Friends,
Last Friday – Dr Motl’s Team from University of Illinois – Chicago
It was great having Denise Gomez, Joel DuBose and Andrew Argie from Dr Motl’s team here last Friday. They did a great job of sharing why we should exercise as we live with MS. What does it do for our cardiovascular system? Our brain and how they are connected. As they went through their presentations, I was even more thankful for all we are doing here.
One of the things we encourage at MS-Just Keep Moving is to do what you can do and do what you want to do. I must admit that I did not tell Joel what to say when he was talking about what is the best exercise for us. He answered…do what you like to do or at least do not mind to do. I also liked it when I pushed a little deeper about what is the most beneficial exercise whether we like it or not and he suggested water aerobics or swimming because the water keeps the body temperature constant. It is also low impact and can be high intensity cardio along with strength training with the resistance in the water. This made me thankful that we are now offering a water aerobics program. I highly encourage you to engage in in our water aerobics program regardless of your level of mobility. We just need to be able to transfer you in and out of the pool safely.
I liked Andrew’s presentation and how he encourages people to get together and do active things together. I mean, that just sounds like fun, doesn’t it? When I listen to Andrew, I think about all the people who have helped me along the way on my journey of living with MS. These people and the things we did together were extremely important and appreciated. They continue to be. Isolation and depression are real for us living with MS as our world gets smaller and smaller as we lose our mobility. The more we can do something with someone else, the better we can deal with it. Andrew did a great job of driving this home.
I love to see research being done on exercise with people with MS. Afterall, that is what gave me my mobility and life back. Denise did a nice job of presenting more exercise related research projects they have going on at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Some can be done virtually and some need to be done on campus. I would highly encourage you to engage in some of these studies if you are willing and able to. There is a good chance you will benefit personally as well as accelerating research.
Here are some links to the current research projects they are looking to have us engage in.
Knowledge and perceptions of exercise training among people living with multiple sclerosis.pdf
Thank you so much to Dr Motl’s team Denise, Joel and Andrew for making the trip here and sharing your expertise with us! I’m already looking forward to you coming again.
Our friends at ePlatinum Health
I’m thankful Katie Holland, Jeff Martin and Frank Souk from ePlatinum Health came by last Friday. These are the people who put the golf outing on for us each year. Thanks to them, their sponsors, all the golfers and everyone who helped get silent auction and raffle items, we were able to thank them for all they’ve done for us through the years.
Through the years, they raised $149,000.00 for us. They not only raised that much money for us; they made much of the equipment we have and the programs we offer possible. Thank you, Frank, Jeff, and Katie!
While they were here, many of you shared some of the progress you made and what this place means to them. Thank you for doing that! I am confident that the heartfelt gratitude and stories some people shared were echoed by the people that did not get to talk.
Adam and Ed invited Jeff to do the podcast with them this week. Jeff said sure…how cool is that? You can listen to it here. Talking Golf with Adam and Jeff by Positive Vibes Living with MS
We all appreciate you Jeff, Katie and Frank. Please pass this love and gratitude along to everyone who made this possible. It was music to my ears that a date of June 26, 2026 has already been set for next year. Thank you for choosing us as the beneficiary again! We certainly do not take that for granted and will do everything we can to use the money wisely. Thank you!
National MS Society MS Bike Ride this weekend
Thank you to all who are riding the MS Bike ride this weekend. All of us living with MS still need research going into MS. We really need to get this MS thing figured out. The National MS Society funds the much-needed research we need.
I hope you all have a safe, enjoyable, and memorable weekend together and raise a lot of money for the cause.
Day of Endurance Excitement – Saturday, August 23rd 2025
We are getting closer! Only 3 weeks from this Saturday! It is coming right up…I am getting excited 😊
We have a volunteer sign-up sheet. If you are willing to volunteer and help us out, please sign up here and let us know what you are willing to do, times you are available, etc. Volunteers DOE 2025.docx
Here are the links to the presentation from three Friday’s ago:
If you did not get your Day of Endurance T-shirt yet, you can get one when you’re at the gym. We highly encourage everyone with MS, their family and friends, our volunteers, and supporters to join us.
It is great to hear training is going well for so many people. I know new people do not quite know what to expect but it seems like everyone that has done it in the past is excited. Please keep in mind that if you do better, do more or do something in addition to what you did last year, you get to bang on the gong. I am hoping we hear the gong go off all day.
We will be offering two more modes of movement this year. Kayaking and Rebounding. If you want to kayak, please let Chrissy know. We will be kayaking from 6:00am – 8:00am and need to be at the picnic area for the National Anthem and a few words of gratitude and encouragement at 8:45am. The rebounding will be available after we get started with our events at 9:00am.
