Friends,
I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day Weekend
I’m thankful for Memorial Day. I didn’t serve in the military but I have the utmost respect for all who did. I love all the tributes to the people who gave their lives serving our country during Memorial Day Weekend.
Sunday morning, I got up before sunrise and went to the Milwaukee lakefront where they have the Milwaukee Field of Flags honoring the 27,316 men and women killed in action since statehood. There’s a flag placed in honor of every person who died.
It’s quite the tribute and really hits home when we have a visual for all the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. I tried to get them all in one picture but couldn’t do them justice.
I pray for all the families who lost a loved one while serving our country.
So many loved and much appreciated heroes.
Pickleball fun last Friday
Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) came by last Friday to host a TryIt of adaptive pickleball. They brought recreational wheelchairs. We played outside in the parking lot. Wow! There are a lot of neurological connections that need to be made to move the wheelchair in the right spot, watch the pickleball coming at you, hitting it back and then doing it again. All great for us living with MS. I’m impressed with how well everyone who played did. Great job!
A huge thanks goes out to the people from the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) for making this possible. I love your mission!
Nutrition Classes are going very well – Monday mornings at 9:00
Some people who can’t make it asked about information shared. Janine has been kind enough to make a handout each week. These are available at the gym. Also, here are some links to the handouts so far.
20250519 MS-Food moves Fat.pdf
20250512 MS-Food moves Carbohydrates.pdf
20250512 MS-Food moves Protein.pdf
Thanks so much, Janine for leading these classes and sharing so much invaluable information the way you do. Proper nutrition is so critical to all of us living with MS. The challenge is…we’re all different and have different nutritional needs. Janine is sharing her knowledge and passion for helping people with proper nutrition so well…truly a gift to us. Thank you, Janine!
Walking Opportunities
Walking is a very functional and sought after level of mobility for all of us living with MS. For those who can’t walk, my heart is with you. I don’t forget for a minute the days I couldn’t walk and I have you in mind on each walk. I wish we had quicker ways to get people who can’t walk, walking. Let’s keep working at it.
For those who can walk, let’s focus on keeping our walking abilities and try to improve upon them. We have some fun small groups to walk with. Our Monday afternoon hiking group gets out in nature on trails and has a lot of fun together. The terrain can get a little tricky and there are plenty of stops for photo opps.
If you’re interested in hiking with the Monday hiking group, let Steve Schwan know and he will include you in the location, time, etc. We usually hike somewhere between two and five miles and start at 2:00pm on Mondays.
We also just started an endurance walking group training for the Day of Endurance. These are on Thursday mornings starting @ 6:30am. Last Thursday, we walked 8 miles at a 22 minute 53second pace. That’s one mile further and 1 minute 37 seconds per mile faster. Was it challenging? Yes, especially the last two miles. Our bodies do seem to adapt to what we put them through despite having MS.
We are walking different segments of the Lake Country Trail. Whether you have MS, are a family or friend, a volunteer, etc. if you want to join us, please let me know and I will include you in the communication of where we will be walking. We are hoping to gradually build up from 7 miles to 15-18 miles as we train for the Day of Endurance on August 23rd.
Parking
If there are able-bodied people willing to park across the street in the Acuity 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!
Member Spotlight – Lisa Eschrich
If you get a chance, ask Lisa how she’s feeling these days. She’s certainly engaging in the opportunities we provide, moving in many ways and having fun with it as she benefits from the results. Great job Lisa, you inspire and motivate me!
Golf Outing Donations
Great news! Our golf outing is full with golfers and sponsors again this year…exciting!
THANK YOU to all who are going out collecting donations for us! We’re getting some great items again this year. We need these items in hand this week as we will be putting baskets together. Please bring any additional items in the week…thank you so much!
This golf outing is a lot of fun and it’s our largest fundraising event of the year. We are very fortunate and thankful to have our friends at ePlatinum Health putting this on for us again this year.
Please check out the sheets at the gym and let us know what you’re willing to go out and get donations for and bring them to the gym as soon as you have them. Thanks so much!
