Becky Nap is a Consumers Credit Union employee who is living with multiple sclerosis (MS). In addition to her work in Lending, Becky is also an MS Leader for Consumers’ participation in the local Walk MS and Bike MS events. In this week’s Money, I’m Home, Becky joins Lynne to discuss updates in her diagnosis and how anyone can make a positive impact through the Walk MS and Bike MS charitable events.

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0:00:06.8 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m Home! Welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. And today, we have a very special guest, she is a return guest, and she’s talking with us today about multiple sclerosis. The MS Society, is one of our fabulous charities that we support all across the credit union, Becky Nap. Welcome on in.

0:00:28.0 Becky Nap (BN): Good morning! It’s so good to be back.

0:00:30.8 LJJ: Oh, my goodness! It’s so good to see you. You know, it has been quite the year since we last talked. I mean, can you imagine all that’s happened?

0:00:37.9 BN: Yes, it has been a wild and crazy year. I’ve been at home with my daughter, and she has been in virtual school the entire time. [chuckle]

0:00:47.2 LJJ: Oh, my goodness! For those of you on, listening on the podcast, I’m looking at Becky, she’s in her home office, working remote for Consumers. She’s also our MS leader, one of, and is really helping all of us get out there and walk and make a difference. Becky, you just told me you re-did your home office. How exciting! It’s not anything anybody wants, but you sure have made it beautiful.

0:01:15.5 BN: Yeah, it’s a nice space to be. I try to make it calming and relaxing, and honestly, it’s kind of nice to be able to be home with my daughter, it’s a lot of extra time together, not always the most fun with me trying to be a teacher as well, bless their souls. But yeah, it’s a good time and it’s nice to be home, too.

0:01:32.8 LJJ: So, let’s dig into what has been happening with you. You have had quite the year. Now, the last time that we talked, and you were continuing to lead our MS charitable giving, you were having a bit of an episode or starting to… Either you were starting to, you had started to lose some feelings in your hands. And then fast-forward to now, what life-changing things have been happening?

0:01:58.0 BN: Yeah, so I still don’t have the feeling in my hands, and we’re pretty sure that’s permanent, and that’s okay, I’m getting pretty used to it. I mean it’s annoying, but you get used to it. I had some pretty major surgery over last summer during COVID, but that’s been pretty exciting, as well. It did cause me to have to go off my MS medication a little bit, and that then did trigger a full-blown MS episode around Christmastime.

0:02:25.8 LJJ: Tell me, Beck. You know, when you decided to do your surgery, and this is a surgery that has changed your life.

0:02:33.7 BN: Yes.

0:02:34.0 LJJ: I know that you’ve lost quite a bit of weight, it’s so exciting. You know, we’re all about health and wellness, and you must have had to weigh the options of the potential of what might happen if you go off your meds.

0:02:47.4 BN: Yeah, it was a tough decision. There was lots of conversations with my doctors about it. I have super amazing and supportive doctors on both my primary care physician, my surgeon, and my MS doctor all worked together. And at the end of the day, the health really was just crucial at that point. I’ve lost 120 pounds, which is really exciting, and that’s huge for my MS, too. You really want to be in the best shape that you can and keep yourself active and moving. And so for me, it was worth the risk, and I feel a million times better, a million times better, even with the MS episode. I just I feel so much better.

0:03:29.8 LJJ: So, let’s back up. Explain what the surgery was, and then tell us how all of a sudden, you noticed, “Uh-oh! There’s something going on in my body.”

0:03:39.6 BN: Yeah, so I had gastric bypass, which was a big deal. The recovery was a little bit rough for me. I’m still learning every day what my body can tolerate, but it’s a cool journey. It’s really a mentally life-changing journey, what you deserve and how to treat yourself well. So, I was coming along in my recovery, and then I… You know, I work as an underwriter in consumer lending now, and that’s changed since the last time we talked, which I love. But I was looking at a loan one day and I’m like, “My vision is not quite focusing. What is going on?” And I kind of had a feeling because I had had an episode of optic neuritis before with my MS. This one was very different than my previous one, and it just kind of, day-by-day, got worse. And so, I called my neurologist and she was like, “We got to get you an MRI and see what’s going on.” So, I got the MRI, I was really trying to… Trying really hard to work through the episode. It was very difficult because obviously, your sight, when you’re looking at loans, is key and…

0:04:49.7 LJJ: Badly needed, though, yeah. [chuckle]

0:04:50.9 BN: A little bit, a little bit important. But you know, Tim Kosak, who’s our VP of lending, super supportive, LeAnne, who’s my manager, super supportive. My co-workers, especially my friend, Kristen, so supportive to me. And, “Hey, take a minute if you need it. Close your eyes if you need it. Let us know when you’re done, when you can’t handle it anymore.” And I did get the call that I had three new active lesions in my brain. I was upset, it was a difficult day for me. I called LeAnne, sobbing my eyes out, and we agreed that it was time for me to be done with work for a little bit. And I’m just so grateful to work for a company that gets it and is understanding because MS is a disease that you can’t see. So, if you look at me, you have no idea that I cannot see properly. And so, the mental part of it is huge, and I’m just so grateful for the support. And I did end up having to go, literally, up until the day before Christmas, to the hospital and get steroid infusions. It was pretty rough with my daughter because she was very concerned about COVID. I got…

0:06:01.6 LJJ: You know what? Yeah, I didn’t even take that into account. Oh, my goodness, Becky!

