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Join Team Jillian and Help Those Living With MS GET BETTER · The iHeart SoCal Show

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  Speaker 1: Please the Foxer. This is the iHeart so Cal's Show.
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  Speaker 1: Did you know that you have the power to help
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  Speaker 1: change the world for people living with multiple sclerosis at
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  Speaker 1: the MS Walk happening very soon Sunday, marchway ninth, at
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  Speaker 1: the Rose Bowl. Yes, you do, And we know this
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  Speaker 1: because we know this to be true because my dear friend,
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  Speaker 1: my coworker who's been here at I Hurrido for a
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  Speaker 1: very long time now, my sista, Gillian Escoto Ong is
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  Speaker 1: living proof that those suffering with MS can benefit benefit
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  Speaker 1: tremendously from the walk and the funds raised at the
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  Speaker 1: walk because it helps fuel all the incredible work being
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  Speaker 1: done by the MS Society. And every year our team
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  Speaker 1: gets bigger and bigger Team Jillian, and we want everyone
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  Speaker 1: to join us out there for the Big Walk and
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  Speaker 1: help make a difference.
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  Speaker 2: Hi Jillian, Hi, how are you? Lisa? So good?
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  Speaker 1: I can't believe it's already walk time already.
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  Speaker 3: And I feel like every year it just gets bigger
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  Speaker 3: and bigger. Like you said, we're hoping that this year
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  Speaker 3: is the biggest Team Jillian year. But this is our
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  Speaker 3: nineteenth walk.
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  Speaker 1: Ee oh my god.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, crazy, and.
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  Speaker 1: It's crazy to be excited about it because you have
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  Speaker 1: been living with this disease for about that long, and
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  Speaker 1: this day just brings together so many people. I mean, right,
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  Speaker 1: it's your whole family, you and your husband's family, your
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  Speaker 1: radio family, us and our families, all of our incredible
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio listeners and even total complete strangers that hear about
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  Speaker 1: on the radio and want to come out and support
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  Speaker 1: and just be wonderful. I mean, so many people who
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  Speaker 1: who have MS will also be there, including you and
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  Speaker 1: their support systems. And it's just thousands and thousands of
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  Speaker 1: people that come together for the annual MS Walk at
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  Speaker 1: the Rose Bowl next Sunday, and I just feel like
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  Speaker 1: the love is so palpable.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so true. And multiple sclerosis affects every individual
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  Speaker 3: completely different. It's like no two people have the exact
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  Speaker 3: same symptoms or the exact same story. So when we
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  Speaker 3: go to the walk and we see everybody that's wearing
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  Speaker 3: you know that I have MS shirt or you know
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  Speaker 3: sometimes we have like the different colored circles that we
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  Speaker 3: hold up during the opening ceremony, which is just so moving.
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  Speaker 3: You see the people with MS, the people that are
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  Speaker 3: family members and friends of someone with MS, and so
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  Speaker 3: you find the people that have this disease like you do,
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  Speaker 3: and this condition, and you see how it affects everybody
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  Speaker 3: so differently. But on that day, we're all the same,
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  Speaker 3: like we are all there. We have all these people
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  Speaker 3: that are there to support us and who want that
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  Speaker 3: common goal of being able to find a cure for
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  Speaker 3: multiple sclerosis. So it's just a very inspiring, very encouraging day.
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  Speaker 1: So let's talk about it. Multiple sclerosis MS is a chronic,
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  Speaker 1: often disabling, autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that's
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  Speaker 1: your brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. The immune system
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  Speaker 1: abnormally attacks this certain area and the protective coating of
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  Speaker 1: the nerve fibers, which leads to inflammation, scarring, and communication
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  Speaker 1: breakdown between your brain and the body. It's a lot
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  Speaker 1: and almost a million people ly online and million adults
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  Speaker 1: in the US are living with MS, and that's about
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  Speaker 1: three and one thousand individuals and mostly diagnosed between the
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  Speaker 1: ages of twenty and fifty.
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  Speaker 3: That sounds right. Yeah. I was diagnosed and I was
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  Speaker 3: twenty three, and at that time I didn't know anyone
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  Speaker 3: with MS. That was I had heard of it, I
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  Speaker 3: didn't know exactly what it was, but I didn't have
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  Speaker 3: any friends or family members or anybody that had it,
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  Speaker 3: And luckily the National MS Society was there to then
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  Speaker 3: give me all the resources I needed so I could
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  Speaker 3: learn about the disease, so I could find out about
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  Speaker 3: events like walk MS. And when I was diagnosed, my
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  Speaker 3: mom and I saw that the walk was coming up
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  Speaker 3: at the Rose Bowl and we thought like, okay, well
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  Speaker 3: we can start a team. You know, it's a couple
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  Speaker 3: weeks away, but let's just try it. And oh my gosh,
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  Speaker 3: the turnout like family, co workers, friends from college, like
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  Speaker 3: everybody showed up and everybody was really learning about multiple
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  Speaker 3: clurosis at that time. And then we've had people that
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  Speaker 3: have been a part of Team Jillian since that first year. Yeah, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: all the way every year, you know, and then back
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  Speaker 3: back again on the twenty ninth for another another walk.
