[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/04\/ann-marie-story-50ph\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/04\/ann-marie-story-50ph\/","headline":"\u2018Today, I Can Run\u2019: MS, Breast Cancer Can\u2019t Keep Mom From Moving","name":"\u2018Today, I Can Run\u2019: MS, Breast Cancer Can\u2019t Keep Mom From Moving","description":"The first time Ann Marie Tarasovitch ran a 5K, in her 30s, she felt nervous. Her young son gave her some perspective. \u201cHe goes, \u2018Mom, what\u2019s the worst thing that can happen?\u2019\u201d Ann Marie recalls. \u201c\u2018You fall down, you die, you go to heaven. It\u2019s a win-win.\u2019\u201d Many years have passed since Ann Marie received […]","datePublished":"2020-04-13","dateModified":"2023-04-17","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/hillman.upmc.com\/","name":"UPMC Hillman Cancer Center","url":"https:\/\/hillman.upmc.com\/","sameAs":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/upmc-hillman-cancer-center\/","parentOrganization":"UPMC"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"UPMC HealthBeat","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/UPMC-HealthBeat-Logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ann-Marie-rough-cut-2-CC.00_05_49_12.Still006-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ann-Marie-rough-cut-2-CC.00_05_49_12.Still006-1.jpg","height":325,"width":754},"url":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/04\/ann-marie-story-50ph\/","about":["Cancer Care","Health Topics A-Z","UPMC Stories"],"wordCount":1931,"keywords":["Ryan Shazier's 50 Phenoms","Ryan Shazier\u2019s 50 Phenoms Season 1"],"articleBody":"The first time Ann Marie Tarasovitch ran a 5K, in her 30s, she felt nervous. Her young son gave her some perspective.\u201cHe goes, \u2018Mom, what\u2019s the worst thing that can happen?\u2019\u201d Ann Marie recalls. \u201c\u2018You fall down, you die, you go to heaven. It\u2019s a win-win.\u2019\u201dMany years have passed since Ann Marie received that bit of childhood wisdom. However, it still crosses her mind at every race starting line.Ann Marie received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) \u2013 an incurable, unpredictable neurological disease \u2013 in her mid-40s. Months before her 50th birthday, she learned she had another devastating disease: breast cancer.She handled both diseases the way she handles her races: one step at a time.Ann Marie survived the breast cancer and manages her multiple sclerosis not only with medication but with another important treatment: exercise.In the decade since her MS diagnosis, Ann Marie has completed five half-marathons, four obstacle races, three triathlons, and much more. She does it all knowing she has an unknown future because of the MS. And that\u2019s why she continues to do it.\u201cWhat\u2019s the worst that can happen?\u201d she asks. \u201cToday, I\u2019m standing. Today, I can run. Tomorrow, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s in my future, but today I\u2019m good.\u201d\u00a0\u2018I Promise You: I\u2019ll be The Healthiest Sick Person I Can Be\u2019Ann Marie felt healthy into her mid-40s. Outside of her father, who battled stage IV cancer for years, she didn\u2019t have a long family history of disease. She took up running in her 30s after seeing a friend run a 10K race. The Erie native also stayed active at her local YMCA.But as she got further into her 40s, she began noticing some health problems \u2013 \u201cweird little things,\u201d she calls them.\u201cI would drop things,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then I started getting migraines, and then I got mono. I mean, who gets mono? I was over 40, and I got mono, and then I got shingles.\u201dThose problems would come and go, and so would others: numbness in her limbs, and balance issues. Finally, one day, one of her pupils was dilated more than the other \u2013 causing her doctor to order an MRI.After multiple MRIs, blood work, and a spinal tap, Ann Marie got her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis, an incurable neurological disease that affects about 1 million Americans, affects a person\u2019s central nervous system. It interferes with signals between the brain and spinal cord and the rest of the body.MS can cause problems with vision, balance, coordination, and more. The disease can be hard to diagnose because no single test can confirm it and some people experience symptoms on and off. It also progresses differently depending on type: Some people can manage it more easily, but it can cause long-term disability in others.\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the scary thing when people hear they have multiple sclerosis,\u201d says Rock Heyman, MD, associate professor and chief of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis in the Department of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. \u201cSome people even kind of presume that means they\u2019re going to end up in a wheelchair. With modern therapies, we can control it better.\u201dAnn Marie\u2019s diagnosis left her in disbelief.\u201cI remember walking up the driveway (later that day),\u201d she says. \u201cMy husband was in the garage working, and I came home and said, \u2018Scott, I\u2019ve got to tell you something. The doctor called me and said I have MS.\u2019 My husband\u2019s wonderful and said, \u2018Honey, we\u2019re going to get through this.\u2019\u201dI just said to him, \u2018I promise you: I\u2019ll be the healthiest sick person I can be.\u2019\u201d\u2018This Is Where I Put My Money Where My Mouth Is\u2019Ann Marie was training to run a 10K before learning she had MS. After her diagnosis, she called her doctor to see if she still could go through with it.\u201cShe said, \u2018Don\u2019t stop moving. Keep moving,\u2019\u201d Ann Marie says.That was all Ann Marie needed to hear. She ran that 10 K \u201cin snowy, rainy, terrible conditions,\u201d and completed it.\u201cThat was a big day for me,\u201d she says now, because it showed her that she could stay active even with MS.In fact, regular exercise or physical activity can help some people with MS manage their symptoms, making it especially important.