Let’s make this journey and experience the best yet and have some fun…together. As we train, let us enjoy each day and record what we do on the packet we put together for you. If you did not get a packet, please see Dr Kate or me for your packet. Please turn your progress notes into Dr Kate bi-weekly. We are trying to make it easy for you to record what you are doing daily. 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 workout that you want to do just a little better than the week before and gradually build up each week.
Endurance Walking Opportunities
Walking is a very functional and sought after level of mobility for all of us living with MS. For those who cannot walk, my heart is with you. I do not forget for a minute the days I could not walk and I have you in mind on each walk. I wish we had quicker ways to get people who cannot 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.
Our endurance walking group is training for the Day of Endurance. These are on Thursday mornings starting @ 6:00am.
Last Thursday, Cal joined us for 6.8 miles. It worked out well, he came a little later and walked towards us. We met on the trail and then walked together for quite a while.
It was humid out but not as hot as it has been other days. I had to stop at 12.5 miles to get to a meeting. Joan and Pam continued and completed 14 miles. As we all know how MS is different from day to day, hour to hour, I am excited for Joan who really struggled last week. She made it through the 14 miles without her foot even dragging. That’s a first. Yes…no falls!
Pam has been a trooper all along. Even with a broken wrist, she shows up and walks like she does not have MS or a broken wrist. I am reaching my limits of walking with Pam. I think she could just keep going further each week even though we reached the distance we were shooting for. If anyone would like to see how far Pam can walk and can walk further than I can, I would welcome you to join us. Pam is certainly going to be ready for the Day of Endurance despite the broken wrist and challenges with MS. Way to go Pam!
Even if you can only walk a few steps, I would highly encourage you to try to walk a few steps each day and then one long walk per week – whatever that distance is for you. Consistency is key.
We are walking different segments of the Lake Country Trail. Whether you have MS, are a family member 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.
If you want to join us at a shorter distance, we will loop back at whatever distance you’d like to walk or we can meet up with you a little later if you want to join us for a while. I would encourage you to start where you are and gradually make progress like we are. I hope you’ll join us. We do it early to beat the heat and get it done as early in the day as we can.
Nutrition Program
This week Janine discussed why prebiotics are important for us and how they can help us. She also shared a Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet recipe that sounds really refreshing in this heat. Check it out.
Here are the nutrition links for this week.
Janine puts a lot into these presentations. It’s wonderful for her 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!
Metals for MS
Jerry took another load of cans and recyclables in this week and we received another $370.92. Ron and I also took a load in and we got $87.00. That’s another $457.92. That’s awesome!
Thank you to all who brought in aluminum cans, gutters, copper, etc. Please keep bringing them in…you are helping us.
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!
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.
Open and closedown procedures.docx
Member Spotlight – RAGBRAI – Bike ride across Iowa – Shelley Davis with Traci Koepke and Trish Beine. Todd Siewert with Diane Sexton.
Some people are truly not afraid of their MS and are making the best of it. Who would have thought that two people with MS who are challenged walking; Todd Siewert with primary progressive MS and Shelley Davis with secondary progressive MS would ride bikes of some sort across the state of Iowa?
With the love, encouragement and support of Diane for Todd, Traci and Trish for Shelley, they did it! Can Todd and Shelley ride a two-wheeled bike by themselves that far? No. Did that stop them? No. Shelley rode a tandem with Traci and Trish’s support. Todd rode his handcycle with Diane’s support.
What if their MS didn’t behave riding in the heat we had last week? That’s a big concern for all of us living with MS. They would have to make good choices and do the best they could knowing their symptoms might flare up yet be confident the disease itself won’t get worse because of it. If we learn anything from this accomplishment, let’s learn that we can test our limits even with MS. We don’t need to be afraid of it as much as many people think we do. Our MS symptoms will flare up and shut us down when we’ve had enough. Rest is a good remedy for this. We need to listen to our bodies and make good choices. All five of them did that last week.
Looking back at where Todd was when he first started coming to the gym 12-13 years ago and looking back at where Shelley was when she first started coming to the gym; to me, this is absolutely amazing. Who says we cannot make improvements with our MS and enjoy life? Without the love, encouragement, and support of loved ones and friends, it is tough. With the love, encouragement, and support of loved ones and friends, we can do amazing things.
Shelley and Todd, thank you for showing us what we can do when we minimize fear, do the training, and be determined to stay ahead of our MS. Well done!