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  Speaker 1: Another walk, and even people who used to work at
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  Speaker 1: the radio station and have moved on and don't even
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  Speaker 1: like live in the area anymore, live far away, like
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  Speaker 1: they always the same people write IRMA and some of
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  Speaker 1: the same people come back for a year.
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  Speaker 2: So sweet, so nice.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, And that's a great thing too about walk MS
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  Speaker 3: is there's so many different events like in every city
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  Speaker 3: across the country, but also too, you can be a
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  Speaker 3: virtual walker, So if you can't make it to the
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  Speaker 3: Rose Bowl or you can't make it to the event
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  Speaker 3: near where you live, you can be a virtual walker,
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  Speaker 3: still join the team, still raise money. And then we've
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  Speaker 3: had people that you know walk around the neighborhood or
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  Speaker 3: go to the gym and they're on the treadmill and
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  Speaker 3: they're still a part of Team Jillians. So there there's
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  Speaker 3: all kinds of different ways to support the society.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so let's see and the website for all the
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  Speaker 1: information and to get signed up for our team. Does
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  Speaker 1: it cost anything or we just donate what we can
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  Speaker 1: right when you go to walkms dot org. Yeah, totally free.
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  Speaker 1: Walkms dot org. Walkms dot org. Although Team Jillian does
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  Speaker 1: some pretty decent fundraising over the years, we do pretty good, right,
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  Speaker 1: we sure do.
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  Speaker 3: We definitely raise over ten thousand every year, which is incredible,
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  Speaker 3: so great, and.
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  Speaker 1: We'll talk about where that money goes and how the
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  Speaker 1: MS Society supports people living with MS. I know you
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  Speaker 1: have a lot of rough days, you can touch on that,
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  Speaker 1: but you've had some good success with the changes of
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  Speaker 1: medications and things so touch on how your condition has
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  Speaker 1: changed over the past nineteen years from the earlier days
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  Speaker 1: when you didn't even know you had it until you
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  Speaker 1: got the right examination per se, and then you know
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  Speaker 1: how things have kind of progressed over the years for you.
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  Speaker 1: Because I feel like it's always important to share when
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  Speaker 1: positive strides are made with some of these conditions and
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  Speaker 1: diseases that people are dealing with.
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  Speaker 3: When I was first diagnosed, they saw lesions on my
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  Speaker 3: brain and spinal cord, and that's a real, a real
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  Speaker 3: big sign. When patients go in for MRIs, you know
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  Speaker 3: their doctors looking for lesions. Of course they're from what
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  Speaker 3: I understand too, there's all these different symptoms too, and
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  Speaker 3: all these different kinds of tests that can lead doctors
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  Speaker 3: towards an MS diagnosis. With me, I had lesions on
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  Speaker 3: both brain and spinal cord. But then fast forward to today.
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  Speaker 3: My neurologist I loved when she told me, like, your
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  Speaker 3: MS is very quiet, which is wonderful because my brain
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  Speaker 3: is looking really good. I do have lesions on my
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  Speaker 3: spinal cord, but my brain scans have improved, which I
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  Speaker 3: didn't even know that they could. I thought that once
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  Speaker 3: you had the lesions they were there, but from what
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  Speaker 3: my doctor has said, like with my personal experience, my
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  Speaker 3: brain has improved, the scans have improved. So like for
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  Speaker 3: me specifically, I've always been able to walk. I've always
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  Speaker 3: been able to move. There are some days, like on
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  Speaker 3: the crummy days where it affects my right side mostly
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  Speaker 3: so there will be days when my right leg is
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  Speaker 3: a lot weaker than normal, really numb and tingling. Sometimes
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  Speaker 3: I always will say to my husband like, oh, I
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  Speaker 3: have the ghost legs. Like I feel like my my
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  Speaker 3: right leg is completely gone. I don't really feel anything
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  Speaker 3: from the waist down. Wow. A lot of numbness, a
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  Speaker 3: lot of tingling. For me too, it's the fatigue. It
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  Speaker 3: is not just oh I have to take a nap.
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  Speaker 3: It is if I don't lay down on the floor
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  Speaker 3: right now and close my eyes, I don't know how
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  Speaker 3: I can take another step. It's just extreme fatigue. There's
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  Speaker 3: also like with me, I'm so itchy that I can
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  Speaker 3: have days where I'm super super itchy, or my joints hurt.
