Tag Archives: Multiple Sclerosis

Jamie-Lynn Sigler: ‘I have Multiple Sclerosis’

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Jamie-Lynn Sigler- 'I have Multiple Sclerosis'Sopranos actress reveals 15-year battle with the disease.

Sopranos actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler has revealed she has been secretly suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) for almost 15 years.

The newly married actress married baseball player Cutter Dykstra in California over the weekend. She was diagnosed with the disease when she was only 20 years old. A year before that she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease.

She told People magazine “I wasn’t ready until now… You’d think that after all these years, somebody would be settled with something like this, but it’s still hard to accept.”

She had decided to go public about her illness because of her new husband and their two-year-old son Beau. She said, “I think I’m at a point in my life with my son, with my new marriage, it’s a new me and I want to live my truth. I don’t want to hold a secret where it feels like I have something to be ashamed of or have something to hide… It’s part of who I am, but it’s not who I am… I didn’t want him (Beau) to get to an age where he felt like he had to keep this secret for me as well… I wanted to be an example to him of strength and courage.”

She went on, “It was a shock, it was surprising… to get the diagnosis was confusing but also strange because I didn’t feel sick. I didn’t feel like anything was really wrong. At the time my ideas of MS were limited… I thought it meant wheelchair, I thought it meant your life was over. And so there began my almost 15 years of being in denial… I didn’t want to believe that was going to be my future.”

She admitted that her symptoms had been bad over the past ten years but she hide it from film and TV bosses, saying:

“Sometimes all I needed was like five or 10 minutes to sit and recharge but I wouldn’t ask, because I didn’t want them to be suspicious,” she says. “I can’t walk for a long period of time without resting. I cannot run. No superhero roles for me… Stairs? I can do them but they’re not the easiest. When I walk, I have to think about every single step, which is annoying and frustrating.”

The 34-year-old actress takes medication for the incurable condition. She says this has kept her symptoms stable for past six years.  She said: “Things are manageable now… It takes a fighting attitude to deal with all this. This disease can absolutely take over your life if you let it.”

 

 

Blue Badge Style Founder Named One Of Bright Shiny News’ Inspiring Women

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gbauvkdcmwafay7d5v0qFiona Jarvis, founder of Blue Badge Style, the first app and online guide to a stylish lifestyle for the less-physically-able, has been profiled on Bright Shiny News. In the interview, for the Inspiring Women section of the website, Jarvis talks about how she has overcome the difficulty of needing a wheelchair and continues to live stylishly.

Bright Shiny News is an online woman’s magazine who’s main purpose in life is to entertain readers with bright shiny things! The inspiring women section profiles a different successful businesswoman every week. The article, written by Monique Fok, talks about Jarvis’ life experience: from working in the city to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and on to setting up Blue Badge Style.

Fok writes: “It is actually an understatement to say that Fiona survived the MS bombshell; Not only has she won the battle beautifully, but she has also established the Blue Badge Style, which provides a website and app guide to the stylish lifestyle for everyone, including people with disability.”

Blue Badge Style is the only company that looks at disability from the point of view of style & design, taking a stylish, pragmatic and cost-efficient approach to inclusive access, working with venue management teams, designers and architects to improve the awareness of disabled facilities. “Style is the overriding premise of Blue Badge Style, along with a positive outlook” says Fiona Jarvis, “disability need not stop you from enjoying the good things in life!”.

The Blue Badge Style website provides style advice to the less-physically-able. Whether it’s the best places to eat and drink, fashion tips or interviews with other stylish less-able people, it can all be found at Blue Badge Style.

The Blue Badge Style free app is the first and only app to give you information on where to go near you based on not only how stylish the place is but how accessible it is for disabled customers.The  app works as a” Michelin-like” star system for the less able. It identifies cool venues near your location and uses a bespoke three tick rating system to grade it out of 5 for each category: 1.Access, 2.Facilities and 3.Style, so that users know exactly what to expect from each venue. You can then easily see the best places near you, read a review, check the Blue Badge Style rating and get directions on how to get there.

Fashion Designer and style icon, Simon Carter explains, “This app can quickly locate stylish restaurants and bars that are nearby. It also warns you if there is a problem with disabled access or facilities. I’m able bodied and I’m going to use it!”.

Jack Osbourne Reveals He Has Multiple Sclerosis

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the son of Ozzy and reality TV star, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The star was talking to Hello! magazine and said that ‘While I was waiting for the final results, I got really, really angry.

The timing was so bad. I’d just had a baby, work was going great – I kept thinking, “Why now?”

‘Then I got really sad for about two days, and after that I realised, being angry and upset is not going to do anything at this point – if anything it’s only going to make it worse.

Adapt and overcome’ is my new motto.’

