TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Guest Column: Brandon Resident Pedals Toward A Cure For MS

Photo by JOHN MULHURN

Val Dewing of Brandon is getting ready to support the Multiple Sclerosis society by participating in Citrus Tour 2009, a bikeathon organized by the National MS Society Mid Florida Chapter and set for May 16-17.

ADVERTISEMENT

By EDGAR MARTINEZ

Special to the Tribune

Published: February 18, 2009

BRANDON - One thing Val Dewing loves about participating in bikeMS - the charity bicycle rides organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society - is the location. It's never too far from her home in Brandon.

But Dewing, 30, has a far more important reason to be in bikeMS. She wants to feel she's part of a huge, concerted effort to make a reality of what she's completely convinced will happen one day: the discovery of a cure for multiple sclerosis.

That's why she's getting ready for Citrus Tour 2009, the bikeMS event that the society's Mid Florida Chapter will hold May 16 to 17 from Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales to the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando.

"This is my second year with bikeMS," says Dewing, a multiple sclerosis patient who rode 80 out of the 150 miles during the 2008 bikeMS organized by the chapter.

Dewing and her boyfriend raised $2,400 in last year's event, and they're looking forward to doing even better this year.

For her, bikeMS fits perfectly with the lifestyle she adopted after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006. "I do yoga, general exercises and walk my dog," she said. "And I have always liked bicycling."

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision.

The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving hope to people affected by the disease.

Edgar Martinez is a former reporter and copy editor who decided to contribute with his writing skills to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Mid-Florida chapter after being recently diagnosed with the disease.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT