March 18, 2024 • 15 mins
Aired March 17, 2024:Please join us for TEAM JILLIAN's 17th year at WALK MS! It's happening Sunday, March 24th at the Rose Bowl!
She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2008 when she was 23 years old. Like most of you, we had heard of MS - but didn't know anything about what this disease can do to your mind and your body. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a very unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.
MS is different for everyone, making it more challenging to solve. If you know Jill, you know she keeps life positive and hides her bad days well. Her symptoms are different every day. They can include numbness, weakness and tingling in her arms and legs and face, double and blurred vision, extreme fatigue, joint pain, migraines, slurred speech, brain fog.
The first Walk MS event was in 1988, and since then more than $920 million has been raised for research and programs to improve the lives of people living with MS. Today, there are treatments where there weren't any before, and the dream of ending MS is becoming a reality. But there is still so much to do. Jill and her family formed Team Jillian the year she was diagnosed and we won't stop until there is a cure.
The money raised will drive groundbreaking research, provide life-changing programs and guarantee a supportive community for those who need it most. The National MS Society has been there for Jillian since she was diagnosed - and we are so incredibly thankful for the work they do. Help us get one step closer to finally saying there is a cure for Multiple Sclerosis!
Multiple sclerosis is a disease that impacts the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, which make up the central nervous system and controls everything we do. The exact cause of MS is unknown, but we do know that something triggers the immune system to attack the CNS. The resulting damage to myelin, the protective layer insulating wire-like nerve fibers, disrupts signals to and from the brain. This interruption of communication signals causes unpredictable symptoms such as numbness, tingling, mood changes, memory problems, pain, fatigue, blindness and/or paralysis. Everyone’s experience with MS is different and these losses may be temporary or long lasting.
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/
She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2008 when she was 23 years old. Like most of you, we had heard of MS - but didn't know anything about what this disease can do to your mind and your body. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a very unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.
MS is different for everyone, making it more challenging to solve. If you know Jill, you know she keeps life positive and hides her bad days well. Her symptoms are different every day. They can include numbness, weakness and tingling in her arms and legs and face, double and blurred vision, extreme fatigue, joint pain, migraines, slurred speech, brain fog.
The first Walk MS event was in 1988, and since then more than $920 million has been raised for research and programs to improve the lives of people living with MS. Today, there are treatments where there weren't any before, and the dream of ending MS is becoming a reality. But there is still so much to do. Jill and her family formed Team Jillian the year she was diagnosed and we won't stop until there is a cure.
The money raised will drive groundbreaking research, provide life-changing programs and guarantee a supportive community for those who need it most. The National MS Society has been there for Jillian since she was diagnosed - and we are so incredibly thankful for the work they do. Help us get one step closer to finally saying there is a cure for Multiple Sclerosis!
Multiple sclerosis is a disease that impacts the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, which make up the central nervous system and controls everything we do. The exact cause of MS is unknown, but we do know that something triggers the immune system to attack the CNS. The resulting damage to myelin, the protective layer insulating wire-like nerve fibers, disrupts signals to and from the brain. This interruption of communication signals causes unpredictable symptoms such as numbness, tingling, mood changes, memory problems, pain, fatigue, blindness and/or paralysis. Everyone’s experience with MS is different and these losses may be temporary or long lasting.