The 26-year-old recently became a father for the first time and he discovered he had the disease after losing 60 per cent of vision in his right eye.

His fiance Lisa has been very supportive. Lisa gave birth to their daughter, Pearl, two months ago.

Lisa told Hello! ‘Jack will have to change his life for the better – get healthier, not get stressed.’

Sharon and Ozzy Osborne told how they are struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis.

Sharon said: ‘I keep thinking, “what did I do wrong? What did I eat or drink when I was pregnant?” I feel like it’s somehow my fault.

Father Ozzy added: ‘If it was me, you’d think: “Ozzy had a reputation and it caught up with him,” but Jack is such a good guy.’

Sister Kelly took to her Twitter page this morning to urge fans to support her sibling, writing: ‘Please support my brother @mrjacko in not only his bravery but honesty! i love you so much jack & I’m so proud of you!’

After it was made public, Jack tweeted: ‘Thank you all so much for the kind and inspirational words. It means a lot. #adaptandovercome.’

The Avril Lavigne Foundation, Easter Seals Announce Avril Lavigne Rockstar Club

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Giving Kids & Youth with Disabilities the Opportunity to Express Their Individuality & Have Fun

The Avril Lavigne Foundation announced today the creation of the Avril Lavigne Rockstar Club at Easter Seals, an initiative to support recreational programming for children and youth with disabilities, their families, and communities. The first four Easter Seals affiliates selected to receive an Avril Lavigne Rockstar Club at Easter Seals grant are Easter Seals Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana in Ohio; Easter Seals Capper Foundation in Kansas; Easter Seals Massachusetts; and Easter Seals Southern California.

Earlier this year, Easter Seals affiliates from across the U.S. and Canada were invited to apply for an Avril Lavigne Rockstar Club at Easter Seals grant. The grants’ initiative evolved from the collaboration between Easter Seals and The Avril Lavigne Foundation originally announced in September 2010 to identify and support recreational programs for kids with disabilities and their families and communities. Thirty affiliates applied for a grant. Following a review of the top 12 applicants, award-winning singer/songwriter and philanthropist Avril Lavigne and The Avril Lavigne Foundation selected four Easter Seals grant recipients.

“It was really tough to pick just four,” said Lavigne. “I was inspired by the creativity of everyone who applied and the exciting range of opportunities the Easter Seals affiliates presented. Recreational programs allow children and young people with disabilities to develop critical social and emotional skills and also just have fun. As great as these programs are, a lot of times when budgets are tight these will be the first programs cut. My goal is to help bring more resources to these great programs.”

The four initial grant recipients were chosen based on their overall impact and embodiment of the Avril Lavigne Foundation’s R.O.C.K.S. mission: R espect, O pportunity, C hoices, K nowledge, and S trength.

The unique programs supported by the grant will include a program to connect teens with disabilities with other kids in their community at Easter Seals Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana in Ohio; an art camp at Easter Seals Capper Foundation; an overnight camp at Easter Seals Massachusetts; and an afterschool music program at Easter Seals Southern California. To learn more about these exciting programs, please visit The Avril Lavigne Foundation website at www.theavrillavignefoundation.org.

“We’re so lucky to have such an incredible partner in Avril and The Avril Lavigne Foundation. She cares deeply about making sure kids and young people with disabilities have every opportunity to live life to the fullest, pursue their dreams, and find happiness. She’s also passionate about sharing a message of inclusion, that kids and young people with disabilities want to laugh, have fun with their friends, and just fit in – like all of us,” says James E. Williams, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals. “We also know when it comes to Easter Seals, Avril was most inspired by our recreational programming – services where kids and teens with disabilities can just be kids through social events, music, theater, sports, arts, leisure time, hobbies, getting out in the community and camp. That’s what The Avril Lavigne Rockstar Club at Easter Seals is all about.”

Avril Lavigne is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer/ songwriter. Though most of her philanthropic efforts have been private and anonymous, Avril has publicly supported a number of charitable organizations over the years, including Amnesty International, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, War Child, and YouthAIDS. Avril currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Nancy Davis Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis. Avril’s work with children who are seriously ill or who have disabilities inspired her to form The Avril Lavigne Foundation in 2010.

About The Avril Lavigne Foundation

Award-winning singer/songwriter and philanthropist Avril Lavigne created The Avril Lavigne Foundation in early 2010. The Avril Lavigne Foundation R.O.C.K.S.: R espect, O pportunity, C hoices, K nowledge, and S trength in support of children and youth living with serious illnesses and disabilities. The foundation partners with leading charitable organizations to design and deliver programs, raise awareness and mobilize support for children and youth living with a serious illness or a disability.

About Easter Seals

Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs. For over 90 years, we have been offering help and hope to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them. Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities can live, learn, work and play. Support children and adults with disabilities at www.easterseals.com.