Registration is currently open at www.msgolf.ca, and if you join the MS Society of Canada – Central Alberta Chapter’s MS Golf Classic event, you will have the distinct pleasure of meeting long-time participant, Vicki.

“My journey with MS started in 1984 when my mother was diagnosed. At that time, the diagnosis was very scary, we hadn’t heard much, if anything about MS. All we really knew was that there was no cure and there was very little available (at the time) for treating MS. We have always been a family that finds the humor in everything that we can so, I hate to say it but when she was having a relapse we would find ways to joke about it. I remember her having trouble hearing at one point so we would whisper, if she had vision problems we would hide things on her – not nice but it did keep the situation light.

Dad was diagnosed almost 10 years after Mom, in 1993. When he got the diagnosis, we figured all would be OK, we knew the disease by now. Unfortunately, as we all know now this disease is one of the harder ones to diagnose because it affects each person differently, and in this case, Dad was not as lucky as Mom. His form of MS was progressive, and it was not long before we had to move him into a care facility. Sadly, he passed away in 2002.

I started having symptoms myself late in the 90’s I was pretty scared. Yet there had been much progress made with MS treatments and understanding the disease, so I was also pretty hopeful. I have been extremely fortunate since then, as my relapses and symptoms have been manageable with these advancements in treatments – and am thrilled to say I have been relapse free for two years now!

My family has been great support system for me, from helping with the daily injections to helping me train for the MS Bike for six years, they have always been there for me. I also have wonderful staff at Freeman Insurance Agencies Ltd that are all aware that I have MS, and who participate, volunteer and help us with our sponsorship in the MS Golf Classic to show their support!

Having MS has taught me to be strong – to never give up! Its taught me humility and to ask for help when I need it (which I rarely admit to). I can honestly say that having this disease gives me more motivation for staying as active as I can, and to do the things I want to do while I can. It has given me a reason to get involved in ways that I probably would not have done before.

Thanks to all of the fund-raising and awareness campaigns being done for MS, it is not quite as scary as it used to be. There are now treatments becoming available for Progressive MS. It is only a matter of time before there is a cure! ”

-Vicki Livingstone, MS Golf participant