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, It's Lisa Fox and thisis the iHeart So Cal Show. All
right. So, an estimated onepoint eight million people are living with multiple
sclerosis worldwide and about under a millionhere in the States, and people of
all ages can be affected by it. It's more common though in young adults
and in females. In fact,one of our own part of our radio
family here and one of my favoritepeople in this building, Jillian Escoto,
(00:25):
has MS, and we rally andget folks to do the MS Walk in
her honor every year. We're hopingyou're going to join us. It's March
twenty fourth at the Rose Bowl andI've got Gillian from Valentine in the Morning
here to tell us all about it. Hey, Jillian, Hi, Lisa,
thank you for talking to me.You're going to hear the extra love
in my voice because you know,I'm just a huge fan of you personally
(00:46):
and professionally, and I'm sorry thatyou have MS. I know we have
this conversation every year more formally aboutMS on the radio, but I'm just
so happy that you're living a betterlife with MS these days, and you
were when you were diagnosed so longago. Yes, it's been seventeen years
since I was diagnosed. And whenI got my diagnosis, I didn't know
(01:11):
anyone who had MS. There wasn'tanybody in my family. There wasn't anybody
I was connected to at all.So it was a really big learning experience
for me and my family. Butsince then there have been so many different
treatments and different courses to take.Where yet first it was it was bad,
(01:33):
it was rough, and I stillhave bad days, but nowadays I
can take a certain medication to helpwith a certain symptom, or there's all
these kinds of different treatments to help. So so many people are benefiting from
the research and the treatments that arekind of knew it improved well, and
what a blessing. I mean,many diseases and conditions can't say that,
(01:53):
you know, It's like the oh, the money does make a difference.
When we raise money from the walksand all these fund raisers, they have
found better ways to reach MS,you know, and give you better options
as a person living with MS,just in the past seventeen years, better
ways to help you feel better ona day to day basis. Yeah,
and you can go to different doctorswho suggest different types of diets and different
(02:14):
types of supplements and you know,making sure you're getting your exercises. Not
just just medications, it's also lifestylechanges as well that they have found can
do a lot of good for thosewho have a mess now and kind of
crazy because when I was, youknow, doing my research and refreshing my
memory of you know, we've hadthese conversations, like I said, the
formal conversation on the radio every yeartied to the walk that's out the Rose
(02:36):
Bowl on the twenty fourth, Butyou know, kind of crazy. The
odds are so small, you know, for when to be diagnosed with MS.
So when it happened to you,were you like, ugh, did
you ever feel like wait, why? Why? Me? I did,
But that feeling came later on becauseI was having such a hard time figuring
out what this was and going todifferent doctors and sometimes a doctor would say
(02:59):
like, well, you kind ofmimic multiple sclerosis, but I don't want
to diagnose with that with you rightnow. Or I would go to another
doctor and they would do an MRIand he was like, well, yet
you kind of got something on yourbrain, but I don't want to diagnose
you. It almost was as ifthey were afraid to give me that final
diagnosis and wanted to do more testsand all that. So then once they
(03:23):
sent me to an MS specialist andI was able to do new scans,
it had been about a year sincemy first symptom to getting the diagnosis,
so when they told me it wasMS, it was almost a relief in
a way that Okay, now weknow what it is. Now, let's
tackle it. Now. What canwe do to either stop it from progressing
(03:45):
or help me feel better. Itwas a couple of weeks after the diagnosis
where I truly had a breakdown ofthe magnitude of what MS is. Where
before I was like, okay,we know what it is. Great,
and I'm pretty optimistic in life,so I just thought I'm okay, it's
not that bad. But then youstart to think, okay, but it
can progress to a bad point orit can have these really bad days.
(04:09):
So I did get to that pointwhere I was like, why me,
Why? Why am I not fair? Not fair? Right? Yeah?
I thought, you know, Ihaven't been feeling well for such a long
time, and now this is goingto be with me for the rest of
my life, And that there wasa period I was very, very down,
and you have to manage it everysingle day, every moment of your
(04:31):
life. You're managing it. Imean it's probably not You're probably grateful when
there's times you know, I knowyou love Disneyland, you know when you're
out having fun and enjoying a greatday Disneyland with your family, But so
when you have moments where your MScondition is not top of mind, that
must be nice, like, oh, I forgot I had I forgot I
had a MS today. Yes,right, yeah, but you have to
manage it all the time. Butnice to have those moments when you don't
(04:53):
have to think about it for ahot second. That's so true, Lisa.
And you know, I'll be feelinggood, I'll be having a good
day, and then all of asudden, it'll just hit. Like a
couple days ago, during off yourSunday, I was feeling good all morning
long, all afternoon, and wewere going to a friend's house for an
oscar party. At about a halfan hour before we left, it just
hit me. And my symptimes aredifferent every day, but it just hit.