Diane, Traci and Trish, thank you for having the confidence and for training for such a feat yourselves to be able to be there for Shelley and Todd. I know this was probably as hard and stressful or perhaps even more so on you than it was for Todd and Shelley knowing you would need to deal with whatever might happen on the ride. There is a lot of training, planning, and preparation mentally, emotionally and physically that went into this by all. Thanks for sharing your unconditional love in so many ways.
Personally, I give thanks to God for the safety of this group and the lessons and blessings demonstrated with this entire experience. There are many if we look at it that way.
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
Adam and Ed had a fun conversation with Jeff Martin from ePlatinum Health. It’s good to hear about the history of the golf outing and the experience created…and Doritos 😊 You sure can tell Adam and Jeff have a good friendship. Jeff fit right in with random conversations…well done Jeff, Adam and Ed 😊
Here’s the link:
Talking Golf with Adam and Jeff by Positive Vibes Living with MS
Thanks Adam, Ed and Ava for doing these podcasts together!
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 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
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. Here’s last week’s presentation:
Nutrition: MS 2025.07.21 Vitamin B12.pdf
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
8:00am – Rebounding Class
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.
9:30am – 10:00am: Seated Balance
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.
10:30am – 11:00am: Seated / Standing Stretching Class
Fridays:
7:00 – 8:45am: Bike Ride from Nettesheim Park – Pewaukee – see address below
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
Please note that there is construction on Hwy SS. There will also be detour signs. You will have to either come in from the route we usually ride by the lake or from the west. Please leave your home early and allow a little more time for the construction detour.
We had a small group and a nice ride together last week. We missed all of you that weren’t there. We all stayed together nicely and got quite a few miles in. I know how much everyone likes hills, so we even went down the steep hill by the lake to take a fun picture…only to be able to go back up the hill. 😊
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 Sessions
Friday, August 8th 11:00 – 12:00pm: Dr Kate Kern will provide demos to volunteers, caregivers, and members on how to properly secure gait belts, safely perform transfers, set up the standing machines, and secure participants to other exercise equipment.
Friday, August 15th Our first celebrity – Fayth Caruso from Bellicon will be here to spend the morning with us. Fayth will answer any questions you may have about rebounding, the benefits of it, how to get started, experiences she’s had as a master trainer, etc. Fayth would also like to learn from us living with MS and how we have benefited it from it so far. Fayth gets lots of requests from people across the nation about rebounding and MS. She is hoping to get some testimonials from some of us to share with her Bellicon nation.
Friday, August 22nd 11:00 – 12:00pm Pack up for Day of Endurance
Friday, August 29th 11:00 – 12:00pm: Come sing with us! Join a fun, informal group singing session, mixed with vocal and respiratory exercises. The session will be led by speech therapist Evelyn Pollock, a former professional singer. No need to know how to read music — all the songs will be ‘oldies but goodies!’ Please bring your instrument if you’d like to strum along! Later this year, she and her colleague Dr. Alex Ng of Marquette University will be studying the effects of group singing on the breathing, voicing, and socio-emotional well-being of adults with MS.
Friday, September 5th 11:00 – 12:00pm: Come learn some simple strategies for dealing with persistent swelling in your legs. Lymphedema can be managed. JoAnn Schmitz is an Occupational Therapist and a Certified Lymphedema Therapist at ProHealth in Mukwonago who would like to give you some tools to help you in this area.
Friday, September 12th, 11:00 – 12:00pm: Kim and Emily are both MS certified physical therapists that currently work in the outpatient physical therapy department at Waukesha Memorial Hospital. They will talk about the balance triad and how this plays a large role in dizziness and imbalance with mobility.
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.
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 1st, 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 641 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. Sunday morning was really foggy at sunrise. I knew it would burn off fast so I grabbed my camera to see what sort of God’s beauty I could find. I didn’t have much time so I just went on the county land across the street from our house. I wasn’t disappointed.
The rays coming through the trees were just beautiful. They look nice on the picture but they were even more beautiful in person.
There was a lot of fog on the grasses
And on the spider webs
When the fog on the spider webs were backlit from the sun, it made the spiders webs stand right out
It was hard to believe how many spider webs were out there. It makes me wonder how many spiders are out there. It still amazes me that a little bitty spider can spin beautiful webs like these.
Did you know mosquitos must like frogs? This isn’t a very clear picture but you can see a mosquito on the frogs leg. I had plenty of mosquito bites out there myself that morning.
The frogs were watching me take pictures of the spider webs. I like the reflection in the water on this one.
I wonder what they were thinking. They have interesting eyes.
Last week, we had that beautiful albino squirrel in our backyard. I haven’t seen it this week but we had this cute little gray squirrel.
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.
