Take a walk for multiple sclerosis

Every April for the past five years Cynthia Edralin has walked for a cause. This year she sent a letter to friends inviting them to join her. What follows is an excerpt:

About 7 years ago I felt tingling in my legs. I used to tell Joni and Audrey who I worked with at Kaua‘i Police Department that something is not right and that my legs felt funny. Each day it felt like the tingling and numbness was working its way up through my legs. It started from my feet and it was now at my knees. My friends Trinette and Lani talked me into seeing my doctor and he didn’t know what it was. The next day I went to see him again and I could hardly walk. He contacted a neurologist and I was admitted into the hospital. By that time I was partially paralyzed from the waist down and was told I might have Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I stayed in the hospital for about a week and received high dosages of steroid medication through IV’s. This stopped the progress of the paralysis.

What Edralin discovered after being taken to St. Francis Hospital on O‘ahu was that she had multiple sclerosis. Approximately 400,000 Americans have been diagnosed with this disease.

The specialist told me that although I was initially misdiagnosed, the treatment that was given to me at the hospital would have been the same as the treatment for an MS attack. And it saved me.

MS is an unpredictable disease that affects the central nervous system which consists of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers of the central nervous system is a fatty tissue called myelin which helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses — for those with MS, myelin is destroyed and replaced by scars of hardened “sclerotic” tissue. When there is damage, the ability of the nerves to function properly is disrupted and produces symptoms such as fatigue, blurred vision, numbness, loss of balance and muscle coordination (which makes it difficult to walk), extreme fatigue and problems with memory.

With medication and physical therapy, I regained the strength in my legs and was able to walk again. It took about three or four months. I can still remember taking slow walks with my mom and dad (Jerry and Maxine Correa) around their neighborhood. I am very blessed to get help from my mom and dad, my husband Chico, my son Lance and his family, my daughter Shantel and her family, and my brothers Kirk and Jerry and their families. The tremendous support from all my family and friends and my faith pulled me through.

At 7 a.m. tomorrow Edralin will be joined again by friends and family for the annual National MS Society Walk that begins at Kukui Grove. Funds raised will go toward research for a cure. Anyone interested can show up to walk or join a team. Last year on Kaua‘i 150 walkers raised nearly $10,000.

I feel like it is a battle every day but you have to be a fighter and must not give up. Those are words I used to tell my son and daughter and now I say it to myself. Afterall, with God’s help I plan on living a full life and being here for a long, long time.

Forty Kaua‘i residents have been diagnosed and registered with the National MS Society on Kaua‘i. There are 800 people throughout the state diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Although there is no cure for MS there are medications that are available to help you from getting an attack. I take Copaxone shots daily. Very pricey but we’ve managed. There is no guarantee but anything is better than nothing.

When you are in pain you will try anything your doctor recommends. You have to have faith in him and in God.

• Anyone interested in joining Edralin’s team (Hui Me Kapilialoha) or making their own team can call 652-4920 or e-mail cedralin@hawaiiantel.net.

• A hearty breakfast courtesy of community businesses follows the MS Walk.

• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com