(05:14):
I was just so exhausted, myvision got super blurry and I had
to stop and rest for a littlebit. And luckily my friends and family
know, you know, sometimes Igot to cancel last minute on certain things.
I'm just not feeling well, orI got to be late to something
because I got to take a napright away and you know, kind of
rest my body. So it doescome out of nowhere. But luckily there
are good and bad days. Whenthere's times where you do you're right,
(05:38):
you forget that you have it becauseyou're feeling good. You're like, hey,
people, I'm not flaky. Ican blame the MS because that's what's
really going on. Yeah, noone can ever call you flaky because you
know, no a real condition andagain not super common. But how grateful
did you feel eventually when you gotdiagnosed that you have this world of support
through the National MS Society. Whata great organization to offer so much help
(06:02):
and support and information to those oncediagnosed with MS. When I was diagnosed,
my neurologist gave me a folder fullof information and it was from the
National MS Society, and it hadwebsites and the email address, and he
referred me to a different He referedme to a few different doctors to go
see. Once I had the diagnosis. But then I reached out to the
(06:24):
MS Society to say, Okay,this is where I live, I was
just diagnosed. Who do you suggestI see? And so they sent me
back. They emailed me back abunch of different doctors to go see,
and I ended up going to seeone of those neurologists right when I was
diagnosed, and they had so muchinformation, different information about the treatments that
were available, information on support groups, and just feeling right away from that
(06:47):
first diagnosed, which could be verybig and life changing, knowing that there
was somebody who was there to answermy questions. I wasn't alone and they
were willing to connect me with otherpeople who had a mess so that I
felt less alone during that time.Plus all the information that they had was
great. Yeah, because again we'retalking about the odds of getting it are
(07:08):
pretty small, but when you dohave it, you're like, uh,
you know, now what do Ido? So they're kind of right.
They're connecting you with all these peoplethat know what you're going through and just
have all the information that you're goingto need to manage having a mess on
that day to day basis. Yeah, and there there are a lot of
people who have a really long roadto get diagnosed because it is such a
(07:30):
tricky disease and it can mimic otherdiseases. And there are some people who
have a ton of lesions on theirbrain and spinal cord but don't have symptoms.
And then there's people who have allthe symptoms but it doesn't show up
in their scans or their spinal taps. Like it's just such a weird tricky
is the only word I can thinkof, a tricky disease to diagnose.
(07:51):
Some people, it's easy, theysee it on the scans, you have
a mess. And other people,like me, it's like, okay,
well let's rule this out. Let'srule that out. You do have some
lesions on your brain and your spinalcord, but it's not, thankfully overwhelming.
So it was one of those thingswith me where we kind of do
a process of elimination and then theydecided, yes, this is MS,
(08:13):
and so let's treat it as MS. So attacks the nervous system. MS
multiple sclerosis can cause. And you'vehad many of these symptoms. I know
we've talked about these. You've hadnumbness, it can cause weakness, numbness,
tingling in your arms and legs andface, double and blurred vision,
extreme fatigue, joint pain, migraines, slurred speech, brain fog. I
(08:37):
mean, that's a lot, youknow, and you got to work a
full time job with all that stuffgoing on. Yeah, And luckily,
you know, with our job,we are talking all the time, and
there are days where my brain isnot working as fast as my mouth is,
and so luckily I'm able to sayit works like you guys, it's
a bad day, and everybody kindof picks up the slat for me or
(08:58):
helps me a lot, But itis tough when you feel like your body
just is not keeping up with youor what you want it to be,
and it's not cooperating the way youwant it to be. And there are
all kinds of different symptoms. Oneof the worst ones for me. I
don't know why they call it this, but it's an MS hug, And
a hug is typically a nice thingfor a majority of people, but an
(09:20):
MS hug kind of feels like thisreally tight, tight squeeze around your chest,
around your torso, and it's sopainful and so it's hard to breathe
and you just feel like for me, I just my body wants to explode,
Like I just feel so tense andso tight, and so that's a
really tough symptom. Mine affects myright side mostly, my seat, my
(09:43):
legs, my arm, my handhas a lot of weakness. The right
side of my face is a lotor a lot more numb than the left
side, So mine is on theright So I know that, and I'm
able to kind of lean on myleft side a little bit more. There
are days when I can feel,you know, my right leg is kind
of and it kind of drags alittle bit more than my left. But
thankfully, I have always been ableto walk. I've always been able to
(10:05):
move, which I'm I'm so thankfulfor. But that's why I like at
the MS walk. You see peoplein wheelchairs because MS attacks the coating,
the protection that's around your nerves,and so when that coating is kind of
like eaten away at, then yournerve is kind of eaten away at and
(10:26):
can break. And then that wayyour brain can't send the message to the
rest of your body to move,to walk, to move your hand.
