Dancer with MS

by Ashley

I have been training to become a professional dancer since the age of 3. When all the other little girls were growing out of the "mommy is making me take ballet" phase, I only grew more intense. By the time I was 6, I was taking multiple dance classes a week. Dance became my life. I gave up a "normal" life and dedicated my existence to dance.

Now, here I am at age 22. I suffered from serious health issues (unrelated to MS) for about 4 years. It put schooling on hold for me and slowed down my dancing, but I never stopped. After having gall bladder surgery, finding out I have Celiac's disease and a few other things, I thought I had a grasp on life and could move on. I began dancing intensely yet again and planned on starting to audition for some dance companies.

That was once again put on hold due to weird symptoms. Numbness and tingling were a constant, but for a good month I lost feeling in most of my body. My balance was way off as well which was that hardest for me to deal with. Mainly because I was muscling through all these feelings and remained training and performing. Finally I went to see a neurologist and after the routine testing, found out I have MS.

Now, I'm learning how to manage, but the one thing I promised myself the day I found out I have MS was that I would never stop dancing. I continue to dance every day. Some days are harder than others but I don't believe in giving up. I put myself in the mind set that I may have MS, but that doesn't define me. If anything, this disease has given me courage and strength. I want to be able to help others that have a hard time dealing by giving them hope.

I'll end this with one of my favorite quotes

"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible"