Making MS news in my hometown

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I’m feeling quite a bit humbled about Jennifer and me being featured in this week’s Monticello Express, the weekly newspaper in my hometown of Monticello, Iowa. About the only time I had my name and picture included in the Express while I was gr0wing up was when it ran photos of local sports teams, choir concerts, speech contest participants and high school play rehearsals. Even then, my name was included within the photo caption or the fine print of the story.

Today, I made the headlines: “Monticello graduate will return to host community MS discussion”

As we do each year, Jennifer and I are going back to Iowa to celebrate Easter with my family. We’re excited to spend time with our family and friends back there and to meet our new niece, but this year we are going to speak in a special presentation hosted by the Ross and Elizabeth Baty Monticello Public Library and share our story to increase awareness about Multiple Sclerosis and inspire others who are dealing and living with the challenges of this and other illnesses.

To promote our program Steven Lerch, Express editor, asked Jennifer and me some very insightful questions and chose to run the interview as a two-part Q and A in his column the weeks leading up to our presentation at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Mary Lovell LeVan Renaissance Center in Monticello. Our interview, run verbatim in a two-part series in my hometown newspaper for everyone there to read about me, my wife, Jennifer, and our lives with MS … I’ll always be humbled.

Here is Part I from Steve Lerch:

Monticello graduate will return to host community MS discussion
The following discussion is the first of a two-part series with 1991 Monticello High School Graduate Dan Digmann. Mr. Digmann and his wife Jennifer are living with Multiple Sclerosis and will be hosting a public discussion about their fight to raise awareness at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 11 at the Ross & Elizabeth Baty Public Library. SL- Why do you think there is so little MS awareness in Monticello,  Jones County and Iowa?
Dan:
 We don’t know as though it’s a question about there being so little MS awareness in Monticello, Jones County and Iowa. We think there needs to be more awareness about the disease everywhere. If we ask a person on the street what they know about multiple sclerosis, whether we’re in Monticello, Iowa, or in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., not a lot of them would know that MS is an unpredictable chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects everyone differently. We are living proof of this reality that no two people have the same type of MS. We hope that through sharing our story with others it will help to generate conversation and increase awareness and people’s knowledge about this disease that affects more than 400,000 people nationwide.

SL- Your website noted in a few areas about how long you two have been living with MS. Could you describe the mindsets that you two  have taken in order to thrive and inspire others?
Dan:
 Jennifer was 23 years old when she was diagnosed in 1997. She has secondary progressive MS. Dan was 27 years old when he was diagnosed in 2000. His is relapsing-remitting. Realizing that there is so much about this disease that we can’t control, together we work to serve as our own best advocates and do what we can to help improve our lives and the lives of others who are living with this disease.

SL- I got the hint that you two wouldn’t be the people that your are today had it not been for MS. Is it safe to say that, despite the  illness, it has made you stronger, happier, and in many respects,  healthier people? If not, what has MS meant to you either of you?

Dan:
We met at a National MS Society event—“Finding Your Buried Treasure”—in Frankenmuth, Mich., in 2002, fell in love and were married on Sept. 10, 2005. With our marriage we each entered into the new role of serving as a caregiver for a spouse who has MS.
Jennifer:
If it weren’t for MS, we never would have met each other. We often say MS is the best worst thing to happen to us. It got our priorities straight and made us appreciate life and all the small joys of every day.

SL- Congratulations Jennifer, I read on your blog that you have lost 100 pounds. That is a difficult task for anyone. What was your  secret? You noted that weight watchers helped. Could you give us a bit  more detail about why you decided to lose the weight and its  connection to MS?

Jennifer:
Initially, being diagnosed with MS just after I graduated from college caused depression. That, along with physical therapy to respond to a very aggressive form of the disease, helped to make the first 60 pounds pretty easy. Weight Watchers and the reality that I needed help–either from Dan or one of my caregivers–to do the most basic activities of daily life (i.e. dressing, bathing, toileting and other daily transfers) made my recent loss of 50 pounds pretty essential. The health and safety of Dan, my caregivers and me were VERY motivating for me to start and to continue losing weight. Weight loss just makes sense when you rely so heavily on others.

SL- Dan, you too have been on the track to physical fitness. How did running 5ks enter into your life? How does the exercise combat MS?
Dan:
 The day I met Jennifer, I went out and walked two miles because I thought that there was a girl out there I needed to say healthy for. I started walking two miles every day after that and I soon thought, ‘I could get this done a lot quicker if I ran it.’ And so, after running two miles, I realized I only needed to add another 1.1 mile to run a 5K. I think that running, even when I don’t feel like going out and doing it, has helped me to keep my body moving, to eat the right foods, and to feel as though I’m doing all that I can to stay healthy. This year I’m training to run my first 10K.

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