Consumers Credit Union is a proud partner of Walk and Bike MS. Tune in to this edition of Money, I’m Home as Lynne is joined Becky Nap to talk about her journey with MS and how you can get involved.

 

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0:00:06.6 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m home, welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union, from finance to fitness, we have it all. We’re talking a little bit of fitness and health today. Consumers is so proud to be an MS Walk and Bike partner. We have… Not only do we donate our charitable dollars, but we have a rocking team that is getting ready to walk in the Grand Rapids market, but it’s really for all of West Michigan. Becky Nap, she is not only our Consumers lending underwriter, so she’s giving you guys money, but she’s also taking in money right now as the team captain for Walk MS. Becky, thanks so much for being with us.

0:00:46.5 Becky Nap (BN): Good morning, it’s good to be here, as always.

0:00:49.5 LJJ: Oh, my goodness a year has gone by, hasn’t it? Isn’t that crazy?

0:00:53.5 BN: Yeah, time is flying, for sure.

0:00:55.9 LJJ: We’re going to get into the MS Walk and also the bike event that’s coming up. But what I really want to do is touch base with you, you’ve told your story to our listeners about your day-to-day journey with MS, can you give us a little recap and then also what’s going on right now in your life?

0:01:12.4 BN: Yeah, absolutely, so I was diagnosed with MS in 2009. I woke up and was numb and tingly, I didn’t really know what was going on. Ended up in the ER, Spinal Tap, MRI, a couple weeks later, I was officially diagnosed. Since then, I’ve had my share of ups and downs, it’s relapsing-remitting is what I have, and so basically, MS is a disease of your nervous system, so your brain, your spinal cord, your optic nerves, so really, we wake up every day and we just have no idea what’s going to happen. I’ve woken up and my eyesight’s been an issue, I’ve woken up and I’ve been numb from the neck down, some days I just have weird little things going on with my legs or whatever, but… So, it can be really challenging because you just… Everybody has it totally different, and you really don’t know what’s going to happen. My last episode was about a year and a half ago when I lost my eyesight, but I’ve gone on a new medication since then, my insurance does not cover that medication, it’s about $80,000 a year. I’m very blessed that right now the drug company is allowing me to have it for free, don’t know how long that will last, but I am happy to report that I have been doing great the last year. I’ve had very little issues, just some random nerve pains in my legs and stuff. That can make me just antsy in general here and there, but overall, I’ve had a really great last year, so that’s been super exciting.

0:02:36.6 LJJ: Becky, how much have you personally had to really focus on making sure that you get the healthcare you need, and how important is that? That’s why we support MS and the MS Walk, but for you personally, to hear about that and the insurance component, that has to keep you up at night.

0:02:58.4 BN: Oh, absolutely. You really do have to become your own advocate, which is why Walk MS and the National MS Society, it’s such an important charity because they can come alongside you and help you too when you have situations like that, because I’ve definitely, numerous times throughout the years that I’ve had MS have had to fight to get MRIs, I’ve had to fight to get steroid treatments that are essentially what make me feel better in the long run. I’ve had to fight over insurance with medications, this is not the first time I’ve had to fight on medications because all of the medications for MS are expensive, and when they come out with new ones, which is amazing, and I’m so happy for this new medication that I’m on, I will honestly say on this new medication, it’s the best I have felt when having MS, but my insurance doesn’t cover it, and it’s expensive. So, I am dreading the day when the drug company says, “We’re not going to pay for it anymore,” and then I’m going to have to figure out, again, what do I do?

0:03:57.6 LJJ: Right, and does the MS Society help with that in the sense of trying to get these new drugs to market and then under coverage?

0:04:05.2 BN: Yeah, I think that they really do fight a lot towards things being reasonably priced, and they will do a lot to help you in your day-to-day life if you need a wheelchair ramp or you need assistance trying to figure out a way to get something covered. They have so much support for people living with MS and really advocating for us. And again, they help with research too, so their research goes towards helping to find a cure and helps find new medications. When I started, all you could ever give yourself was a shot. I hated needles, so I really had to get over that fear because I had to give myself shots. And now, since I’ve had it from 2009, there’s all kinds of different pills, so I just take a pill now. I take two pills, two times a day, so four pills a day, but I’d much rather take a pill, there’s some infusions, I know there’s another co-worker that works here, she does an infusion twice a year, so lots of new and improved medications for us too.

0:05:01.7 LJJ: Well, Becky, this is great. We have hit the ground running, and I meant that intentionally for our walk, which is coming up on May 21st. Tell us a little bit about the walk and how can people get involved? They don’t only have walk but boy, we sure would love it.

0:05:18.4 BN: Yeah, absolutely. So this year it’s a little bit different, we’ve combined two walks into one, so this year it is just a Grand Rapids walk, but there’s a virtual option, so it’s beautiful because we’d love to have you meet us out in Grand Rapids to do the walk on May 21st, but if you can’t make it, you can also sign up online, you just go to the National MS Society or type in Walk MS GR, and you can find it, and you can sign up as a virtual walker. So, you literally walk from your home, you can walk from your living room, you can walk from your neighborhood, take your dog, your family, whatever you want to do. And then also that’s a way you can donate too. So those donations really go a long way towards helping those living with MS and finding a cure. It’s a fun, fun day so if you can go in person, it’s going to be a great time. We’ve already got a great team, rocking and rolling, we just announced it to our team a couple of days ago, we’ve already got 11 people signed up and we’ve already raised $655, which I think is a record for how quickly we’ve gotten to that point, so I’m super excited for this year.

0:06:15.8 LJJ: That is amazing. And I know there’s a bike race or… It’s not really a race, but it is very fun, but very similar to the walk, it happens June 11 and 12, which we are also a part of, so you can get involved in that too.

0:06:30.9 BN: Yeah, absolutely. We sponsor rest stops, so we get to check on all the bikers, make sure they’re hydrated and have snacks and all that good stuff.

0:06:40.0 LJJ: Awesome. But listen, if you would like to walk or would you like to bike or volunteer or even just donate money, don’t forget, you can head to our website at consumerscu.org and we also will have that link up so that you can easily join our team if you choose and/or virtually walk and donate. So, Becky, hey listen, I love to hear from you, love to hear that you’re doing so well, it’s just so heart-warming to hear that the dollars that we are raising are actually doing great things for people who are suffering from MS.

0:07:16.4 BN: Yeah, thanks so much Lynne, it’s always a pleasure to share a little bit of my story every year, and I just appreciate so much everybody who supports the cause.

0:07:24.1 LJJ: Hey, if you’d like to, don’t forget consumerscu.org. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson. Hey, thanks so much. Thank you, Jake Esselink, for your production skills. If you do have a topic that you’d like to share, please send them my way or Jake’s way or Consumers way, and we will absolutely get you into the schedule. Money, I’m home from finance to fitness with Consumers Credit Union.

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