Barbara's Main Page
Barbara Sullivan-Roehrig,
Denver, CO
When Barbara Sullivan Roehrig was diagnosed with MS at age 27, she hid her disease from everyone except her closest family members. The higher she climbed up the corporate ladder, the more reluctant she became about sharing her disease.
As her MS progressed, however, she could no longer hide her condition. When the demands of her executive-level marketing job in the telecommunications industry began to compromise her health, and she made a courageous decision to leave the corporate world and start her own marketing firm. Today, her firm is thriving, serving major technology and communications companies worldwide.
Barbara’s ability to adapt to her diminishing physical abilities is helping her to continue to enjoy life. Before MS, Barbara was a triathlete. Unable to run anymore, she instead finds enjoyment from working out regularly on exercise equipment in her basement. When Barbara could no longer play the piano to the extent that she wanted to, a past time she had enjoyed since childhood, she kept music in her life by volunteering with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, serving as Vice President of Marketing, on the Board of Governors and the Executive League. In March of 2000, she was honored to receive the Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award.
And rather than give up on a lifelong dream of going on an African Safari, Barbara pursued an opportunity to participate in an adaptive African Safari being organized specifically for people with MS. The trip offered relief from the African heat and allowed plenty of time for rest. She received a Betaseron Champions of Courage grant to help defray the cost of the trip.
She is proud of how she learned to cope with the disease. "I have become much better at accepting a condition that I cannot control and trusting in therapies that have proven effective," says Barbara. "And, I got to go on a world-class adventure!"
You can read a transcript of a live chat with Barbara about her safari adventure at www.msworld.org.
Update:
December 2001: Barbara and her husband Chip are the proud parents of Charles Burns Roehrig III (born in December 2001).
- Updated 1/2/03
