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TODAY IS WORLD M-S DAY... A DAY DEDICATED TO BRINGING GLOBAL AWARENESS ABOUT THOSE AFFECTED
WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS... AND A WAY TO CAMPAIGN TO FIND A CURE FOR OVER TWO MILLION PEOPLE
AFFECTED BY THE DISEASE.
WE NOW INTRODUCE YOU TO ONE CASPER MAN WHO WIELDS HIS ILLNESS TO INSPIRE OTHERS.
"Drill Bit, yes!"
AARON DIERKS WAS FIRST DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS WHEN HE WAS 28... BUT WHEN HE HAD
HIS FIRST SYMPTOMS OF HEADACHES AND ABDOMINAL PAIN... DOCTORS COULDN'T PUT THEIR FINGER
ON IT.
"They didn't have the knowledge or the professionals in order to pinpoint exactly what it was."
THE DISEASE ATTACKS THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, TRIGGERING DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS FOR EACH PATIENT.
"A patient who ends up being diagnosed with MS might come in with a number of complaints
that are hard to put together sometimes. We've made some advances as far as figuring out
who has MS which is important because the earlier you start treatment the better off
you are."
WITH 13-HUNDRED CASES IN THE STATE... WYOMING HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATES FOR M-S IN THE
NATION...
"People at our latitude and higher seem to get less sunshine exposure over the course
of their lives, and so because of that we also have lower vitamin D levels... so there's
an emerging theory that vitamin d levels may have something to do with MS."
M-S HAS HINDERED AARON'S BALANCE AND ABILITY TO WALK.
"I don't do stairs anymore I don't I will if I have to but I don't want to... Only because
I've fallen down them a bit."
A BIG LIFESTYLE CHANGE FOR AARON TO DEAL WITH.
"I did a lot of things before, i climbed my first fourteener in Colorado before i was
diagnosed... Am I gonna be able to do that again?"
A QUESTION M-S SOCIETIES WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER... AND SINCE WORLD M-S DAY IS ALL ABOUT CONNECTING
THOSE WHO LIVE WITH M-S TO SHARE THEIR MESSAGE... AARON TRIES TO SHARE HIS WITH A SMILE.
"I look at it more as a tool that God is using to point others to Christ. And by being able
to be that tool it keeps me going."
A MESSAGE THAT HELPED AARON EARN HIS NICKNAME.
"Aaron "Drill Bit" Dierks"
AARON SAYS HE REMAINS HOPEFUL DOCTORS WILL SOON FIND A CURE SO HE CAN, ONCE AGAIN, CLIMB
A FOURTEENER.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WORLD M-S DAY, YOU CAN HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE KCWY13.COM
AND FIND THE "M-S QUICKLINK."