And so that's why you see peoplein wheelchairs because they're they're milin sheaths.
The protection around the nerves has justbeen so damaged, and a lot of
times you find this scar tissue andthese lesions on the brain and the spinal
(10:48):
cord, and that's really how doctorsare able to diagnose a mess. It
does not sound fun. My gosh, I'm sorry, it's not fucking I'm
sorry it happened to you. I'msorry it happened to anyone who has it.
But I'm grateful that you have aworld of support through your family,
your actual family, your radio family, and people who listen, fans and
(11:11):
people who joined Team Jillian. Allthis support, and I can't believe we've
been you know, the Team Jillian. Your team gets bigger and bigger,
and over the course of seventeen yearsnow, it's just more and more people
want to be a part of thisthing, to support you and others with
MS and make a difference. I'mso thankful because when I was first diagnosed,
it was just a couple of weeksbefore that first walk MS that we
(11:33):
did, and so my mom andI signed up. They were like,
Okay, we'll start a team,you know, get the family together,
and we had such a turnout,like my friends from college, my friends
from high school, coworkers. Lisa, I feel like you've been at almost
every walk that we've done. Well. I mean, once you go,
you can't not go the next year. You make it an annual thing in
(11:54):
support of you and again for allthose with MS, and just so hopeful
that when we do these walks andwe do these fundraisers, it's just so
nice to actually see that it ismaking a difference when we raise this money
and helping people like you that welove actually feel better with the money raised.
It makes me happy. And Iknow I've walked most of the walks
because I got all the T shirts. I think you do different colored shirts
(12:16):
every year, and now my boyfriendand you know, like all the fund
in your fiance and like again,it gets bigger and bigger, more and
more love, more and more support. And we really put this in our
calendar every year, and to seeit grow and to see all that love
out there is really it's really niceto see it and to know that the
money we're raising goes to that ohso important groundbreaking research. It provides life
(12:39):
changing programs and helps fund and fuelthis supportive community for those like you living
with MS through the National MS Society. So we're gonna urge you to sign
up and join us for Team Gillianat Walk and mess at the Rosebell on
the twenty fourth. Walkims dot orggo there search for Team Jillian and how
early do we have to be outthere on the twenty fourth. I believe
(13:01):
it starts around nine on that Sunday, but I'm usually there when when the
gates open at seven am, butI think it kicks off at nine o'clock
on the twenty fourth, and theydo a little music, they do a
little program, they do a littlewarm up exercise for the rest of us.
But it's a nice, easy strollkind of around, you know,
it's not anything too labor intensive,which is nice for us as well.
