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Advocates take to the streets to battle MS
Four years ago, Christine Binkowski was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
On Saturday, she and hundreds of others took to the streets of Manassas in a 5K walk to raise awareness for the crippling disease.
“I was diagnosed in 2004 after my oldest son was born,” Binkowski said. “I've been pretty fortunate since then.”
After a series of tests, doctors diagnosed her with MS, a disease of the central nervous system.
MS damages the protective insulation surrounding nerves and even the nerves themselves. As a result, messages from the brain to the body short circuit or don't get through.
The results can range from numbness and tingling to blindness, trouble walking, dizziness, tremors and paralysis.
“The most common symptom really is overwhelming fatigue. The body has to work overtime,” said Kevin Dougherty, vice president of programs for the National Capital Area Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
While there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, there are treatments that can slow its progression.
Once the nerves die, it's virtually impossible to repair them, Dougherty said. The goal is to hold the disease at bay, slowing it down to keep the nerves from dying in the first place.
For Samantha Vaklyes of Manassas, taking care of herself is the key.
“I tend to get worn out very quickly in heat,” she said, adding that it's important for her to take it easy and drink lots of water — “stuff that people ought to do anyway.”
Vaklyes was diagnosed with MS seven years ago as a 20-year-old college student. She had vision problems and went to a doctor, who referred her to another doctor, who referred her to another doctor. Eventually, she said, she landed with a physician who diagnosed the disease.
Since then, she's been careful to stay healthy in general so as to keep the symptoms at bay.
“It really doesn't limit me from doing very much,” she said. “I've been lucky.”
So far, Binkowski said, she hasn't had a lot of problems, either.
“I've been able to stay active, run a couple of marathons and have two more kids,” she said, adding that regular exercise helps her manage the disease.
And raising money and awareness for MS helps bring researchers one step closer to a cure.
Binkowski is the head of a team of family members and friends called Bink's Bodyguards. The group raises money for the two-day, 50K MS Challenge Walk each fall, and in the spring, they join the smaller walk through Manassas.
“It's more kind of an awareness walk for us,” she said of the Manassas event.
Vaklyes also captains a team. A BB&T employee, she's leading the bank's team for the second year. Before that, she had her own team, back in the days when the walk was held at the Manassas National Battlefield Park, not in Old Town Manassas.
The walk was moved into the city two years ago to make it more accessible to people with disabilities.
“I've seen people doing it on crutches, I've seen people doing it in wheelchairs,” she said.
And while the sight of participants trying to maneuver wheelchairs over the grassy hills of the battlefield was “inspirational,” Vaklyes said it's a lot easier for people to participate on the paved streets of Old Town.
Vaklyes, Binkowski and their fellow Manassas walkers were among 6,500 in the Washington, D.C. area who walked last weekend for the National Capital Area Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the regional event, and spokesperson Diane Metzger said the chapter expects to raise a record-breaking $1.6 million from last weekend's five regional walks.
“It's just been getting bigger and better,” she said.
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