minutes this week.
Abrian is happy!
Abrian just started coming to the gym a few weeks ago. He sure is happy to finally have an opportunity to get his legs moving again. Nice job Abrian!
Steve is magical!
It was fun watching Steve do his magic tricks with the little ones last week. Steve sure has a gift of making connections with anyone he comes across.
Thanks for sharing your gifts and your magic with us Steve!
Wheelchair rugby was FUN!
Christian and Kevin from Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) were here last Friday informing us of opportunities and events they put on. They even brought some athletic wheelchairs along and allowed quite a few people to have some fun playing wheelchair rugby in the parking lot.
I must say, it brought a lot of smiles and joy to many of us! Thanks so much Christian and Kevin for coming and making it a great experience for all.
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.
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
This week, Ed and Adam talk about accessibility for those who truly need it.
Here’s a link:
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ava-g4/episodes/How-Handicapped-Is-Handicapped-e2lsg4h
Thanks Adam, Ed and Ava for doing these podcasts together!
Who’s making progress?
Donna sure works hard every day. I’m so thankful she’s making the progress she’s making. She certainly deserves to. Progress doesn’t come easy for Donna but she’s showing so many of us it can and does happen. Nice job Donna! I’m confident your Mother – Son dance is going to go well. I’m happy for you!
MS Educational Event / Inspirational event in Madison this Thursday evening – July 18th
Nicole White from the National MS Society shared this with me to share with you. Perhaps you would like to go? Ask around, others may join you. It certainly sounds like it would be worth going to.
Day of Endurance 2024 – August 24, 2024
We only have 5-1/2 weeks left until the Day of Endurance. Now is the time to put in some longer workouts. 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. Personally, I’ve started doing two different activity workouts daily. Monday, I biked and swam with friends. This morning, I biked with friends and walked. These next few weeks will be the longer workouts for me daily and then a little longer yet on the weekend. By the way, my MS is behaving really well right now. I’m thankful! I hope it stays that way.
Hopefully, you’ll be able to extend your workouts the next few weeks as well. You’ll enjoy the event on the Day of Endurance at a whole different level if you train hard 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 everyday. It’s not only fun and rewarding to be active everday, 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 show 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
I didn’t get a picture last week. Larry was on vacation and it took us a little longer to get started. We had 28 riders last week…sure made my day even though Al had a flat tire.
It helps having more volunteers on the ride with us. We’re getting a pretty good rythym 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, July 19th 11:00am – noon. Day of endurance kick off-event. See who’s participating and who else is doing an event similar to you. View the bike and walking courses, get a rough estimate for the schedule of the day, and where everything will be. Good time to extend the invite to family to join the festivities too and support members as they complete their day of endurance goals.
Friday July 26th 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 2nd 11:00am – noon. Dr Kate will present on tips and tricks to using your smart watch (Fitbit, Garmin, Apple watch)
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, July 19th 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 527 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.
Ricky has a sign up board based on first come first serve. 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
P.S. I didn’t get as many pictures this past week as I did last week. Last week was a pretty special week with the camera…lots of variety.
This week, I went back out looking for finches on thistles at Lapham Peak State Park. I found this one out there.
This one was sitting in a tree.
The thistles are starting to spread their seeds.
The butterfly garden still has some 4th of July patriotism.
This dragon fly wanted it’s picture taken too
And this little squirrel posed nicely
This insect was hard to get a good picture of it.
We had a hawk in our backyard again
These two sandhill cranes were on our patio. Kind of a different perspective. Smiley little guy.
With all the storms rolling through, we even had a nice sunset.
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.
