News : HEIDRIDE: LILLIBRIDGES ORGANIZING MOTORCYLE RIDE TO RAISE FUNDS TO FIGHT MS

A year ago, on their anniversary, Heidi and Lance Lillibridge went for a motorcycle ride, and came back realizing that life was about to change. Something was wrong; when it was time to make turns on the two-wheeler, Heidi realized her body was leaning a second or so after Lance’s. Three months later, after various visits to doctors, they found out why: Heidi was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis — MS. Heidi explains what that kind of MS, an auto-immune disease means: “My immune system attacks the lining of my spinal cord, shorting out the signals from my brain to my body.” Having the type of MS known as Primary Progressive means that Heidi knows her condition will get worse, but how much worse and how soon, nobody can predict. “It won’t kill me,” she says, adding that it’s hard to predict how much it will affect her movements. “It affects every person differently,” she explains. This year, on the couple’s anniversary, Heidi will spend the day in a medical facility, getting an IV infusion, using a drug approved by the FDA just one year ago. Heidi says that modern medical advancements give MS patients more options, but those treatments can be costly. Even with insurance, some treatments can cost patients more than$25,000 per year. Along with the infusions, exercise is an important part of an MS patient’s regimen. “Use it or lose it” is even more true of auto-immune disease sufferers. Heidi says she’s lucky to have Julie Lessig at Total Balance for her trainer. Julie, says Heidi, doesn’t treat her any differently than her other workout clients. Often, Heidi says, when she feels tired and wants to stop, Julie will respond: “Is that all you got?” Heidi appreciates the toughness of her trainer. “I need someone to push me and she does,” she says of Julie. Heidie first noticed the symptoms of the disease several years ago, when she tried to walk the Party in Pink 5K but found herself unable to finish it. That led to several years of medical appointments as she and her family looked for answers. To help MS patients and to further medical research, the Lillibridges have partnered with MS Moments, and Iowa-based group, for the inaugural Heid Ride, a motorcycle ride with two teams that will start in two cities and end up at a big gathering at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. Heidi’s team will start at Metro Harley Davidson in Cedar Rapids, where recently, Lance surprised her by trading in his motorcycle for a personalized, bright orange three-wheeler with Heidi’s name on it. Friends and family cheered as Heidi saw and heard the bike for the first time, and then posed with her family for a few photos. The event takes place Sept. 15, and will also include a raffle with many prizes, including beef from the Lillibridge farm. Participants will even have a chance to ride a lap on their cycles at the Iowa Speedway. For more information, see the Heid Ride East event Facebook page HERE. Those in the Des Moines area can participate on the West team. That Facebook page is HERE.Leading the other team in a friendly competition will be Karrie Anderson, the organizer of the MS Moments organization. She will be leading a team that rides out from Big Barn Harley Davidson in Des Moines. The two teams will be competing to see who can attract the most riders, and raise the most money. Heidi says she chose to work with MS Moments because the group is Iowa based and all money raised goes directly to patients or MS research. Heidi says Anderson is a great leader of MS patients in Iowa. “It’s therapy for her to help others, and gives her something to stay positive about,” says Heidi, adding that for some MS patients, staying positive is very difficult. Anderson explains the goals of MS Moments: “We started by raising money for the MS Society and saw a real need to help people right now, right here in Iowa. We are helping 50 families. We provide a health club membership, acupuncture and medical massage for the MS’er and their dependents. Iowa doesn’t have a respite program and providing for the entire family was really important to us, because MS is a family disease.” See a video of Heidi seeing the new three-wheeler for the first time HERE. Listen to Karrie Anderson discuss the goals of MS Moments after she was presented the 2017 Norm Cohn Hope Award HERE.