I started my fundraising for the 2015 MS Walk last month. I am so grateful for the people who contribute year after year. I know that it’s hard for people to be asked every year but I also think it’s important for people to realize or understand that MS doesn’t just go away. It’s with you for the rest of your life. Perhaps by continuing to ask each year some of my donors will understand that we live with this condition every single day.

I have started a self-help group with the support of the MS Society for people interested in learning about The Wahls Protocol , the diet and lifestyle approach to healing autoimmune conditions, developed by the amazing Dr. Terry Wahls . I participated in all three levels of her online “ quickstart programs ” and wanted to share what I’ve learned. Peer support is really helpful to make some of the big changes and the commitment required to be successful.

The money we are raising goes to support so many programs, including our self-help group, as well as education, research and advocacy. With over 100,000 people in Canada with MS, we need to figure out how to prevent and cure the disease.

As of today, I am in first place for online donations in Vancouver, and our team Wahls Warriors is the top-ranked team. I know we won’t stay in first place as there are heavy hitters on Team Elayne, but I hope we will stay in the top five.

If you are interested in supporting any member of our team, you can find us at the MS Walk Wahls Warriors page.

It’s been a while since I focused on this list of 26 great life experiences. I started thinking about it when it seemed that my life was effectively over and I wanted to put something out to the world that said “I was here.” My sister is still waiting for me to write about how we met in 1997 and I assure her that it’s on my list but I’ve decided to do the list chronologically instead of trying to rate them.

In 1988, I applied to several universities across Canada to pursue studies in speech-language pathology, and one university in the US. I decided to apply to the program at Purdue because one of my former classmates had been admitted there. I figured if they took her, there was no reason not to take me. Interestingly enough, the first university to formally accept me was Purdue.

They offered me a trip to visit the campus, so I flew to West Lafayette, Indiana via Chicago, where they put me up in Earhart Hall , named after the famous aviator, Amelia Earhart . She was an instructor at Purdue and the university was instrumental in supporting her remarkable aviation accomplishments .

When I heard from UBC that I had been accepted in their first round of offers, Purdue had already flown me out to the campus, given me a tour, and offered me a research assistant position that gave me a tuition waiver. Making the decision was easy as I wanted to attend a program that had an on-site clinic. As Purdue was and is consistently ranked as one of the top programs in the US, I started making plans to go right away.

I shipped some things to Indiana, and other things got packed into my brother’s car as we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to drive across the U.S. We drove down to Seattle where he ran a marathon, then proceeded on a long camping trip to Montana, then down to Wyoming, enjoying Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We went down to Colorado and New Mexico, then drove through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, to the Mississippi, and then north, stopping in Nashville, Graceland and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky before arriving in West Lafayette, Indiana.

I had a room at the graduate residence in Young Graduate House. And when we had our first orientation meeting to get to know other students, there were four other Canadians in the first year class.

It was the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

Last fall, I had the pleasure of a meeting with the Director of Development for the MS Society, Danny De Souza, and Stephanie Mosher, Corporate Relations Specialist. We met over a cup of tea at a neighbourhood tea shop and before we knew it, we generated a lot of ideas for member involvement and how I could contribute to the organization.

Stephanie told me about Women Against MS, formed by a group of professional women in Ontario, who have been very successful in raising money to fund research, most notably a researcher here in Vancouver, Dr. Cornelia Laule .

Stephanie has taken on the project of developing a BC chapter of WAMS and has invited me to be one of the speakers at the Launch of the BC event on March 31.

Information on the BC Launch can be found on the website wamsbc.ca .

I am a bit nervous about presenting with two very accomplished women. But I’ve asked some friends to come and I know with some friendly faces in the audience, I’ll be OK.