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Sarah Rickter’s Story

By November 6, 2012May 25th, 2021Get Involved

When Sarah’s 15-year-old daughter, Ella, lost feeling in her legs, Sarah knew what to do. She called the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center. Sarah, 32, knew what to do for her daughter because she experienced strange symptoms years earlier.

The first time I went to the emergency room in 2009, I had triple vision, constant vertigo, fatigue and hearing problems. The doctor sent me home with Dramamine, which made things worse. The doctor had no idea what was going on with me. It was frightening to know that something was wrong and no one was helping me or listening to me.”

Thanks to you, Sarah found someone to listen to her after months of being frustrated, scared and bedridden. That someone donate button holidaywas Dr. Timothy Vollmer, neurologist and Medical Director of the Rocky Mountain MS Center.

After diagnosing Sarah with multiple sclerosis (MS), Dr. Vollmer treated her MS early and aggressively with a safe therapy tailored to her unique needs, incorporating exercise, diet and stress management into her care plan. This comprehensive and integrated wellness approach maximizes her brain’s ability to protect and repair itself, and promotes her quality of life.

If it wasn’t for the Rocky Mountain MS Center, it would have been a lot harder to get my diagnosis. MS is complicated. I found that there’s little awareness about how to identify it. I learned that the sooner you get diagnosed, the better, because getting on the right medication early is important to stop the progression of the disease. I’ve been doing well since my diagnosis. Dr. Vollmer prescribed the right medication for me.”

Your support helped stop Sarah’s MS from progressing so she can continue
living a fulfilling life as an artist, student and
 mother. This is made possible by your continued support of the Rocky Mountain MS Center’s cutting-edge research program – one of the largest in the U.S. – in which our researchers are developing highly effective and safe MS therapies, and a vaccine that may lead us to an MS cure.

But even after her diagnosis, Sarah still faced the challenges of learning a new normal.

“Treatment is only one part of managing the disease. Support is a part of it, too. I needed skills and tools to get into the workforce, learn how to overcome my challenges with MS and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

So I attended the Rocky Mountain MS Center’s MS 101 workshop for people who are newly diagnosed where I met Pat Daily. Pat has provided me counseling for 3.5 years. She’s been my compass. I also met with Tom Stewart to learn how to navigate disability assessments. Connecting to the MS Center services was life-changing.”

Your gifts to the Rocky Mountain MS Center allow thousands of people like Sarah and her daughter, Ella, to receive our support services, like MS 101 and counseling services, free of charge. Please give a generous gift today. You’ll get the satisfaction of giving people with MS and their families resources to support their journey from fear to optimism.

“Now my daughter gets an MRI every year so the MS Center’s physicians can monitor the spots that were found on her brain. If my daughter is eventually diagnosed with MS, I feel good knowing that she’s in the care of expert MS specialists. I know she’s going to be okay because we have the MS Center.”

Your donation will ensure that our comprehensive and integrated wellness approach, cutting-edge research and life-changing support services continue to bring hope to future generations faced with frightening MS diagnoses and symptoms.

You’ll get peace of mind that your dollars will be managed in the most efficient way possible. This means more than 80% of your dollars go towards our comprehensive care services, including our adult day program, counseling services, social security disability assessments, educational seminars, MS clinical care and physical therapy, and research.

How is spent

“It’s sad that some people aren’t getting the treatment and support they need because they don’t have resources like the Rocky Mountain MS Center. MS can be isolating so it’s important to have access to MS specialists.

I’m forever better because of the Rocky Mountain MS Center. MS looks different for me and possibly my daughter than it did for generations before us because of the research, treatment and services that the Rocky Mountain MS Center provides.”

donate button holiday

You will make a world of difference in the lives of people living with MS by donating online today

Thank you.

 

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