Adapting to multiple sclerosis

By Cynthia Pegram

Published: April 5, 2008

Dina Van cleave, engrossed in a full life of family and career, was not overly concerned last year when a toe went numb.

After all, she was director of health risk management for Scott Insurance, in her 30s, and a runner.

But, she said, when you look back “and Monday morning quarterback on your life,” it was important.

The numbness had come after a severe cold. “Then all my toes went numb. Then the other leg.”

Her husband, Paul, watched her worsening gait and insisted she go to the doctor.

“I ended up in the hospital,” said Van cleave. She began to feel quite sick and as though fog saturated her brain.

A couple of diagnoses resulted. But the one that hit the mark came months later: multiple sclerosis. The inexplicable disease damages the outer lining of nerves. It’s something like broken places in the coating on electrical wire, breaking up the signal.

She went home and went into rehab, regained the ability to walk. Then, in a Chicago neurological evaluation, the peripatetic Indiana resident got her diagnosis — relapsing and remitting multiple sclerosis, one of the disease’s most prevalent forms. It is characterized by periods where things go wrong, and then most function, or all, is regained.

Bulwarked by family, friends and co-workers, she resumed her busy career. She can do some of her work at home; the rest involves lots of travel between Scott offices in Virginia and North Carolina where she helps clients design wellness programs for employees.

Her own good health and conditioning helped her deal with the illness.

“Getting back walking was easy. It was everything after that,” she said. That included medications and self-injections, as well as the intricacies of navigating the health care system.

Some days, she’s dogged by headaches, joint pain and fatigue. Other days, she feels so good she doesn’t realize she has MS.

Van cleave refuses to think only about limitations.

“Maybe I can’t run any more, but I can ride a bike and go swimming. It doesn’t mean you’re any less of a person; you’re adapting your lifestyle.”