A (3:58)

So were you using a mobility aid at that time or.

C (4:02)

Just my husband.

A (4:05)

Right.

C (4:05)

Anytime. Walking.

A (4:07)

When you were walking around your home, were you touching furniture or walls for safety?

C (4:12)

Yes, Yes, I was surfing on everything.

A (4:15)

And just because I'm curious. So how long had passed between your first symptoms and the misdiagnosis and you were officially diagnosed with ms?

C (4:24)

It was probably almost three years. Oh, okay. It would start. Just started very minimally with. I would go be walking and then it would feel like a. A twinge in my right leg would. Would kick out, would hitch out to the side and hop forward, but then it would go away and everything. It just thought, okay, my, my back was just giving me a hard time and then just going through everything. And I had other medical issues in 2020 and a year after that, they said, everything is perfect now. You can deal with your back and get everything fixed. It's going to be perfect. And went to the neurologist and started the journey with a neuro. Neurologist. We're down here in Florida now, and I was in New York prior, and they did their testing and said it's not a pinched nerve. You have multiple sclerosis.

A (5:17)

Wow.

C (5:17)

Yeah.

A (5:18)

Geez.

C (5:19)

Yes. Oh, yes.

A (5:21)

And then how shortly after that did you find me? And we'll get into the specific things that you worked with, but how far apart was that?

C (5:33)

Honestly, almost two and a half years.

A (5:35)

In that time, had you gone to physical therapy for Ms. For. For your walking or tried exercise programs or. Or anything? Had you worked on your walking or strength at all in that time?

C (5:51)

Yes, Yes, I was. Did multiple rounds of physical therapy and just nothing was. Was working. And then I had gone to a cane, left my husband out and got to. Got to a cane and was walking with the cane. And then that got even more difficult and then started using a Rollator Walker in places and just for the balance and the stability and the fear of falling. The fear of falling, absolutely.

A (6:22)

That's something that a lot of people don't talk about, but it plays Just as much of a role as your actual balance or strength.

C (6:32)

Right. It had a couple of falls and the first couple were when we still lived in New York when I was working. And I was like, well, you're just walking silly. Pay attention. And then we moved to Florida. There was a couple of near miss Wallings, like tripping. And there was nothing that I should have been tripping on. It did made no sense. Right. And then when the diagnosis came, I had a. I didn't get hurt or anything, thank goodness, but caught my foot on front transition from a cement floor to a carpet and down I went. Down I went. And I was like, okay, well this is. This is not fun.

A (7:12)

Right? Right. So the first time that you and I got to work together was in my free five day challenge. And actually at this point, you and I had never talked yet because it's an online program that anyone can access. So can you tell me why you signed up for it? Because it sounds like you didn't have success in the past with other physical therapists. So why did you decide to sign up and what was your experience like in that five day challenge?

C (7:45)

Well, the reason I decided to sign up was I had been thinking that all the physical therapy didn't work. And then I actually saw some of your free content, leave it on Facebook and was like, I need to investigate this more. And I started to and then saw the free five day, you know, challenge. I was like, I gotta try this. And I did. And the hope was given to me that I had totally lost. Totally lost. And the, the main thing in that five day challenge was what is your why? And write it down. The significance of writing it down made it just made everything so real and gave just the increase of hope that I might be able to turn this around a little.

A (8:40)

I love that so much. If you don't feel comfortable sharing, you don't have to. But do you remember what your why was that you wrote down?

C (8:46)

To be able to walk places with my husband more and to be able to go into new places is common places I felt comfortable with were, okay, this, I can do this. I didn't have the fear of falling or not being. Not knowing where everything was in common places, but to be able to go to a new place and not be concerned if it was a tile floor or a laminate floor or a carpenter floor, that I could go in there and walk in there without issue. And that was probably one of my biggest whys, was not to have the fear.

