Friends FIRST . . . patient and support, second!

March is MS Awareness Month

Awareness….  How do we stay aware of something we want so desperately to forget?  When every day is a struggle, WHY would I want to remember MS?  When I can’t see?  When I can’t walk straight?  When I hurt?  When I can’t remember?  When I feel so alone?  When I seemingly constantly have to ask for help, or ask for understanding, or ask for forgiveness, why the HECK would I want to keep this forsaken disease in my thoughts?

Because we love you!

What do you get when you mix MS patients with a remarkable group of dedicated volunteers and a whole lot of snow? An MS Adaptive Ski Day of joy and camaraderie for the ages. January 12th saw the 2nd Annual MS Adaptive Ski Day take place at Sunday River Ski Resort at Newry, Maine. MS Cure Fund once again teamed up with Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation to host this fun and rewarding event. MS Patients came from as far as Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine to participate in this annual event. 

CVS has an easy to use Medicare comparison toll that objectively shows you how to save the most money on your prescriptions.  You do not have to be a CVS client not do you have to sign up for anything.  Be an advocate for your self and if you are on medicare, make sure you are getting the best savings you are entitled to.  CLICK HERE for the comparison website.  For the official government Medicare Part D website and information, CLICK HERE.

MS Cure Fund is excited to announce its second annual MS Adaptive Ski Day January 12, 2015!  The event will once again be held at Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine.  Last year’s event was a fantastic demonstration of what is possible when people living with MS get up, get out and participate.  MS’ers from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine converged at Sunday River Resort and were treated like kings and queens by the amazing staff and volunteers of Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation.

MS Cure Fund held a free MS Health Fair November 22^nd at the Westin Waltham Hotel in Waltham, MA.  Beautiful weather and three terrific speakers drew patients from as far as 150 miles, filling the room to capacity with over 200 attendees.  The day began with Dr. Eric Klawiter of Massachusetts General Hospital presenting “Mapping Brain Connections with MRI and MS”.  Until the development of the MRI in the mid 1980’s, MS was difficult to pinpoint.  Today’s MRI’s are producing images so detailed, that neuroscientists like Dr. Klawiter are beginning to see the exact pathways our brains use to think, move and have emotion.  Dr. Klawiter explained that by understanding where the brain signals pass, we will know how and why MS affects the central nervous system (CNS), and eventually, how it may be repaired.  This is an incredibly exciting area of research.  Dr. Klawiter is part of the National Institutes of Health funded Human Connectome Project.  One of the areas involved in the U.S. Government’s mandate to learn how the brain works.  This effort is very much like the global effort to map the human genome which continues to produce endless results and benefits for the treatment and understanding of the human body.  We look forward to future reports from Dr. Klawiter and his research.

MS Cure Fund’s Free Fall Health Fair, November 22 in Waltham, MA at the Westin Waltham Hotel, is shaping up to be both very popular and ground breaking at the same time.  On the heels of MS Boston 2014 (the ACTRIMS/ECTRIMS joint sexennial meeting in the America’s), MS Cure Fund’s Free Fall Health Fair will focus on providing updates on critical MS research to two distinct audiences in separate presentation sessions.  Our morning session will focus on providing patients with the most relevant information available in the areas of stem cells research; MRI brain mapping; and the growing area of the physical therapy and improved MS symptoms.  The afternoon session will have the same topics, but be presented in a more advanced clinical manner to be of value and practical use to physicians caring for and treating those living with MS.

Early Evidence Suggests Value Treatment Effectiveness

 – September 29, 2014 /Press Release/  –– 

Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were able to safely tolerate treatment with cells cultured from human placental tissue, according to a study published today in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. The study, which is the first of its kind, was conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai, Celgene Cellular Therapeutics subsidiary of Celgene Corporation and collaborators at several other institutions.

Oceans of Hope – It’s much more than a catchy tag line, it is a metaphor for so much last month in Boston. Oceans of Hope (the vessel circumnavigating the globe crewed by MS patients www.sailingsclerosis.com) was the deliverer of both hope for what people living with MS can accomplish, and MS Cure Fund’s founder, Susan Strachan, who sailed as part of the crew from Bermuda to Boston.