0:06:07.0 BN: Yeah, the steroids put me at supremely high risk for catching COVID. So, we had to be very careful around Christmas of who we were with. And family is huge to us, super, super important, so we just had a very small family Christmas Eve, and it was rough. I didn’t feel well, the steroids don’t make you feel well, they make you crabby, and I tried really hard not to be a mean mama bear for Christmas, but… And we survived it, we made it through, but it was a tough go around Christmas, especially.

0:06:40.0 LJJ: So, explain to us what an episode means. And then how do you know that you’re out of it? And then, and again, you had mentioned your fingers at the beginning, you now think that’s permanent. Is that what starts to happen is where you will have an episode? And you really don’t know what’s going to last.

0:07:00.2 BN: Yeah, absolutely. So, when you get the steroids, basically, the reason for that is because your body has attacked itself. So, your immune system goes after the myelin, which is the protective coating around your nerves, and it just eats them away, and you really… That’s why it’s so crucial to catch it as early as you can and get the treatments, which is why I’m always like… You know, I got to be an advocate for myself because when you don’t catch it quick, sometimes, the symptoms can last. And that is what happened with my hands. That particular spot that was eaten by my immune system was too far gone and so, it can’t repair itself. But if you get the steroids quick enough, like in my eyesight issue, that steroid calms down the inflammation and gives your body a chance to repair itself.

0:07:49.6 LJJ: Wow! Amazing!

0:07:50.6 BN: So, it can just kind of vary from the symptoms for that episode. It took me a solid week to see some significant improvements. So, I was off work for a full week, trying to just get to enough where I felt like I could see properly. And then about another week after that, and I was back to… I was able to drive, finally, that was exciting, because I went about three-and-a-half weeks without driving. Bless my mom, she drove me everywhere.

0:08:20.0 LJJ: So, you had, I know at one juncture, some issues with medicines, medications, trying to figure out the right medications for you, but then also, cost.

0:08:32.0 BN: Yes.

0:08:32.9 LJJ: What’s been happening on that realm?

0:08:35.3 BN: Yeah, so that’s been a huge adjustment as well, actually. So, after this particular episode, we changed medications. And it’s a new medication, it is a… The one that I was on previously was called Tecfidera. It was a pill, which is huge because I don’t have to take shots anymore, so that’s the improvement in the MS medications from all the research and things from funds that are raised. So, this new medication is actually a step above the Tecfidera, and what they tried to do was not have as bad of side effects for this one. My insurance is amazing, through Consumers, however, it does not cover this medication. So, my, and my doctor fought and appealed it multiple times, and they still will not cover it, but…

0:09:23.0 LJJ: So now, what?

0:09:24.5 BN: The drug company is actually paying for it for me. So, I am getting this medication free, and this is $5000, roughly, a month.

0:09:32.4 LJJ: Oh, Becky, what a blessing!

0:09:35.2 BN: Yes. And this medication, I have never had an MS medication with less side effects than this one.

0:09:42.4 LJJ: That is great.

0:09:42.9 BN: I mean it’s minimal.

0:09:44.3 LJJ: So, if you’re going to continue to appeal, then, obviously. It just is an insurance discussion and…

0:09:49.8 BN: Yeah, and you know, one of the beautiful things of Walk MS that we’re kind of grateful for is that that goes towards actual MS patients, those funds that are raised. It goes towards research, but it also goes towards wheelchairs that they might need, a ramp for their house, but it also goes for medications when people’s insurance won’t cover it. So that can be an option for me, someday, if I really can’t get this covered, the drug company is not going to give it to me forever. I might be one of those people that needs that assistance from the MS Society.

0:10:25.1 LJJ: Well, and that really does bring us to our conversation that the MS Walks are happening as we speak in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. There’s actual specific days, Bike MS too, but anybody can go any day. They just have to click on the link that is in this podcast and join our Consumers team.

0:10:47.2 BN: Yes, we’re super excited this year. We’ve already got a great team going for both Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. We’ve got some stuff lined up for Bike MS, too. And the cool thing about it is you can walk from wherever you are. You can go on a trail and socially-distance with your friends. You can go out on your driveway and walk up and down the street. I’m actually going to be at the campground opening our camper, and we’re walking from there. So that’s the beauty of it, just throw on some orange because that’s the lovely color of MS support, and go hang out with your friends and your family. Take your pets. It should be a fun day to create awareness and raise funds and just get out and get active, too.

0:11:32.5 LJJ: Well, Becky, I cannot tell you, thank you so much for your time today. I know you’re really busy today, which is a great thing. It is great to be busy and healthy, and I really appreciate you telling your story.

0:11:46.3 BN: Absolutely. I’m so happy that I get to share an update.

0:11:50.3 LJJ: Well, if you would like to volunteer, if you would like to walk, if you would like to donate, just head on over to consumercu.org, and you can join one of our teams, or just donate to dollars, if you can, or time. Obviously, Becky’s story is dear to our hearts at Consumers. And every single person that is listening, I know you know somebody who also could share in the wealth of what MS brings us when we continue the fight to find a cure. Becky, thank you so much.

0:12:25.0 BN: Thank you so much, it’s so good to see you and to give everybody an update. I’m just so blessed to work for such an amazing company that’s so supportive.

0:12:32.7 LJJ: And we’re blessed to have you, so there’s no pressure about that.

0:12:34.8 BN: Thank you, thank you.

0:12:37.7 LJJ: Hey, I’d like to take a moment to thank Jake Esselink, our producer. I hope you guys are all having a great week. Don’t forget to go out there and walk. And do us a favor, send us topics if you’d like. Money, I’m Home! With Consumers Credit Union.

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