A (9:30)

That is a perfect example. Because one thing that we talk about in that lesson is the more specific, the better. And so to have those specific examples, not just I want to walk better, I want to trip less, but those specific situations. So you aced that. It was at this time when you were in that five day challenge. A part of the challenge is you can leave comments at the end of each day to let us know, let myself and the other participants know. We call it like a homework assignment, your biggest takeaways or what exercises you're going to try and whatnot. And it was at that point that you came on my radar because you were commenting those and already feeling that more of that hope. And then at that point, that is when you signed up for the Total Strength program. So can you share more about your experience there?

C (10:27)

The Total Strength program. I spoke to my husband and said, I really want to try this. He said, do it. He said, absolutely, give it a shot. And after the first set of exercises, and I go back to them on a regular basis as well as the missing link, but I go back to after the first set of exercises and I don't know if it's just me. There was a noticeable difference in my walk, like in the little bit of the walking ability and the little bit of strength, but the confidence that something made a difference. And my husband saw it. He said, you've, you've got it. Keep going, keep going, you know, and it was, it was incredible. It was, was pretty impressive.

A (11:21)

Absolutely. You know, and after experiencing physical therapy in the past that didn't work, it can be hard to even just build up that hope and optimism again and then to try something and have it work. And in your case, so quickly, that's huge.

C (11:39)

It really was. And it was, it did the first few, maybe the first, you know, little while after doing the first exercise, I noticed such an improvement and I needed to rest then because of course you're like, you know, oh, I can really do this. Let's, you know, run with scissors. And you can't do that. I need four. Right, right.

A (12:01)

Let me actually back up for a second too. So for those that don't know, the free 5 day Ms. Strength challenge focuses more on the principles of how to exercise differently because you have Ms. And as Tracy mentioned, just that alone can provide a lot of hope that this is different. When you have ms, exercise needs to be done differently in order to make an effect. It can't be the same as orthopedic physical therapy or traditional exercise. So it's a lot of education behind how to exercise and there is one full exercise class in there for you. But then the Total Strength program is a program that teaches you how to create your own full exercise routine based on your symptoms and your goals. And as Tracy mentioned, it does come with five exercise classes that, you know, give you a starter as well as an sample exercise program. So that's kind of, that's what we're talking about when we say that Total Strength Program. Okay. So you're in the five day Challenge. You're feeling more hopeful. You do that Total Strength Program. You notice those improvements after day one and your husband is noticing those two. How long did you keep going with the Total Strength Program? And did you notice any progress throughout that time? Because you did eventually become a Missing Link member, which we'll talk about in a second. But what did your time in the Total Strength Program look like?

C (13:29)

The total time I did that program was two and a half weeks before I signed up for the Missing Link. And that's, for me, that's all it took because the improvements and the, the confidence was just, it was remarkable. It was remarkable for me. It really was. And when you do, when you do what you're told and follow it, it did it have to do the way you say to do things and to. When you feel yourself not performing properly, you stop. Like you said in the five Day Strength, every five day Challenge, you need to, when you're not feeling, you're doing it right, stop. Because you don't want your brain learning the bad way to do things right. And it was, it was huge. And I just had a key. I had to do more. I had to do more.

A (14:27)

I love that you're touching on the emotional side too, because a lot of what, A lot of the way that I talk about my courses and programs is that I can help you build strength and endurance and make daily activities feel easier. And it's very action based. But when you see improvements in those actions, it does hit home emotionally. You do feel that confidence, that hope. And I feel like that side of it isn't talked about enough overall, just in life.

C (14:59)

Right. The, it's the hope and the potential that was totally lost before. It's like nothing's going to work. Okay. You're going to end up in a chair and it's going to be, there's going to be nothing else. And yes, it can progress to that or whatever, but you give the hope that that doesn't have to be the end of your story. You can make workarounds for anything, right?

A (15:27)

Yeah. So your Next step after two and a half weeks was joining my membership the Missing Link. And my first question for you about this, you said you needed more. There's a lot that we offer inside the Missing Link. There's live exercise classes, there's guest speakers with Ms. Experts, there's calendars that tell you what exercises to do each day. There's the community which is a huge piece of it. What did you need more of? If you can remember back to that point, why did you feel like oh yes, I need this because of the.

