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Barbara Sullivan-Roehrig,
Denver, CO
Barbara Roehrig, 39, of Denver, CO, will use her Betaseron Champions of Courage grant to support a series of monthly wellness programs and a CD of guided meditations called Coping Well. Roehrig founded Coping Well in 2003 to provide a way for people with MS to receive useful information on a monthly basis to help them cope more effectively with their disease. Each session includes a guided meditation followed by a guest speaker who is a healthcare practitioner and experienced in a specific approach to helping people with MS. Lecturers have included a registered nurse from the Rocky Mountain MS Center, a speech/language pathologist, a physical therapist and a nutritionist, among others.
Roehrig was a triathlete in excellent physical condition when she was diagnosed with MS in 1992. At first, she had difficulty accepting her diagnosis and tried to hide it from everyone except her closest family members. As her disease progressed, however, she realized that she could no longer conceal her condition. When the demands of her executive-level marketing job began to compromise her health, she decided to leave the corporate world and start her own marketing firm. Today, her business is thriving, and she is happily married with a three-year-old son. She is proud of how she has learned to cope with MS.
“I have become much better at accepting a condition that I cannot control and trusting in therapies that have proven effective,” says Roehrig. “I prefer to focus on the positive side of how MS has affected my life. Most importantly, I want my son to see me as someone who overcomes challenges with grace.”
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