Metals for MS program
Thank you to all who are bringing cans and metal in for us to recycle! We’ve been fortunate enough to have many people bringing cans in for us.
Our metals recycling program helps to raise money for our mission. You can help! Save your aluminum cans and any other metals that can be recycled. We have a drop off container outside our building. Just drop them off in there and we have volunteers that will sort the metals and take them to a recycling center. If you’d be willing to volunteer for this initiative, please let me know. We could use another volunteer or two for this so it’s not so much work for one person.
Day of Endurance – Saturday, August 23rd 2025
I hope your training is going well. I know some are hitting it hard and are well ahead of where they were last year at this time…good job! We get out of it what we put into it. I hope you’re feeling good!
Let’s make this journey and experience the best yet and have some fun…together. As we train, let’s enjoy each day and record what we do on the packet we put together for you. If you didn’t get a packet, please see Dr Kate or me for your packet. Please turn your progress notes into Dr Kate bi-weekly. We’re trying to make it really easy for you to record what you’re doing on a daily basis. These will be interesting for you to look back at a year from now. Hopefully, you can do more next year than you do this year.
Remember, try to do daily workouts and just one LONG workout each week. It’s on the one long day that you want to do just a little better than the week before and gradually build up each week.
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
Adam and Ed had an interesting conversation with Keith last week. 😊
Here’s the link:
Visiting with Keith by Positive Vibes Living with MS
Thanks Adam, Ed and Ava for doing these podcasts together!
Exercise 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…friends with MS, volunteers, and caregivers.
Monday Mornings
8:00am Rebounding Class
9:00am Nutrition Program – Friends with MS, caretakers and volunteers are encouraged to engage
Monday evenings (open from 4:00pm – 7:00pm)
5:00 pm: High intensity interval training (HIIT)
5:30 pm: Standing balance
6:00 pm: Seated balance
Tuesday afternoons
1:00 pm – 1:45 pm: Aquatic exercise program held at Wildwood Lodge – Pewaukee
2:00 pm – 2:45 pm: Aquatic exercise program held at Wildwood Lodge – Pewaukee
Wildwood Lodge has a lift available to get people in wheelchairs in and out of the pool safely
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.
Fridays:
9:30 – 10:00am: 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 Kern at kborn1234@gmail.com with any questions.
Friday Morning Bike Rides
We had a cold start last Friday but it turned out being a great ride. I’m looking forward to a great riding season together.
We will be riding this Friday if it’s not raining. If it’s raining, feel free to come to the gym early.
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, June 13th: 11:00 – 12:00 pm: Physical Therapists, Kimberly Sawall and Emily Hill from ProHealth Care will talk about the balance triad and how this plays a large role in dizziness and imbalance with mobility.
Friday, June 27th 11:00 – 12:00 pm: Faith Zahorik, pelvic floor physical therapist from ProHealth Care will talk to us about the anatomy and function of your pelvic floor and core musculature, and the interaction of MS. You will also take home the initial tools to build strength and strategies for optimal pelvic floor health.
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!
We’ll be getting together from 8:00am – noon on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at the gym. Plus, Monday evenings from 4:00pm – 7:00pm. 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 Friday, June 6th, 2025. 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 611 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 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 Wednesdays and Fridays
Reiki is available at the gym, for FREE, on Wednesdays (Mary B, Jill K) and on Fridays (Linda C and Mary R), 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!
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 God We Trust…we are in good hands.
Dan
Our Website: http://msjustkeepmoving.org/
P.S. I had some nice visitors in our backyard again this week. This cardinal was lit up really nice by the sun early in the morning.
This little squirrel gave me a nice pose.
Did you know turkeys think they can be umpires in a turkey baseball game? This one is calling it “SAFE”
This guy was just a gobbling away
This guy had some nice lighting on his tail feathers
Here’s a nice close up of a dove.
This guy was enjoying some of our long grass. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t cut it.
We saw this little fawn on our bike ride this morning.
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.
