Stepping up to the challenge

Sherman won't let MS stop her from walking for a cure

Published Thursday, March 20, 2008

By Chris Butler

As a teacher, Decatur resident Marty Sherman once had boundless amounts of energy for her students.

Now, as a parent who homeschools, Sherman resents the fact that she doesn't have anywhere near that level of strength for her own two children - doctors diagnosed Sherman with Multiple Sclerosis two years ago.

Sherman, 46, doesn't enjoy being in the public eye and doesn't consider herself "your typical fundraiser." That won't keep her and her family, including husband Geoffrey, from a March 30 "Walk for a Cure" fund-raiser at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Researchers are close to finding a cure and developing drugs that can reverse the effects of MS and Sherman wants to do her part to raise enough money to make that cure a reality, she said.

"Having MS has changed my life in a weird way. It was actually a relief to learn that something was wrong with me and that I wasn't insane when I started having symptoms," Sherman said.

MS is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, according to the National MS Society. Symptoms range from numbness in the limbs to paralysis or loss of vision. Sherman has not had any vision problems and is not at a stage where she needs a wheelchair.

"But no one knows I have MS unless they see me shaking," she said.

Sherman first noticed the signs, ironically, while on a "Walk for Life" for her mother, who died of cancer.

"Everyone else was walking hard, but all I could do was stroll. My left side felt numb and tingly and I thought I might be out of shape. Or I could be having a stroke," she said.

A spinal tap proved otherwise, and Sherman has taken weekly Interferon injections ever since. She compares side effects from the injections to chemotherapy because they cause "flu-like symptoms and a lot of pain."

"I feel like my kids suffer more than I," Sherman said, adding her children, Zoe, 9, and Jack, 11, had a lot of questions and even feared their mother would die after doctors first diagnosed her with the disease.

"The hardest part is knowing that my mother won't get any better," Zoe said.

Sherman has no family history of MS but is concerned her children might one day inherit the disease, and that's another reason she decided to walk in the Fort Worth fund-raiser.

The Fort Worth event kicks off with registration at 2 p.m. followed by the U.S. Track and Field sanctioned Run at 3 p.m. and then the Walk at 3:30 p.m., said Kelly Charles, spokeswoman for the National MS Society, Lone Star Chapter. There is no cost to participate in the walk, but the runs require a $25 registration fee. Participants in both NexBank Walk and run events have the choice of a one mile or 5K route, Charles added.