Dear Friends:

As many of you know, last summer, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.   MS is a chronic, unpredictable neurological disease that affects the central nervous system.

• MS is not contagious and is not directly inherited.

• MS is not considered a fatal disease.

• There is no cure for MS yet, but drugs can help slow the course and/or symptoms in some patients.

As an exercise enthusiast, it was just a shock that this disease could affect me.  I started treatment, and also vowed to continue my life as is.  I even managed to run the Boston Marathon this past April (in my slowest time for a marathon ever, but I think that was our wedding three weeks before, not the MS!).

Bill and I have vowed to do more to raise awareness of this disease and help fund research as there is no known cause and no cure.

This August, to kick off our advocacy, Bill and I will do embark on our journey-  we will run to raise money for the MS Cure Fund.  On August 10, we will participate in Falmouth Road Race to raise awareness of a illness that we are so personally affected by.

Please make a donation to this fund, and for those of you who can, please come to our house at 55 North Street in Hingham on Sunday August 3 from 5-8.  We will hold a party to celebrate our run, and to raise awareness for this debilitating illness.

I have been fortunate that I have been surrounded with lots of support and still retain most of my abilities. However, others are not as lucky upon diagnosis and I may not always be so active.

All the best,

Adrienne and Bill