http://www.pioneerplanet.com/sports/spt_docs/152591.htm
Friday, October 5, 2001
Amanda Mott is used to the wide-eyed
looks. People can't believe it when she tells them she has multiple sclerosis.
They wonder how she's able to wake up at 5 a.m. two days a week to get
dressed for a 5- or 6-mile run near her home in St. Paul's Macalester-Groveland
neighborhood. On weekends, she's up at 7 a.m. to put in between 16 and
20 miles.
There is more disbelief when she
reveals that she's preparing to run in Sunday's 26-mile Twin Cities Marathon.
The 20th annual race through streets
in St. Paul and Minneapolis is just another item on Mott's busy schedule
to strike down false perceptions of multiple sclerosis, a disease that
attacks the nervous system and can lead to permanent disability.
"I tell my husband (Tim) sometimes
that MS might slow me down, but it won't take me down," said Mott, who
will be among 9,000 runners in the marathon, which starts at the Metrodome
and ends at the state Capitol.
Mott, 38, was diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis in April 2000, several months after the birth of her 2-year-old
daughter, Anna Lee. Mott began to feel numbness in her legs, the same sensation
she felt shortly after the birth of her 5-year-old son, Parker.
After Parker's birth, Mott assumed
the occasional numbness from her waist down was the result of the pounding
she took in a kick-boxing class. The numbness went away and didn't concern
her again until after Anna Lee was born. Mott went to see a doctor and
was referred to a specialist, Dr. Gary Birnbaum, director of the Multiple
Sclerosis Treatment and Research Center at the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology
in Golden Valley.
Mott underwent a magnetic resonance
imaging exam and CT scan, which revealed brain lesions and tissue bacteria
in the nervous system, early warning signs of multiple sclerosis. The news
was devastating to Mott, who lost her father to the disease in 1986.
"I was 23 when my father died," Mott
said. "I watched him struggle with MS for most of my life. He was 46 when
he died. Ten years after he was diagnosed, he was gone. When I found out
about me, I was worried about my children. Will they see me go through
the same thing?"
About 400,000 people in the United
States have some form of multiple sclerosis, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Medical researchers have yet to find a cure for the disease, which generally
is found in people between the ages of 20 and 40. Women are twice as likely
to be affected as men.
Multiple sclerosis is caused by inflammation
of tissue in the nervous system, which can block or delay nerve impulses
traveling back and forth from the brain. Damage to tissues can slow or
block muscle coordination, visual sensation and other nerve signals, and
in severe cases, lead to paralysis or permanent disabilities.
Mott said she doesn't experience
some of the serious effects of multiple sclerosis, but Birnbaum immediately
put her on a treatment program that includes daily injections of Copaxone,
one of the few drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to fight
the disease. Birnbaum said Capoxone "can alter the course of the disease
and have a positive effect on the inflammation of tissue in the brain and
the overall neurological system."
Birnbaum also recommended that Mott
keep busy.
"It's unusual for me to have a patient
running in a marathon, but I think it's wonderful," Birnbaum said of Mott.
"I enthusiastically encourage patients with MS to do as much exercising
as they can -- for the physical and psychological benefits. MS can be a
very upsetting disease."
Sunday's race will be Mott's third
marathon and her first competition since she was diagnosed. She ran in
the 1998 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth and the 1995 Twin Cities Marathon.
Mott took up running as a full-time hobby in 1994. She was adamant about
not giving up running, hiking, camping or any other outdoor activity after
Birnbaum told her she had multiple sclerosis.
"The Copaxone really has helped me,"
she said. "It's a huge coup for me to be able to do this marathon and maybe
inspire some people with MS. I have to be careful sometimes with dehydration
when I run. During the summer when it was hot, it took me longer to recover.
Other than that, I feel pretty energized about my condition."
Because of her father, Mott is well-informed
about multiple sclerosis. After her diagnosis, she did more research and
regularly visits a Web site (www.mswatch.com) to gain new information about
the illness and interact with patients across the country in chat rooms.
With no cure for multiple sclerosis,
Birnbaum is unsure how long he'll be able to give Mott good reports on
her health. He said the disease has varying effects on people. Birnbaum
advises people in the early stages of multiple sclerosis to undergo MRI
exams once a year to monitor improvements or setbacks.
Mott is required to have an MRI exam
every six months. She had one Wednesday and will meet with Birnbaum on
Monday to learn the results.
"Amanda could have difficulty in
the future, but I'm very encouraged by her progress," Birnbaum said. "Not
everyone with MS will have a major impairment of functions."
Mott gets the chance to prove that
Sunday.
Ray Richardson can be reached at
rrichardson@pioneerpress.com
© 2001 PioneerPlanet
BY RAY RICHARDSON Pioneer Press