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  Speaker 3: There's I'm so numb that it's painful. It's like it's
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  Speaker 3: different every day and for some people too. You see
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  Speaker 3: people at the walk in wheelchairs with walkers. You know,
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  Speaker 3: it can Like Christina Applegate, you know she has it,
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  Speaker 3: oh so rough?
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  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and she's been so vocal about how much
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  Speaker 1: she she hates having it. Yeah she's got it better,
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  Speaker 1: but you know, she'd been vocal about it on podcasts,
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  Speaker 1: on her social media kind of like sharing her story too.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, she's she's bringing awareness to multiple sclerosis. And you know,
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  Speaker 3: someone who may have been like me when they're first
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  Speaker 3: diagnosed and they don't know anybody with MS, you see
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  Speaker 3: this big star talking about it, and you feel so
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  Speaker 3: less alone knowing even though they don't have the same
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  Speaker 3: exact symptoms that you do. It's like, okay, wow, she
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  Speaker 3: has MS. He has MS. I'm so not alone, which
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  Speaker 3: can do wonders for you.
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  Speaker 1: And just in the nineteen years that you've had it though,
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  Speaker 1: you've also seen medications and treatments improve.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Yeah. When I was first diagnosed, I was put
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  Speaker 3: on a medication that was a shot every single day,
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  Speaker 3: and it would like rotate around my body, so like
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  Speaker 3: one day be the arm, the next day is my hip,
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  Speaker 3: the next day my fault.
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  Speaker 1: Have to do the shot.
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  Speaker 2: You have to give it to yourself, right, yes, yeah, yes,
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  Speaker 2: so I could do it for you, but I was
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  Speaker 2: able to do it to myself, and that it takes
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  Speaker 2: its toll on you, Like I remember emotionally just thinking like,
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  Speaker 2: oh my gosh, this going to be the rest of
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  Speaker 2: my life.
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  Speaker 3: Myself is not. Yeah, but luckily we've come so far
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  Speaker 3: and now they have pills that you can take, they
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  Speaker 3: have infusions that you do twice a year, and they
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  Speaker 3: just have all these different breakthroughs and different medications that
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  Speaker 3: are specifically for the patient. Where before it was like
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  Speaker 3: you've got this, this and this this is what you're
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  Speaker 3: going to be put on. But now they're able to
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  Speaker 3: say like, Okay, I think you'd be better on this treatment,
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  Speaker 3: or you be better on this medication, and it's kind
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  Speaker 3: of tailored to the individual. And there's so many other
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  Speaker 3: medications and different diets and different exercises that can help
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  Speaker 3: with the different symptoms that we experience every day, which
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  Speaker 3: has been such a help as well.
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, and that's going to make you feel so
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  Speaker 1: hopeful too for like what's to come, what's coming down
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  Speaker 1: the pike. And you know, the MS society does so
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  Speaker 1: much to invest millions into your research of course, and
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  Speaker 1: the cause, what causes this and some people they give
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  Speaker 1: so much money to help develop, you know, better treatments,
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  Speaker 1: better medications, and of course one day hopefully a cure.
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  Speaker 1: And I see on the MS Society website, which you
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  Speaker 1: can easily access from WALKMS dot org walkms dot org,
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  Speaker 1: they're talking about the the MS navigators. What's that about?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, so this is amazing. It's when you get diagnosed
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  Speaker 3: or maybe even you want to just learn more or
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  Speaker 3: just have someone to talk to. The National MS Society
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  Speaker 3: has MS navigators and they are there to give you
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  Speaker 3: what you need, whether it's information, whether it's connecting you
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  Speaker 3: to support groups in your area, whether it's just someone
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  Speaker 3: to talk to. I know that on their website they
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  Speaker 3: have a chat feature where you can just you know,
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  Speaker 3: you can chat with someone online and they can point
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  Speaker 3: you in the right direction. They also have the I
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  Speaker 3: believe it's called like the MS friend, and that's they
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  Speaker 3: connect you with someone who has MS and they've been
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  Speaker 3: trained to kind of help you emotionally, you know, deal
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  Speaker 3: with everything. So the MS Society just wants to make
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  Speaker 3: sure that you have a friend, you feel like you
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  Speaker 3: have a friend to go on this journey with and
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  Speaker 3: whatever questions you may have of they want, they want
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  Speaker 3: to help you navigate that.
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  Speaker 1: So many ways that the MS Society supports those living
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  Speaker 1: with MS. A wealth of information right there on their website,
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  Speaker 1: and hey, this is where all the money's going. That
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna raise a walk MS next Sun of the
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  Speaker 1: twenty ninth, right there at the Rose Bowl. Hope that
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  Speaker 1: you're going to join us team, Jillian. But so many
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  Speaker 1: ways that they help people living with this condition, living
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  Speaker 1: with this disease. And I know, Jill, sometimes it's warm
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  Speaker 1: on walk days. Some of your talk about some of
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  Speaker 1: your triggers. I know it's it's tough. It makes your
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  Speaker 1: whole body flow up sometimes, right, Heat I know is
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  Speaker 1: one of your triggers. And stress, stress.