C (16:02)

Improvements I had so rapidly with starting it. And I wanted to go further, I wanted to see more and see what else was possible for me in this journey. And the there is no end. I haven't even found probably a third of what is available on the Missing Link. I find something new every day, be it. It's crazy.

A (16:33)

Do you remember when you first signed up for the Missing Link, what the first thing you did was like? Were you just so excited to exercise that you found an exercise class or did you print a calendar? Do you remember what the first thing was?

C (16:46)

I have to admit the first thing I did was I needed to get on to the introduction to use the Missing Link site because I had no idea at how to get to everything and even what to look for. And the doing that class was just insane to learn how to use the site. And once that was was done, I believe I used yours with you. You gave the the introduction to the site.

A (17:15)

It was a group orientation that we offer every month for new members to learn how to navigate the program and.

C (17:22)

Then we were off to the races. Right? It was insane. It was insane, yes.

A (17:27)

Okay, so we've covered the five day challenge that was free. We've covered the Total Strength program. So now you're in the Missing Link. You learned how to use it through the group orientation. Let's start with how long have you now been a member for and what types of improvements have you seen from following that program and being part of that community?

C (17:45)

Okay, I've been a member now I believe it is almost five months. Almost five months? Yeah, almost five months. And the different muscle groups that has attacked, you know, been attacked by my Ms. And you have exercises for exactly what I'm, what's bothering me or hindering me and it. I found things in the program that I didn't almost know that were bothering me from the upper body strength that I didn't realize was had taken a bit of a hit on my right arm. But doing your upper body workouts and Things I was like, well, I didn't know that this was an issue. And just like you don't know how good a massage feels until somebody rubs you.

A (18:33)

Right, Right.

C (18:34)

It was exactly that. Wow.

A (18:38)

So I actually right before we joined this call, I took a few screenshots of things that you had commented and posted about in our Facebook community and I wanted to just touch on two of them. So the first one was Dr. Gretchen says if you want to walk better on uneven surfaces, practice on uneven surfaces. Yesterday I walked with my rollator approximately 120 yards on grass, loose dirt, sand and cement without stopping. And heel, toe steps.

C (19:10)

Yes.

A (19:11)

That is amazing. When was the last time so you're using your Rollator. When was the last time you were able to walk confidently on all of those different types of surfaces?

C (19:20)

Oh, I would have to say almost five, five or six years ago, believe it or not. Five or six years ago to walk on it, to just have at it. It had to have been five or six years ago before I even knew that Ms. Was a problem.

A (19:37)

Yeah.

C (19:37)

Wow.

A (19:38)

And we do talk about as you just alluded to, there's something for everyone. There's something for every symptom. There is a lot in the program. So you can find something based on whatever goal you're working towards. Now I just this reminded me because I just read the Rollator part. So are you using a rollator 247 are what are you walking with or not with indoors versus outdoors? What is your mobility look like now that you've been a member for about five months or so.

C (20:08)

Okay. One after I had started the the strength challenge I would I like I said I was using a cane and and the role I got rid of the cane and was doing the Rollator. I went got rid of the Rollator I used in new places or where I might be a long time I need to sit down. But now I a lot of time I use trekking poles.

A (20:28)

Okay.

C (20:30)

Tracking pulse now. And the difference has been the balance to be able to have both hands instead of just one with a cane to use the this the trekking poles. What an upgrade from the Rollator. I still use the Rollator. Going to like long plate like long time. We're going to be a long time place. I don't know about seating. Take the Rollator because I can sit but the trekking poles when we go out to any restaurants or I now use the trekking poles when we go down to any of the parks for walking around by the water. I don't use the Rollator when I'm. Wow. Yeah. I use the trekking poles now.

A (21:10)

So to me, as a physical therapist, the fact that you're able to do that tells me that your strength has improved and your balance, that the combination of those two things has given you the strength and balance and confidence where you don't need to depend on a rollator in those situations.

C (21:27)

Correct. Correct.

A (21:28)

Wow.

C (21:29)

And one other. The other added piece of this puzzle, and thanks to you, believe it or not, the cadence shoes.

A (21:40)

Yes. I feel like this comes up frequently in our missing link community, and it's.