(13:24):
Yeah, nice, very nice strollaround, you know, around the area
there around the Rose Bowl and hopefullynice weather and just nice people. And
I know it's a chance for youto get to meet a lot of people
in person who have heard your storyon the radio and just want to give
you a hug and say I'm herefor you. It's so great to see
everybody that comes out and everybody that'ssupporting, and we're so thankful and anybody
(13:48):
who has a MESS that is therethat day will tell you, like,
it's such an emotional day because yousee the support, you see the people
that are there for you. Andsometimes there are people that just show up
and they don't know anyone with MS, but they just want to support,
which is so great. And what'sfun about the MS walk is it kind
of change things. They started itlast year, but they're doing it bigger
(14:09):
and better this year too, andyou can just they're focusing on the support
group, the support system that isneeded when you have a disease like this,
and so it's kind of celebrating everybodythat's involved. And with walk MS,
there's no fee to register, youdon't have to raise a certain amount
of money to start. It's totallyfree. Even if you can't donate,
(14:30):
Just being there and supporting and justjust saying and showing that you are there
for that person really means a lotas much as the donation could. Yeah
that it makes sense. Yeah,so knowing that, knowing that you have
that support is so wonderful. Andparking is free and the love and support
is free, and you just geton out there. You show up with
a rose bull Sunday, March twentyfourth. You'll look for the big banner
(14:54):
that says Team Jillian and we'll allbe there. Are tons of people from
the radio station and a bunch ofdifferent radio stations and are Heart Radio family
will be there. Your whole family'sout there walking. And are we doing
snacks in the booth again this year? Right, we offer snacks, water
and snacks. There are food trucksthat come at the end of the walk,
so you'll get a good lunch beforeyou leave. And it's just it's
(15:15):
a really great day. So wehope everybody can come out and join us.
And the easiest way for them tofind find out more and to join
join Teamjillian is walkimss dot org.You can go and you can search for
a team. You can search TeamJillian. You can search my name Jillianiscoto
if you want. But the easiestway we just go to walkimss dot org
and sign up there. Yeah,and then just note that the Rose Bowl
on the twenty fourth and join usand then come by our booth. Will
(15:39):
give you a free T shirt.Right, we always have extra shirts while
they last, always, yes,while supplies last. Yeah, wonderful.
Well, we love you Jill.We'll see what Team Jillians join Team Jillian
as part of the MS Walk onthe twenty fourth at the Rose Bowl.
We love you Jill, Love youLisa, thank you
Hi, It's Lisa Fox and thisis the iHeart So Cal Show. All
right. So, an estimated onepoint eight million people are living with multiple
sclerosis worldwide and about under a millionhere in the States, and people of
all ages can be affected by it. It's more common though in young adults
and in females. In fact,one of our own part of our radio
family here and one of my favoritepeople in this building, Jillian Escoto,
(00:25):
has MS, and we rally andget folks to do the MS Walk in
her honor every year. We're hopingyou're going to join us. It's March
twenty fourth at the Rose Bowl andI've got Gillian from Valentine in the Morning
here to tell us all about it. Hey, Jillian, Hi, Lisa,
thank you for talking to me.You're going to hear the extra love
in my voice because you know,I'm just a huge fan of you personally
(00:46):
and professionally, and I'm sorry thatyou have MS. I know we have
this conversation every year more formally aboutMS on the radio, but I'm just
so happy that you're living a betterlife with MS these days, and you
were when you were diagnosed so longago. Yes, it's been seventeen years
since I was diagnosed. And whenI got my diagnosis, I didn't know
(01:11):
anyone who had MS. There wasn'tanybody in my family. There wasn't anybody
I was connected to at all.So it was a really big learning experience
for me and my family. Butsince then there have been so many different
treatments and different courses to take.Where yet first it was it was bad,
(01:33):
it was rough, and I stillhave bad days, but nowadays I
can take a certain medication to helpwith a certain symptom, or there's all
these kinds of different treatments to help. So so many people are benefiting from
the research and the treatments that arekind of knew it improved well, and
what a blessing. I mean,many diseases and conditions can't say that,
(01:53):
you know, It's like the oh, the money does make a difference.
When we raise money from the walksand all these fund raisers, they have
found better ways to reach MS,you know, and give you better options
as a person living with MS,just in the past seventeen years, better
ways to help you feel better ona day to day basis. Yeah,
and you can go to different doctorswho suggest different types of diets and different
(02:14):
types of supplements and you know,making sure you're getting your exercises. Not
just just medications, it's also lifestylechanges as well that they have found can
do a lot of good for thosewho have a mess now and kind of
crazy because when I was, youknow, doing my research and refreshing my
memory of you know, we've hadthese conversations, like I said, the
formal conversation on the radio every yeartied to the walk that's out the Rose
(02:36):
Bowl on the twenty fourth, Butyou know, kind of crazy. The
odds are so small, you know, for when to be diagnosed with MS.