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  Speaker 3: Heat stress, And then I mine is alcohol. Like I know,
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  Speaker 3: some people with MS can tolerate it. I cannot whatsoever.
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  Speaker 3: And before I was diagnosed, you know, I would go
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  Speaker 3: out and I'd have a cocktail and I couldn't feel
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  Speaker 3: my legs. The room was spinning like just after just
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  Speaker 3: a couple six you didn't know. I had no idea,
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  Speaker 3: And everybody be like, oh, Jill, she's such a lightweight. No,
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  Speaker 3: I had no idea this, I just that was one
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  Speaker 3: of the triggers for me with with my MS, So
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  Speaker 3: I don't drink sugar is a big thing for me.
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  Speaker 3: I know that I've heard some other people with that
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  Speaker 3: as well. Just having any type of sugar, My face
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  Speaker 3: will go numb, my legs will go numb. Yeah, there's
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  Speaker 3: just all kinds of things that you would you would
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  Speaker 3: never think. I remember our first walk that we did.
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  Speaker 3: It was super super hot at the Rose Bowl, and
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  Speaker 3: as the day went on, I just kept feeling more
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  Speaker 3: and more sick. And I had no idea that heat
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  Speaker 3: would affect me in that way. Yeah. Yeah, So that's
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  Speaker 3: one of the things too. You know a lot of
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  Speaker 3: people are affected by heat with MS, and the MS
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  Speaker 3: Society with donations they can help. You know, if you
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  Speaker 3: live somewhere you don't have air conditioning, the donations can
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  Speaker 3: help a patient with MS get an air conditioner or
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  Speaker 3: a fan or something put in their house. There's ways
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  Speaker 3: to like help their homes be more wheelchair accessible. Like,
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  Speaker 3: they want to make sure that everyone living with MS
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  Speaker 3: can have the best life possible, no matter what the
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  Speaker 3: circumstances are, no matter what your symptoms are, your quality
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  Speaker 3: of life can be so much better.
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  Speaker 1: Hopefully and obviously as the biggest organization supporting those with MS.
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  Speaker 1: That's why we're all about this walk so you can
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  Speaker 1: see in person how much love people have for Jillian
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  Speaker 1: and people with MS, because thousands and thousands will be
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  Speaker 1: at the Rose Bowl next Sunday on the twenty ninth,
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  Speaker 1: and positive vibe, people coming together, people supporting and don't
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  Speaker 1: whenever you can, So when you fils join our Team
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  Speaker 1: Team Jillian at WOKMS dot org give whatever you can
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  Speaker 1: ten bucks, twenty bucks, fifty bucks, anything is greatly appreciated
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  Speaker 1: and obviously going directly to help people affected by this disease,
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  Speaker 1: but just nice to see so many people in person
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  Speaker 1: showing that love. Jill's down for hugs. They'll be lyne
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  Speaker 1: to hug her and say I love you and I
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  Speaker 1: support you and I'm here to do anything I can.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it seems to get bigger every year. And all
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  Speaker 3: the different shirts, the team shirts, and you know, all
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  Speaker 3: the different colors and everybody cheering and you know, getting
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  Speaker 3: a metal at the end when you cross the finish line,
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  Speaker 3: and it's just such a positive day, just filled with
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  Speaker 3: a lot of hope.
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  Speaker 1: And if you sign up and walk with Team Gillian,
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  Speaker 1: you will get a super cool Teamjillian t shirt when
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  Speaker 1: you look at the banner and come by and find
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  Speaker 1: us and say hello and give her that hug.
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  Speaker 3: Everybody will get a Team Jillian shirt, whether you just
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  Speaker 3: register and you're spreading awareness by posting about it, whether
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  Speaker 3: you donate, whatever you're doing, everyone on Team Jillian will
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  Speaker 3: definitely get a Team Jillian shirt.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we love you and we can't wait to see why.
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  Speaker 1: I see you pretty much every day at work, but
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  Speaker 1: can't wait to see you with the masses and all
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  Speaker 1: that love and support. And please join our Team Jillian
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: in honor of Jillian Escoto on as super easy to
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  Speaker 1: do walkims dot org, walkomes dot organ, just a search
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  Speaker 1: for Team Jillian sign up. You'll see all our names
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  Speaker 1: on there and we'll meet out there for a very
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  Speaker 1: inspiring day filled with love for those living with MS.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, next Sunday, the twenty ninth, at the Rose Bowl,
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  Speaker 1: we'll see out there. Go Team Jillian. Love you girl.
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  Speaker 3: Good wait