Meet MS Warrior Shawn Blaesing
Written by Shawn Blaesing
Right before Christmas in 2012, I started having zingers down my body every time I looked down. It was over the holidays, and I got in for an emergency massage hoping it was just muscles pulling something out of alignment to no avail. No doctor offices were open for several days with the holiday closures. I saw my primary care physician close to the new year and she said it was called Lhermitte’s and that it might be Multiple Sclerosis, but she didn’t push further tests so I spent the next year going through quarterly relapses heavily triggered by heat and exercise without really understanding what was happening. Looking back, I was likely in denial and wasted a year I could have been on meds to stop the damage already being done by MS.
Shortly after the holidays the next year, I was at a movie and by the time it ended I couldn’t feel my legs as they had progressively gone numb throughout the show. We went to the emergency room and they prescribed steroids and said to see my primary care physician to schedule an MRI the following Monday. My doc got me in right away and a couple of MRIs later she confirmed her suspicions of MS as I had multiple lesions in my head and spine. Looking back, my symptoms started around 2006 with weird tingling in my pelvis, horrible brain fog, and bouts of fatigue. These were followed by arm numbness and series of other unexplained neurological issues. I had the same PCP but saw different neurologists each time, so she was the only one stringing things together for me.
The MS diagnosis shook out in January of 2014. My kids were 11 and 6 and I had just been accepted to a sponsored triathlon team through a local bike shop. The team embraced me as I reeled, researched and dug deep, determined not to let this new burden stop my goals of racing and training. I researched all the DMTs and picked one with my neurologist and accepted this new life of injections and feeling weird most of the time. I kept parenting and working and training. The first few months of training after DX were hard. Exercise had been a real trigger the previous year and I struggled through dizzy spells, numbness and things not working quite right. But I pushed ahead and found a new normal.
In 2014, I did multiple 5k runs with my family, my first 25-mile Bike MS ride, one Olympic and four sprint triathlons, and a half marathon to wrap up the season. I set my sights on something bigger the next year. I had already done one Half Ironman triathlon (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run) in 2011 but I was determined to see if I could still do one post DX. A group of fitness friends and I decided to train for a Half Ironman together and that fall I completed my 2nd Half Ironman.
I blog most of my race and MS adventures here and as you can see from my race reports I haven’t looked back. I do struggle with the Midwest heat and humidity, so I adjust my training time of day/location around that, and I usually don’t race in June through August unless it is a short one. I don’t let the summer months slow me down as I kayak, garden, hike and go on adventures around the country with my family.
I still have big goals and in 2020 I had planned to run my first marathon, and then the next year go for my first Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run). The lack of in-person races due to Covid-19 shut that idea down. And broken foot in 2022 and a broken ankle in 2024 have provided some roadblocks along the way. Around the covid race break, I found RAMMS when I stumbled across an article about Cheryl and the MS team she created. I knew I needed to be a part of that and participated virtually for four years until finally this year I was able to attend an in-person event with the team. What a wonderful experience to be around a bunch of MS warriors (27 of us attended) plus our support people (another 30+) and speak freely about our limitations and our goals as we live with MS each day. I left the event with a group of new MS friends and am so grateful for this community of people.
While to most people I just look like a healthy middle-aged lady, I do have my MS struggles most days, but I try not to let them limit me. I work hard to keep the mobility and mental acuity I have through strength training, goal setting through event training, and games like Duolingo, puzzles, crafting and reading. I make sure to rest when I need to rest, and I am getting better at building in down-time when I am traveling.
Now after 18 years of participating in triathlons I am taking on a huge goal. I spent 2025 testing my training and distances by running my first marathon in June and doing my 5th Half Ironman triathlon in September. I feel like the training supported my overall health and I felt pretty good all year, so in 2026 I am doing my 6th Half Ironman in Boulder, CO in June and going for my first/only/last Ironman triathlon in October in Sacramento. I hired a coach that specializes in working with people who have health limitations. I signed up for adult swim club and am looking forward to doing the work to successfully complete this BHAG. I refuse to let my MS keep me from my goals and I embrace the journey along the way with the help of my friends and family. I refuse to let MS keep me from being all that I can.