So when it happened to you,were you like, ugh, did
you ever feel like wait, why? Why? Me? I did,
But that feeling came later on becauseI was having such a hard time figuring
out what this was and going todifferent doctors and sometimes a doctor would say
(02:59):
like, well, you kind ofmimic multiple sclerosis, but I don't want
to diagnose with that with you rightnow. Or I would go to another
doctor and they would do an MRIand he was like, well, yet
you kind of got something on yourbrain, but I don't want to diagnose
you. It almost was as ifthey were afraid to give me that final
diagnosis and wanted to do more testsand all that. So then once they
(03:23):
sent me to an MS specialist andI was able to do new scans,
it had been about a year sincemy first symptom to getting the diagnosis,
so when they told me it wasMS, it was almost a relief in
a way that Okay, now weknow what it is. Now, let's
tackle it. Now. What canwe do to either stop it from progressing
(03:45):
or help me feel better. Itwas a couple of weeks after the diagnosis
where I truly had a breakdown ofthe magnitude of what MS is. Where
before I was like, okay,we know what it is. Great,
and I'm pretty optimistic in life,so I just thought I'm okay, it's
not that bad. But then youstart to think, okay, but it
can progress to a bad point orit can have these really bad days.
(04:09):
So I did get to that pointwhere I was like, why me,
Why? Why am I not fair? Not fair? Right? Yeah?
I thought, you know, Ihaven't been feeling well for such a long
time, and now this is goingto be with me for the rest of
my life, And that there wasa period I was very, very down,
and you have to manage it everysingle day, every moment of your
(04:31):
life. You're managing it. Imean it's probably not You're probably grateful when
there's times you know, I knowyou love Disneyland, you know when you're
out having fun and enjoying a greatday Disneyland with your family, But so
when you have moments where your MScondition is not top of mind, that
must be nice, like, oh, I forgot I had I forgot I
had a MS today. Yes,right, yeah, but you have to
manage it all the time. Butnice to have those moments when you don't
(04:53):
have to think about it for ahot second. That's so true, Lisa.
And you know, I'll be feelinggood, I'll be having a good
day, and then all of asudden, it'll just hit. Like a
couple days ago, during off yourSunday, I was feeling good all morning
long, all afternoon, and wewere going to a friend's house for an
oscar party. At about a halfan hour before we left, it just
hit me. And my symptimes aredifferent every day, but it just hit.
(05:14):
I was just so exhausted, myvision got super blurry and I had
to stop and rest for a littlebit. And luckily my friends and family
know, you know, sometimes Igot to cancel last minute on certain things.
I'm just not feeling well, orI got to be late to something
because I got to take a napright away and you know, kind of
rest my body. So it doescome out of nowhere. But luckily there
are good and bad days. Whenthere's times where you do you're right,
(05:38):
you forget that you have it becauseyou're feeling good. You're like, hey,
people, I'm not flaky. Ican blame the MS because that's what's
really going on. Yeah, noone can ever call you flaky because you
know, no a real condition andagain not super common. But how grateful
did you feel eventually when you gotdiagnosed that you have this world of support
through the National MS Society. Whata great organization to offer so much help
(06:02):
and support and information to those oncediagnosed with MS. When I was diagnosed,
my neurologist gave me a folder fullof information and it was from the
National MS Society, and it hadwebsites and the email address, and he
referred me to a different He referedme to a few different doctors to go
see. Once I had the diagnosis. But then I reached out to the
(06:24):
MS Society to say, Okay,this is where I live, I was
just diagnosed. Who do you suggestI see? And so they sent me
back. They emailed me back abunch of different doctors to go see,
and I ended up going to seeone of those neurologists right when I was
diagnosed, and they had so muchinformation, different information about the treatments that
were available, information on support groups, and just feeling right away from that
(06:47):
first diagnosed, which could be verybig and life changing, knowing that there
was somebody who was there to answermy questions. I wasn't alone and they
were willing to connect me with otherpeople who had a mess so that I
felt less alone during that time.Plus all the information that they had was
great. Yeah, because again we'retalking about the odds of getting it are
(07:08):
pretty small, but when you dohave it, you're like, uh,
you know, now what do Ido? So they're kind of right.