C (21:47)

Been another game changer. Another game changer where. Okay, I'm going to go to a place that I know has multiple floorings and stay with my trekking poles because it's not going to be an issue because of my cadence sneakers.

A (22:02)

Yeah. For those that don't know. And I can include a link in the show notes as well. But the cadence sneakers, they're sneakers, but on the bottom, they have nylon pucks that allow your foot to slide.

C (22:14)

So.

A (22:15)

So normally, if you didn't have those and you have foot drop, you might notice, as Traci said earlier, your foot kind of scuffing or tripping over your own foot, and the pucks allow you to slide through. Now, of course, as a physical therapist, I just have to say that there's exercises and strategies to improve to lift your legs so that you don't scuff your foot. But that can take a while. And in the meantime, it can be helpful to have a tool that allows you to walk safely, even if you're having a phase where you are scuffing your foot on the ground. So that's. That's what cadence can help with. They also, as of right now, the nylon pucks are on the bottom of the shoe, but not the front, meaning if you are someone who walks and the literal tip of your toes is the part that's scuffing. As of right now, they wouldn't really help for that because there's not a puck right there, but they are going to be releasing soon. A. I don't know what it's made out of, but something that. Like a sticker thing that you can put on the top of your foot. Like the very front.

C (23:20)

Yeah.

A (23:21)

So that even if you do land there, you can still safely slide. So that's.

C (23:25)

The cuffs a bit are on the front. On the opposite. On the ball of the foot, just around, but the very tip. Exactly. That can scuff. But when I first started with your programs, I would get the foot drop and scuffing, and it was. It was very frightening because I was just always getting ready to fall. And the hesitation was just horrendous. Right. But the strengthening of. To ease up on that foot drop, that was insane. So I really was able to walk better with the exercises without getting the foot drop like I was getting. It was incredible.

A (24:06)

Even if you weren't using the cadence shoes, your foot drop has improved.

C (24:10)

Oh, incredible. And I only use the cadence shoes when I'm going to a, like, another place, I don't know, type thing. But I'll. I. The foot drop has improved probably 30 to 40%.

A (24:27)

Wow. That's huge.

C (24:29)

Absolutely.

A (24:30)

Oh, my gosh. Wow. So now I'm curious. Okay, so we've talked about strength, improving balance, improving foot drop, improving, confidence, improving. Can you give an example of any specific, like, daily situation that you've noticed has improved? Things like getting in or out of bed, getting dressed, getting the mail, just like these daily activities that we tend to do. Have you noticed improvements in those as well? And if so, which ones?

C (25:01)

One of the biggest ones is taking the garbage to the end of the driveway. I never did it. Once I got the balance issues and everything, I was too afraid. But once the strength improved, I'm able to. And I take my trekking poles and I put them on the. The handles of the garbage pail, and I walk down the driveway and I make sure I concentrate and make sure I'm walking properly. And I hear you. I hear you. And lift your leg, Bend it behind you. Bring your. Bend your Bentley up. Raise your, you know, raise your toes up. Put your heel down. Put your toes down. And I hear you as I do it. I take the garbage down to the end of the driveway, and now I don't have the garbage pail to hang on to anymore. I have my trekking poles, and I walk right up the driveway. Heel, toe. And I never could do that before, and I can do it now. I can do it. I can go to my neighbor's house and just go, say hi, walk over to the neighbors with. Yeah, because I'm not afraid of the foot drop and falling. Wow.

A (26:15)

So it's really opening up your life in lots of different ways. You're doing more. It sounds to me like you're not. Not that you are isolating yourself before, but you're not isolating yourself in those specific situations as much because you can go to the end of the driveway, go over to your neighbors.

C (26:34)

Right. Oh, and I have one thing I forgot. I apologize. Driving. I used to only do, you know, quick little driving to the store, but now I'm driving on the highway because I can raise my right foot. I can lift it up and move it to the brake without, you know, just putting my hand under my thigh to make sure that. Just out of fear, to make sure I do it. I don't have to do that anymore. My foot, I can go from the brake to the gas pedal. It just. It's opened up a whole new world that I felt lost.

