
For over a year, one of the anchors of the Sunday lineup for MS & Me Radio Network has been A Couple Takes On MS with hosts Dan and Jennifer Digmann. Each week they bring listeners along on their journey living with multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. Eventually, the disease can cause the nerves themselves to deteriorate or become permanently damaged.
Jennifer was diagnosed when she was 23 years old, and by the time she met Dan in 2002 had secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). SPMS follows an initial relapsing-remitting course. Most people who are diagnosed with RRMS will eventually transition to a secondary progressive course in which there is a progressive worsening of neurologic function (accumulation of disability) over time. Dan had been diagnosed with what’s called relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) two years before he and Jennifer met, which means he has episodes of new or worsening symptoms followed by periods of recovery.
On Sunday, June 29th, A Couple Takes On MS will feature their episode “Gone Fishin’”. Their quest to find an accessible place for Jennifer to fish on a boat, despite her wheelchair, is also chronicled in their latest blog post on their website.
A Couple Takes On MS airs Sundays at 5:30pm EST online at msandme.airtime.pro. You can listen to past episodes with their playlist on our YouTube channel.