They're connecting you with all these peoplethat know what you're going through and just
have all the information that you're goingto need to manage having a mess on
that day to day basis. Yeah, and there there are a lot of
people who have a really long roadto get diagnosed because it is such a
(07:30):
tricky disease and it can mimic otherdiseases. And there are some people who
have a ton of lesions on theirbrain and spinal cord but don't have symptoms.
And then there's people who have allthe symptoms but it doesn't show up
in their scans or their spinal taps. Like it's just such a weird tricky
is the only word I can thinkof, a tricky disease to diagnose.
(07:51):
Some people, it's easy, theysee it on the scans, you have
a mess. And other people,like me, it's like, okay,
well let's rule this out. Let'srule that out. You do have some
lesions on your brain and your spinalcord, but it's not, thankfully overwhelming.
So it was one of those thingswith me where we kind of do
a process of elimination and then theydecided, yes, this is MS,
(08:13):
and so let's treat it as MS. So attacks the nervous system. MS
multiple sclerosis can cause. And you'vehad many of these symptoms. I know
we've talked about these. You've hadnumbness, it can cause weakness, numbness,
tingling in your arms and legs andface, double and blurred vision,
extreme fatigue, joint pain, migraines, slurred speech, brain fog. I
(08:37):
mean, that's a lot, youknow, and you got to work a
full time job with all that stuffgoing on. Yeah, And luckily,
you know, with our job,we are talking all the time, and
there are days where my brain isnot working as fast as my mouth is,
and so luckily I'm able to sayit works like you guys, it's
a bad day, and everybody kindof picks up the slat for me or
(08:58):
helps me a lot, But itis tough when you feel like your body
just is not keeping up with youor what you want it to be,
and it's not cooperating the way youwant it to be. And there are
all kinds of different symptoms. Oneof the worst ones for me. I
don't know why they call it this, but it's an MS hug, And
a hug is typically a nice thingfor a majority of people, but an
(09:20):
MS hug kind of feels like thisreally tight, tight squeeze around your chest,
around your torso, and it's sopainful and so it's hard to breathe
and you just feel like for me, I just my body wants to explode,
Like I just feel so tense andso tight, and so that's a
really tough symptom. Mine affects myright side mostly, my seat, my
(09:43):
legs, my arm, my handhas a lot of weakness. The right
side of my face is a lotor a lot more numb than the left
side, So mine is on theright So I know that, and I'm
able to kind of lean on myleft side a little bit more. There
are days when I can feel,you know, my right leg is kind
of and it kind of drags alittle bit more than my left. But
thankfully, I have always been ableto walk. I've always been able to
(10:05):
move, which I'm I'm so thankfulfor. But that's why I like at
the MS walk. You see peoplein wheelchairs because MS attacks the coating,
the protection that's around your nerves,and so when that coating is kind of
like eaten away at, then yournerve is kind of eaten away at and
(10:26):
can break. And then that wayyour brain can't send the message to the
rest of your body to move,to walk, to move your hand.
And so that's why you see peoplein wheelchairs because they're they're milin sheaths.
The protection around the nerves has justbeen so damaged, and a lot of
times you find this scar tissue andthese lesions on the brain and the spinal
(10:48):
cord, and that's really how doctorsare able to diagnose a mess. It
does not sound fun. My gosh, I'm sorry, it's not fucking I'm
sorry it happened to you. I'msorry it happened to anyone who has it.
But I'm grateful that you have aworld of support through your family,
your actual family, your radio family, and people who listen, fans and
(11:11):
people who joined Team Jillian. Allthis support, and I can't believe we've
been you know, the Team Jillian. Your team gets bigger and bigger,
and over the course of seventeen yearsnow, it's just more and more people
want to be a part of thisthing, to support you and others with
MS and make a difference. I'mso thankful because when I was first diagnosed,
it was just a couple of weeksbefore that first walk MS that we
(11:33):
did, and so my mom andI signed up. They were like,
Okay, we'll start a team,you know, get the family together,
and we had such a turnout,like my friends from college, my friends
from high school, coworkers. Lisa, I feel like you've been at almost
every walk that we've done. Well. I mean, once you go,
you can't not go the next year. You make it an annual thing in
(11:54):
support of you and again for allthose with MS, and just so hopeful
that when we do these walks andwe do these fundraisers, it's just so
nice to actually see that it ismaking a difference when we raise this money
and helping people like you that welove actually feel better with the money raised.