A (27:08)

Yeah. I can feel my heart racing right now just because I feel so excited for you and, like, hearing all these improvements. The other screenshot that I mentioned that I wanted to point out because it's just so relatable. And this was actually just maybe two weeks or so ago. So you said. I have a confession. I haven't done a blasted thing for a week. I just finished the total strength knee day, day one exercises, which is for those that don't know. It's one of the calendars that we have inside the Missing Link. If you're working towards strengthening your hips and knees, it tells you exactly what exercises to do each day. So you said you just finished day one of that. It felt great. And the difference in not doing anything to doing something is night and day. It really makes a difference. Not only crazy physical improvement, but mentally. And I just wanted to share that too, because it's so relatable. Like, we would all love to think that you. You joined the Missing Link and you just stayed on track and you did every single day. And that's why you're seeing these results. But we all go through times, for whatever reason, where we stop exercising. And I love hearing that you. You did stop for a bit, but you're still seeing these improvements and you're still feel. Feeling that motivation.

C (28:20)

Yes, the. I like to say life got in the way. Yes. Life got in the way. And I. For a week, I really. I didn't do any of my exercises, any of the program. And like I said, the knee. The knee strengthening. Never mind the fact that physically felt like I was able to move better. The mental improvement of you did something and you made. You're trying to make a difference. The mental improvement was insane. From not doing anything to. I have. I did something. Yeah.

A (28:57)

And then did you. Did that motivate you enough where you're like, okay, I'm back in it. You started exercising every day since then, or what has life looked like since then?

C (29:07)

Yes, every since then. I was like, okay, you need. You need to stop being. You need to stop moping and get back on the swing. And I've been doing that and then getting back into the calendar exercises in the missing link for each day, doing those, going through those. And occasionally what I'll do is I'll watch, which I found you do pool exercises where you were in the pool showing how to do the exercises, and I'll go to the pool and do the exercises. And yet you can think, okay. Also I have to do is the same thing that you do without the pool, but without seeing it. You're not quite sure with you being in that pool. I can do this now I know how to do it.

A (29:56)

Yeah. It's like we're in the pool together doing it together.

C (29:58)

Yes. But seeing you do the exercise to be able to understand. Okay, I know it's almost the same as on land, but now it's in the water. Okay, I can do this now I know how.

A (30:13)

Yes. Amazing. And that's one thing I really personally love about the program, is that even though it's virtual, it does feel like we're together, whether it's me and you exercising or even the community. I like to say that I feel like the Facebook community that we have just feels like a big hug. It feels like we're an actual community NP like you. You're able to share your struggles, your wins when you didn't exercise. And I think there was, Let me see, there was a ton of comments on that one. I can't see it right now. There were a ton of comments of people saying, oh my gosh, me too. Like, I hear you. And they were thanking you for sharing that.

C (30:50)

Yes, it was, it was incredible. And then the, I guess more or less a lot of the people gave permission to. You can by all means not do a blasted thing for an amount of time. Getting the permission. It sounds strange, but someone said, that's okay. You are more than entitled to not do a blasted thing for that timeframe, but don't wallow in it.

A (31:20)

Yeah. So powerful. So a lot of people with Ms. Either are currently in or have been in the same position that you mentioned you were in prior to even just starting the free 5 day Ms. Strength challenge. If you could go back and give advice to that version of you with mobility limitations, constantly holding onto your husband, poor balance, foot drop, you name it. If you could go back and give that version of you advice, what would you say?

C (31:54)

I would say that yes, in some cases, physical therapy is wonderful, traditional physical therapy, but with having ms, it is not how you do it. It doesn't work. It doesn't give you any real improvement or hope that it can get better. Is the biggest thing I can take away from the past trials with physical therapy. And there was a lot, and it was just very defeatist. It nothing was working right.

A (32:30)

And what would you say to others that might be in a similar position to you prior to starting all of this to know what might be possible for them?

