MS Mom Defies Odds Via Workouts, Bodybuilding

There are about 10,000 people living in Maryland with multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system. The cause is unknown and the disease is unpredictable. From numbness to paralysis, different MS patients suffer different symptoms.

Working out often isn't something you would expect from a person who has MS, but for sufferer Wendy Bordewisch, Evolutions Gym in Annapolis is often a home away from home. She's there at least four days a week doing cardio and weights.

When she was diagnosed with MS, she was doing a different kind of heavy lifting. She was a mom of young children, and learning she had MS terrified her.

"The goal of MS is to stop you from moving. It truly is the goal," Bordewisch said. "To see people that have been affected in that way is truly devastating. That was my first vision -- that this could stop me from moving."

But she hasn't stopped moving. After she got over the fear of what the disease could do to her, she decided to do something and didn't quit.

"For me it just meant, OK, I've got this unpredictable disease. I need to do whatever I can to make sure I take care of myself and what I've got," Bordewisch said.

That included entering a bodybuilding competition.

"At the time, I was a mother of two and I had this unpredictable disease, and I thought, 'Let me see where I can take this,'" Bordewisch said.

It was the first trophy she ever earned in her life.

Bordewisch has since checked bodybuilding off her list, but not her passion for physical activity. She has now set her sights on raising money for a cure. She does that through Walk MS, an event she finds valuable to her body and mind.

"First and foremost, connecting with others is so important, I think, and the walk provides that opportunity. Second, the biggest thing I get out of this walk is to see all that's being done in support of Walk MS and to help us put a stop to it," Bordewisch said.

Those walks happen every year, and there are several coming up all over the state. To find the closest one near you, click here.

Bordewisch will be at the walk in Annapolis with her team of 200.

Reposted from WBAL