"There had to be someone or something out there to help me live life fully in spite of MS. I found that something in Can Do MS."
Gina (diagnosed w/MS in 1999) 
Gina and her family with Can Do MS Founder Jimmie Heuga
Gina was 26 years old and expecting her second child when she started feeling weak and falling down. Three months after giving birth, she was diagnosed with MS.
For the next year, she was wheelchair-bound, something that makes caring for an active 4 year old and new baby almost impossible.
Gina tells the story best in her words:
“I really tried to embrace this disease with a positive attitude, but it can be very degrading. I tried any options my doctors recommended, even chemotherapy, which was very hard. Gradually, I improved and grew stronger, but then in 2007 my health failed again.
That’s when I knew I had to find a better way of dealing with my MS. It was on the Internet that I found The Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis, now called Can Do Multiple Sclerosis™. It was a discovery that changed my life.
I knew I couldn’t afford the CAN DO program on my own, but thanks to gifts from caring donors, I received a scholarship.
The five days my husband and I spent at the CAN DO program changed my life. There were people there at various stages of the disease and each of us received one-on-one attention and personal assessments of our needs. My husband joined other support partners for help in addressing their challenges.
There were neurologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists,psychologists, speech language pathologists and nutritionists on hand to empower us with knowledge, skills, tools and confidence to enhance the quality of our lives. 
By the time we left, we had a plan for living with MS. Today, I go to the gym three times a week for water aerobics. I see a great physical therapist and I am focused on living my life fully in spite of MS. It is a wonderful feeling and it is all because of the CAN DO program.”
Your gifts to Can Do MS make outcomes like Gina’s possible by providing scholarships to our CAN DO and JUMPSTART programs. Without your help, many people could not afford to attend. Please help us serve people like Gina L. by giving a generous gift today.
Jimmie Heuga, our founder and a former Olympic skier, summarizes the essence of what makes Can Do MS so unique, “Here we focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t. Our approach is centered on the whole person — mental, physical and emotional. We develop a plan driven by the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.”
Twenty-five years ago Jimmie pioneered this educational philosophy and learning model for MS care management. Since then it has helped thousands of people live their best lives.
With your help, many more people struggling with the effects of MS will experience the life-changing benefits of our lifestyle empowerment programs.
We do everything possible to keep program expenses to a minimum. Many of our physicians and other professionals provide their services at a fraction of their regular fees or even free of charge.
Still, it costs $6,000 to provide the CAN DO program to each attendee and their support partner. In spite of this, we never ask anyone to pay more than $2,000. Because of scholarships your gifts make possible, more than 75 percent of participants receive help with some or all of the $2,000.
Without that help, many could not afford to attend.
Perhaps you have attended the CAN DO or JUMPSTART program yourself or have a family member or friend who has benefited from the positive, educational approach offered through the programs. If so, you know firsthand the difference they can make in people’s quality of life.
Please help us make these programs available to others by giving a generous tax-deductible donation today. Every gift makes a difference and is stretched to the max to provide life-changing tools and insights to those who can benefit most.
Thank you for helping make positive outcomes like Gina’s possible by giving to support Can Do MS.
Sincerely,
Kim Sharkey
Chief Executive Officer
P.S. Your gift can be the difference in whether or not someone struggling with MS can discover the power to be more than their MS through our lifestyle empowerment programs. Please give what you can today to help someone like Gina regain a fulfilling life.
THE CAN DO MS STORY - A New Name for a New Day at The Heuga Center
Twenty-five years ago, Jimmie Heuga, an Olympic ski racer diagnosed with MS at the height of his racing career, founded The Heuga Center. His program was bold and flew in the face of conventional medical advice. Instead of inactivity, he encouraged physical activity,goal-setting and psychological motivation to improve one’s physical condition and outlook on life and MS.It is a program that is now acknowledged within the MS community as a standard of MS care.
Today, in honor of Jimmie’s inspiring life and personal example, The Heuga Center has adopted a new name that instantly communicates Jimmie’s and The Heuga
Center’s philosophy: Can Do MS. As Jimmie himself said it, we “focus on what you can do.” Today, through our ever-evolving CAN DO and JUMPSTART programs, the ideas first proposed by Jimmie Heuga a quarter century ago, continue to transform lives by replacing inactivity with productivity and turning challenges into possibilities
for thousands of men and women living with MS.
Can Do MS | 27 Main Street, Suite 303 | Edwards, CO 81632 | 1-800-367-3101 or email info@mscando.org | Tax ID#: 74-2337853
For more information about Can DO MS, its lifestyle empowerement programs and history, visit www.mscando.org.