It makes me happy. And Iknow I've walked most of the walks
because I got all the T shirts. I think you do different colored shirts
(12:16):
every year, and now my boyfriendand you know, like all the fund
in your fiance and like again,it gets bigger and bigger, more and
more love, more and more support. And we really put this in our
calendar every year, and to seeit grow and to see all that love
out there is really it's really niceto see it and to know that the
money we're raising goes to that ohso important groundbreaking research. It provides life
(12:39):
changing programs and helps fund and fuelthis supportive community for those like you living
with MS through the National MS Society. So we're gonna urge you to sign
up and join us for Team Gillianat Walk and mess at the Rosebell on
the twenty fourth. Walkims dot orggo there search for Team Jillian and how
early do we have to be outthere on the twenty fourth. I believe
(13:01):
it starts around nine on that Sunday, but I'm usually there when when the
gates open at seven am, butI think it kicks off at nine o'clock
on the twenty fourth, and theydo a little music, they do a
little program, they do a littlewarm up exercise for the rest of us.
But it's a nice, easy strollkind of around, you know,
it's not anything too labor intensive,which is nice for us as well.
(13:24):
Yeah, nice, very nice strollaround, you know, around the area
there around the Rose Bowl and hopefullynice weather and just nice people. And
I know it's a chance for youto get to meet a lot of people
in person who have heard your storyon the radio and just want to give
you a hug and say I'm herefor you. It's so great to see
everybody that comes out and everybody that'ssupporting, and we're so thankful and anybody
(13:48):
who has a MESS that is therethat day will tell you, like,
it's such an emotional day because yousee the support, you see the people
that are there for you. Andsometimes there are people that just show up
and they don't know anyone with MS, but they just want to support,
which is so great. And what'sfun about the MS walk is it kind
of change things. They started itlast year, but they're doing it bigger
(14:09):
and better this year too, andyou can just they're focusing on the support
group, the support system that isneeded when you have a disease like this,
and so it's kind of celebrating everybodythat's involved. And with walk MS,
there's no fee to register, youdon't have to raise a certain amount
of money to start. It's totallyfree. Even if you can't donate,
(14:30):
Just being there and supporting and justjust saying and showing that you are there
for that person really means a lotas much as the donation could. Yeah
that it makes sense. Yeah,so knowing that, knowing that you have
that support is so wonderful. Andparking is free and the love and support
is free, and you just geton out there. You show up with
a rose bull Sunday, March twentyfourth. You'll look for the big banner
(14:54):
that says Team Jillian and we'll allbe there. Are tons of people from
the radio station and a bunch ofdifferent radio stations and are Heart Radio family
will be there. Your whole family'sout there walking. And are we doing
snacks in the booth again this year? Right, we offer snacks, water
and snacks. There are food trucksthat come at the end of the walk,
so you'll get a good lunch beforeyou leave. And it's just it's
(15:15):
a really great day. So wehope everybody can come out and join us.
And the easiest way for them tofind find out more and to join
join Teamjillian is walkimss dot org.You can go and you can search for
a team. You can search TeamJillian. You can search my name Jillianiscoto
if you want. But the easiestway we just go to walkimss dot org
and sign up there. Yeah,and then just note that the Rose Bowl
on the twenty fourth and join usand then come by our booth. Will
(15:39):
give you a free T shirt.Right, we always have extra shirts while
they last, always, yes,while supplies last. Yeah, wonderful.
Well, we love you Jill.We'll see what Team Jillians join Team Jillian
as part of the MS Walk onthe twenty fourth at the Rose Bowl.
We love you Jill, Love youLisa, thank you
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