Quest Fall 2017 | Muscular Dystrophy Association

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Partners in Progress

Since 2006, Casey’s General Stores have supported MDA through MDA Muscle Team and the MDA Summer Camp Pinup Campaign, which lets shoppers purchase a $1 or $5 pinup (which includes a 7UP coupon) to display in the store. Over the past 10 years, Casey’s stores have raised more than $8 million with this campaign, including $1.5 million in 2016 alone.

Support System

When Cindi Reamer, a 58-year-old auditor and coder with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) was a child in Fort Wayne, Ind., she told her orthopedist that she wanted to work for him one day. At age 20, she did just that. Steven Glock, M.D., hired her as a telephone switchboard operator, and she has been working in his practice ever since, moving from the switchboard into coding.

Helping Hands

An MDA partner since 2001, Lowe’s takes great pride in improving the communities it serves. To date, Lowe’s and its loyal customers have raised more than $63 million to support MDA’s mission. Lowe’s also supports MDA by encouraging their employees to volunteer throughout the year and to join together in select improvement projects. This year’s projects included helping to construct new decks and ramps for the MDA Summer Camp at Camp Calvin Crest in Nebraska.

Progress Now Fall 2017

Researchers are looking for people with ALS, as well as others with motor neuron disease, and healthy volunteers to participate in the Answer ALS: Individualized Initiative for ALS Discovery study, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Goals of the study include creation of a large repository of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), motor neuron cell lines and bio-fluid samples for comprehensive genetics and data analyses. The biological data collected for the trial will be combined with clinical measures of ALS symptoms and progression.

Carry On

For Ed Walsh, who has been a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier for 23 years, getting involved with MDA came naturally. Walsh is a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 358 in New York. NALC was one of MDA’s first national sponsors, originally partnering with MDA in 1952. Beyond that official partnership, Walsh and his fellow branch members have found personal connections to MDA.

Disclosing Disability

Talking with employers about neuromuscular disease can be challenging. Given the broad spectrum of neuromuscular diseases and their often unpredictable nature, some may find it difficult to navigate exactly when and how much to disclose. “The very first thing a person needs to consider is why you want to disclose,” says Sharon Rennert, senior attorney advisor at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Doing so for the right reason at the right time keeps the focus on your performance as an employee, rather than on your disability.

Flying High with Kippy

When Christine “Kippy” Hoene, a 57-year-old acrobat and entrepreneur with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), first opened her SaltAer circus school in Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this year, it represented a culmination of her passions. At age 35, Hoene decided she wanted to learn a new skill every year, and after seeing Cirque du Soleil perform in Las Vegas, she set out to learn acrobatics.

Career Starters

For Victoria Haire, landing a summer internship in the Dallas MDA office this year wasn’t simply a way to see what it was like to work in the business world; it was life-changing.Haire, who hails from Louisville, Ky., was diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) at age 5. As part of her five-week internship with MDA, she got to work in an MDA Care Center alongside MDA’s family care specialists. “I knew right in that moment that this is what I need to do,” says Haire, 21, a University of Southern Illinois student studying communications with a minor in social work. “I texted my parents on the first day and said, ‘This is my calling.’”

Going for the Gold

This July, four athletes with neuromuscular diseases competed in the Federation Internationale De Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA) World Cup for Team USA, which came in second place overall. Jordan Dickey, Natalie Russo, Ben Carpenter and Nathan Mayer all competed in the tournament, which pits teams of four individuals operating wheelchairs with wheel guards against each other in a game commonly called power soccer. The goal is to maneuver your team’s ball into the other team’s goal through dribbling, passing and shooting.

Caregiving: Choosing with Care

Amid the wave of anxiety and emotion that can accompany living with a neuromuscular disease, Bill and Sharon Sumner saw a few things clearly the day they learned of Sharon’s ALS diagnosis. “I knew we would keep her at home, and I knew I would be the one to take care of her,” Bill says. The Sumners were in a prime position to make such choices. Having sold his successful manufacturing business, Bill had the time to devote to his wife and the money to hire personal care attendants (PCAs) as her condition progressed. But for many families, when a diagnosis is made or a disease progresses to the point where daily care is needed, the decision isn’t as clear-cut. Financial means, work schedules, family dynamics and the extent of a support system are among the many factors that go into planning in-home care.

Pushing Their Limits

In 2014, two lifelong friends set off on a journey that, in addition to deepening their friendship and teaching them life lessons, would eventually inspire a book, speaking engagements and a documentary called “ I’ll Push You,” which is premiering November 2. Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray have been friends since birth. When Skeesuck was 16 years old, he began to feel the effects of a rare form of neuromuscular disease.

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