Brian Rapozo is a single dad with three boys and a daughter. He’s probably been your waiter at Whalers Brewpub. He’s an average local guy who likes singing karaoke and hanging out with his kids…and has multiple sclerosis. Though MS
Brian Rapozo is a single dad with three boys and a daughter. He’s probably been your waiter at Whalers Brewpub. He’s an average local guy who likes singing karaoke and hanging out with his kids…and has multiple sclerosis.
Though MS is relatively rare in Hawaii and more so among men, the National MS Society estimates that 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States have MS.
After Brian was diagnosed three years ago, his brother Mel Rapozo said he found out the MS Society was looking for a new MS Walk chairperson. They expect over 200 people at this year’s walk, scheduled for Saturday at the Kukui Grove Pavilion. Brian said he hopes to introduce a craft fair and other activities in 2003.
“With our small numbers, we’re for the awareness. Many people have [MS] and might not know. Brian was misdiagnosed for 10 years. MS is a very difficult thing to diagnose because the symptoms are very similar to pinched nerves and other disorders,” Mel said.
The MS Society helps raise awareness in the public and holds educational seminars for doctors who diagnose and treat MS. If people feel like they may have MS, they should see their doctor and see a neurologist. It’s not like you can just take a blood test, Mel said.
“Mel is an angel,” Brian said of his brother. “He’s very successful. He’s smart. He’s always there to help out in any way.”
Brian’s family has no history of MS, but had the measles in his early teens, which may have caused MS to develop. He developed numbness from the chest down after age 18, and saw a doctor in 1989. That doctor told him it’s rare for someone born and raised in the tropics to have MS, and that he’d have to watch his health for 10 years to make sure.
“We didn’t know what it was, really,” Brian said in an interview Monday.
In 1999 Dr. Bjornskov, a neurologist, “ran me through the wringer with the tests,” Brian said. “She did a spinal tap, a few MRIs, a CT scan…the most crucial one was the angiogram. She checked my blood vessels and my brain and that did it. That test really made me grow up.”
“It has changed the way I think about things. I am moved when I hear or read stories about people with MS, because I know what they’re going through…I’m still learning. If I can do it — if I can live with MS – anyone can!” Brian said.
Medicaid pays for an injection every other day to delay the process of MS. It alone costs about $900 a month, Brian said. There are other medications available, but he can’t afford the long-term costs. So he watches his diet and keeps active.
Brian has worked at Whalers Brewpub for 2-1/2 years, and says his job gives him more than enough exercise. “I meet a lot of people. That kind of keeps me going. I don’t want to stop working. I feel like if I stay out of work and stay inactive, I will get worse…That’s the biggest problem with MS, the uncertainty of what’s ahead, what’s in the future…but, whatever happens, happens,” he said.
Brian said he’s met a few other people on Kauai with MS, and says the MS Society is a great help with counseling, nurses and a network of people to talk to.
“My life is weird, but I look at this way: ‘God put me on Kaua’i for a reason. I couldn’t be in a better place.'”
MS is a chronic, often disabling, disease of the central nervous system. However, statistics show that most people with MS have a near normal life span. MS is more common among Caucasians than other races. MS is 2-3 times as common in women than men, though anyone can develop it. Worldwide, MS occurs more often above 40¡ latitude than areas closer to the equator, like Hawaii.
MS is a disorder in which impulses to and from the brain are impaired. Myelin, a tissue that protects nerve fibers of the central nervous system and helps them conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain, is damaged and lost. When myelin is totally deteriorated, nerve fibers can be damaged or broken in multiple areas, leaving a scar tissue called sclerosis.
The causes of multiple sclerosis are still being studied, but having a parent or sibling with MS increases an individual’s risk to develop it. The National MS Society has identified several theories on MS:
Abnormal immune cells attack the central nervous system; however, the exact antigen, or target, is not known. Studies of geography, socioeconomics and genetics suggest that exposure to some environmental agent encountered before puberty may predispose a person to develop MS. Exposure to viruses during childhood that cause the loss of myelin, such as Brian’s bout with the measles, may cause MS to develop.
Symptoms include fatigue, tingling, numbness, blurred or double vision, muscle weakness, speech problems, impaired balance, changes in bladder, bowel, and sexual function, difficulty concentrating, swallowing problems and mood swings. Symptoms may come and go, appear in any combination, and be mild, moderate or severe.
The Kaua’i MS Walk has become the second-largest MS walk In Hawaii, raising $3,700 in 2001. The Kaua’i MS Walk will be held Saturday, May 4, at the Kukui Grove Pavilion. Start time is 7:30 a.m. For more information, please call Mel Rapozo at 245-3539.
For more information regarding multiple sclerosis, contact the National MS society at or 1-800-FIGHTS-MS .
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