C (32:42)

I found that the inner ability to know you can make a difference no matter how small. And just every little improvement, I don't care what the improvement is. Celebrate every little win from. I couldn't raise my foot when I was standing. I couldn't raise my toes off the ground. I've got about 2 1/2 inches now that I can raise my foot, my right toes up. That I couldn't. I couldn't do for a couple of years. A couple of years just standing. The possibilities are endless. And you need to just try. Just try. And exactly what Dr. Gretchen says, you have to just try. And it doesn't have to be a, okay, I was able to do this movement. No, you tried and you felt like you tried and feeling that try that you hadn't done in however long is the win. And you're like, wow, I did feel something. I didn't do anything, but I felt what she was saying. It's huge. It's huge.

A (34:00)

So powerful. I love that. Thank you so much for being vulnerable enough to share your story with us and your experience thus far. If anyone listening is like, well, I want to follow Tracy's plan. Tell me exactly what she did. Then we will put the links for. For the free five day challenge, the total strength challenge, and the missing link in the show notes so you can see exactly the steps that she took if you want to follow those as well. And because we talked about them, I'll also put the link for the Cadence sneakers. They are really cool if you haven't heard about them. So I will put that in the show notes as well. But, Tracy, thank you again. Again, I've been so excited for you to share your story because it's so relatable from where you started, but also now the progress that you're seeing, it gives so much hope. And the thing about the progress that you've seen is that we see a lot of this in the missing link. It's not like you're the only one, which I think is amazing because a lot of people can feel like, well, that's great for Tracy, but It's not going to happen for me. But results like this are common and it is possible for others as well.

C (35:10)

Absolutely. Just have to even. Like I said, the smallest win is a win and you've got to celebrate it. You've got to sell it. It's a different world having Ms. Now from what we knew before. But you've got to find a way to, okay, I'm going to live in this new world and I'm going to make it happen no matter what that is.

A (35:32)

Yes. And I think that truly makes such a big difference because that celebration and that awareness, I think, is what can keep you motivated, especially on those harder days or if life gets in the way, it's what can help you dive back in and not, as you said earlier, not kind of wallow in that low and stay there.

C (35:51)

Yes. And I was a paramedic in New York for 35 years on the ambulance. Wow. And to go from. And, you know, four hours of Zumba a week and just all go, no quit to wait a minute. I can't walk across the parking lot without holding the hand or holding up, touching cars. To go from. It's a different world, but the world is still fantastic. Just, you have to just. It's like learning, learning a new world and. Right. I don't know how to explain it to people. It's. I don't know how to say it because I know that people get very. It's very defeating. It's very depressing to go from everything to, okay, this is a brand new world. What do I do now? You have to find the joy in that new world. And I guess maybe I've always been a happy, happy, joy, joy person, but to find the new, okay, this is going to be the new normal. Let's have at it. I don't know how to explain it to somebody. I don't know how to explain it well.

A (37:02)

And it's hard, too, because Ms. Is so different for everyone. And not only that, but each individual has their own personality. And, you know, one might be more positive than the other, but still it's. I think you hit the nail on the head of a new normal and acknowledging that and moving forward with it.

C (37:20)

Right. It's not easy, but it is so doable. And the hope you give to do that, even if you're not seeing progress right away, the hope that this can work, could work, is immeasurable.

A (37:39)

Yeah. I'm so happy to hear that.

C (37:43)

Awesome.

A (37:43)

I feel like that's a perfect ending. Well, thank you again, Traci. I really appreciate you being here with us and sharing your story.

C (37:49)

Dr. Gretchen, thank you so much. And thank you for everything you do.

A (37:53)

Oh my gosh, it's my honor. Thank you for listening to today's show. I am so grateful to have you as a listener.

B (38:06)

If you'd like extra resources, such as a video of one of my seated exercise classes, my favorite core exercises, and the opportunity to ask me your questions, head to missinglink.com insider. That link will be shared in the show notes along with links to my social media handles. If you loved this episode and think a friend or family member with Ms. Would benefit from listening, please go ahead and text or email this podcast to them right now. Sharing this podcast will help me educate and improve, empower as many Ms. Warriors as possible. Thanks again for joining and be sure to tune in next week for another episode of the Missing Link podcast.