Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.
She can’t run or jump. Or dive for a volleyball.
Her brain can scream at her body to run, or jump or dive all it wants. But it’s not going to happen. The connections that deliver the message from brain to body are broken.
Melissa Lane, 27, lives with multiple sclerosis.
MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. It attacks the protective covering of the nerves, called myelin, and causes inflammation and damage. Myelin is needed to transmit nerve impulses. If damage is slight, messages travel with minor delays. If it’s substantial, the nerve impulses can be completely disrupted.
Canada has the highest rate of MS in the world. An estimated one in 340 Canadians lives with the disease.
On Saturday, Lane pushed herself to do what she can no longer do. Play volleyball.
Surrounded by a team of friends — affectionately called the Odd Balls — she participated in the fourth annual Serves for Nerves beach volleyball tournament, to raise funds for the Niagara Peninsula Chapter of Hope, the local branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
A year after Lane was diagnosed, her friend Ryan Ce cc hi ni put together the first tournament. They’ve known each other some 13 years. And this year, they organized it together along with friend Sarah Burger. About 60 people gathered at its new venue on Sunset Beach in St. Catharines and raised some $1,600, said Cecchini.
They have plans for bigger events in the future — more players, more days, live music — but the irony is, they hope that will never happen.
“We never want to get to our 10-year plan,” he said. “We want a cure for MS.”
When Lane was diagnosed in 2013, everyone was scared for her.
“I didn’t know what MS was,” said Lane. “It was the scariest moment of my life.”
She was having trouble walking, and needed to use a cane and hold onto walls for balance. Her feet and hands felt numb.
Lane has a type of MS called relapsing-remitting. It’s defined by unpredictable relapses, like flare ups, when new symptoms appear or existing ones get worse. Melissa lives for the in between times.
Even a year ago, she had much more trouble walking, her right foot dragging with every step she took. Symptoms are different for everyone. It’s been a combination of staying active, and different therapies, that have helped, she said. That and a good attitude. As she watched her team play, she joked that only if the volleyball came directly at her, would she be able to actually propel it back over the net. But the point of it is to have fun. And prove to herself that she can do it. The next day, she would likely sleep most of the day. But this day, she would play.
“If I didn’t do this, my quality of life wouldn’t be as good,” she said.
Money raised by Serves for Nerves will be used by the local branch of the MS Society of Canada, to purchase equipment for people with MS, run programs and services, and then some will be given to research, said Yasir Nouri, fundraising and community outreach co-ordinator.
Early diagnosis is helping to change people’s quality of life, he said. It used to be that people were diagnosed with MS in their 40s and 50s, and now, because of research the disease is being identified in their 20s and 30s. When treatment begins earlier, less damage is usually the result, he said.
Each May in St. Catharines, Lane participates in the MS Walk. Some years, she couldn’t finish or did but just barely.
“This year, I did it in 45 minutes,” she said. “I didn’t fall. And I actually finished.”
The unknowns are scary. And there are many. Sometimes, though, she surprises even herself. Like the other day, when her brain told her body to jump, and it actually did. She didn’t clear the ground by far, but it was a jump.
“I was almost in tears,” she said. “It’s something I used to take for granted.”
On her right shoulder, she has a tattoo. The symbolic orange MS ribbon is surrounded by the words: Tough times don’t last; tough people do. Lane is determined to last. “There’s still things for me,” she said. “If I want to do it, I can do it.”