Minnesota Medical Foundation Diamond Awards

 Every January the Minnesota Medical Foundation hosts the awards dinner for the Minnesota Twins Baseball team. At this event, a patient is featured to put a face to their cause. The University of Minnesota Medical Foundation supports patients with Multiple Sclerosis, Ataxia, ALS, Muscular Dystrophy, and Parkinson's Disease. In October 2012, my neurologist called me asking If I would be interested in being

My family with Joe Mauer

My family with Dick Bremer

that featured patient at the event. I eagerly accepted, and soon met with the organization to create a video to share at the event.
(click the link to watch the Minnesota Medical Foundation video)

 The event took place at Target Field in January 2013. My family enjoyed meeting many of the baseball players (including Joe Mauer) before the event started, and then the event officially started.

Approximately an hour into the program, the video begun to play. My dad and I started heading towards the stage, with cameras following us the whole way up. As the video ended, I walked to the podium, introduced myself and my dad, and the two of us shared our story as well as thanked the crowd for their support. 

"Emily

 Hi everyone, my name is Emily Blosberg and this is my dad, Dean. My mom, Andrea, my sister Jessica, and our foreign exchange student, Saskia, are also here this evening. 

 Multiple sclerosis has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. I honestly don’t remember a time in my life when it wasn’t a part of our family. And, now today, it is impossible to ignore. I was a kid whose dad had MS. At a very young age, I began to volunteer for the MS Society to help bring

awareness to this horrible disease. As a pre-schooler, I cheered at the finish line as bikers completed the 150 mile tour from Duluth to the Twin Cities. My duties expanded as I grew and I knew I was a part of a unique group of people. But then, just over a year ago this group became a little more personal as I was diagnosed myself. 

Dean 

 As a dad, there is nothing worse than hearing your child has been diagnosed with a life-long condition that will impact every part of his or her life. I knew better than anyone else, what that would mean for her and it was a crushing feeling. 

While MS is very common here in the upper-Midwest among adults, it is not common for children likeEmily to be diagnosed. Andrea and I wanted the best care for Emily so we sought out the doctors the University of Minnesota. My care team is at the University of Minnesota and because of this, we never considered anywhere else for Emily. 

In addition to Dr. Adam Carpenter, who you saw in the video just a few moments ago, we are grateful to another doctor at the University – Dr. Peter Karachunski. It is Dr. Karachunski who compassionately spent over a year with us - trying to decipher her strange symptoms - and who later confirmed Emily’s MS diagnosis. As you heard in the video, when Emily first saw her scans, she knew she had Multiple Sclerosis. Emily had seen my scans before, so she knew what the brain looks like when MS has moved in. Truly wanting the best care for Emily and knowing his own specialty was not MS, Dr. Karachunski contacted Dr. Carpenter as he read Emily’s MRI results. Before he called us, he wanted to have options in

place and a capable colleague to continue the care for our daughter. 

Emily is, by all accounts, a remarkable and inspiring young woman. Pain is a part of her daily routine, as is a debilitating fatigue. Armed with a finite amount of energy each day, she must often choose between school and friends. She has become a remarkable advocate for herself and others with chronic illnesses. Her doctors and therapists at the University of Minnesota have helped to empower her to reach out, educate, and lead in a way not typical of most teenagers.

We both have a team of individuals who are helping us cope and live with MS – yes, we DO LIVE, with MS. We enjoy our family and friends and our children we have hosted from overseas. Most importantly, our family has hope for better treatments and we are certain that a cure will be found. (No pressure) :) 

Emily 

My dad and I have MS, but it doesn’t define who we are. We enjoy every part of our lives, although maybe at a slower pace than many of you and we, too, like the cooler spring temperatures in Florida, as those with MS don’t tolerate heat very well. Thanks to the dollars directed to clinical care and research at the University of Minnesota, our quality of life will continue to increase. (No pressure from me either!)  

I will not go to school tomorrow. I will be too tired from this evening. However, my family and I thought that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I have never been shy to stand up in front of a crowd and I especially wanted to share our story with you so you could join our fight. It is my personal mission to educate as many as I can about MS and to advocate for others with chronic and debilitating diseases.

As a way to spread my word and as hand therapy for nerve trouble in my hands, I make sock monkeys. I sell them at craft shows and by word of mouth and I donated one for the silent auction this evening. Over time, the monkeys have kind of become my logo or symbol. Along with my sock monkeys, I also make monkey pins. My family and I are going to hand out my pins at the end of this event—please take one if you’d like to Link Together to fight MS.

While our scientists and doctors have made progress, there is still so much to be done and many miles to go before we can declare victory on ALS, ataxia, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, or multiple sclerosis, and I DO believe that the University of Minnesota is the best organization to lead this collected effort. 

We are grateful for your time this evening and ask that you consider making a gift right now to drive this fight against, not just multiple sclerosis, but ataxia, ALS, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease as well. 

Thank you!" 

Upon finishing our speech, one person stood up to give us a standing ovation- others followed, until

eventually the entire room was standing. My dad and I received one of the two standing ovations of the

night! What a fantastic feeling! 

Having the opportunity to share my story again was wonderful.