\u201cIt seems to moderate the abnormal disease activity, help with quality of life, strength, bone density \u2013 you name it,\u201d Dr. Heyman says. \u201cSo many good things can happen.\u201dIn addition to running races and getting regular exercise at the YMCA, Ann Marie began eating healthier. Everything seemed to be working: She was managing her symptoms.A few years later, and a few months before her 50th birthday, Ann Marie pulled a muscle in her chest. And when she felt the muscle, she also felt a lump.It turned out to be breast cancer.\u201cMy tumor was small, but it was very close to my chest wall,\u201d Ann Marie says. \u201cI just remember my husband sitting in the backyard and I said to him, \u2018This is where I put my money where my mouth is.\u2019\u201cI always say, \u2018God, whatever you give me, you\u2019ll get me through this. Please guide me and let me see everything you put in front of me to help me along this journey.\u2019\u201dA month after her breast cancer diagnosis, Ann Marie underwent a double mastectomy. After that, she began chemotherapy and radiation.The chemotherapy began around the same time as Ann Marie\u2019s 50th birthday. The treatments had some negative side effects. She couldn\u2019t work full-time in her job as a hairdresser because the chemotherapy drugs caused her to feel weaker. They also caused her to lose her hair, another low point.\u201cIt was really rough,\u201d she says. \u201cThere were some days that I was so sick, it was hard to get up. But luckily, I handled it. After my second treatment, my hair started falling out. I knew that day was coming. I did not look forward to that.\u201dAnn Marie\u2019s family, including her husband and two sons, and friends, including a large group at the YMCA, kept her positive. After she lost her hair, she began wearing bandanas to her YMCA workouts. The rest of the group began wearing pink bandanas on Fridays to show support.Her family provided the same kind of strength. On her 50th birthday, her husband gave her a card that showed people kayaking. The message? That even with MS and breast cancer, Ann Marie still would find a way to stay active and get through it.\u201cI can\u2019t believe how God has blessed me with all these people and all these friends and such support,\u201d she says.\u2018I\u2019m Not Done Yet. I\u2019m Still Going.\u2019Ann Marie wanted to tackle one of her \u201cbucket list\u201d items after she completed radiation for her breast cancer in 2014: a half marathon.\u201cI said: \u2018I\u2019d love to try and do it before I hit 51,\u2019\u201d she says.And so a group of five or six of her friends from the YMCA got together to run a half marathon. The race day happened almost a year after Ann Marie\u2019s double mastectomy.\u201cIt was an unbelievable day,\u201d Ann Marie says. \u201cJust to cross that finish line and say, \u2018I\u2019m not done yet. I\u2019m still going,\u2019 I couldn\u2019t believe I crossed the line. My friends were with me. My family was waiting for me at the end. My boys were so proud. I mean, it was amazing.\u201dAnn Marie had breast reconstruction surgery in the fall of 2014, then three more procedures after that. The surgeries meant she couldn\u2019t follow her normal exercise routine, so she started working out in the pool more. Then, when she came down with two bulging discs in her back after her fourth surgery, the pool again provided her an exercise outlet.Ann Marie wasn\u2019t an avid swimmer before that time, but she improved enough to try some new challenges. First came a 1-mile open-water swim across Presque Isle Bay. Then came a sprint triathlon: swimming, biking, and running. And then another half marathon.\u201cAll these things that you think about, especially in your 50s, people have midlife crises and stuff,\u201d Ann Marie says. \u201cI said, \u2018What am I waiting for to try these different things? I\u2019ve got to go out of my comfort zone. It\u2019s now or never.\u2019Ann Marie and Scott are a foster family for Dale, an adult from the Barber National Institute for families facing autism, intellectual disabilities, and behavioral challenges. One of the institute\u2019s fundraisers is the \u201cBeast on the Bay,\u201d a 10-mile obstacle course. Ann Marie and her friends put a team together and raced in that, too.Her competition count since age 50? Five half marathons, four \u201cBeast on the Bay\u201d races, three sprint triathlons, two bay swims, a duathlon, and countless fun runs. She also snowshoes and kayaks.\u201cI feel like God gave me such a gift by keeping me healthy that I just wanted to be a good steward of my body and have fun with it and be healthy,\u201d she says.\u2018If I Can Do It, You Can Do It\u2019Ann Marie still faces medical obstacles. She broke her wrist once after slipping and falling on ice, partially caused by lowered calcium levels from one of her cancer medications. Recently, she suffered a stress fracture in her foot.Some days, her multiple sclerosis can give her trouble. She deals with heat sensitivity, a frequent symptom of MS. She also suffers from fatigue.She deals with those problems by adapting. Because of the heat sensitivity, she doesn\u2019t run half marathons in the summer. She scales back her workouts if she\u2019s feeling fatigued.\u201cIt was hard for me to listen to my body,\u201d Ann Marie says. \u201cI had to learn to listen to my body and not feel guilty about not being able to do the things that I want to do that day, and to celebrate the things that I could do.\u201dWhat helps Ann Marie is her support system: her family and her friends from the Y, whose ages range from the 30s to the 60s.\u201cWe\u2019re all of every shape, and size, and age,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a really unique group. And so when I had different lows in my life, they were there. All these activities that I\u2019ve done, I\u2019ve done either with the whole group or part of the group.\u201dAnn Marie didn\u2019t know anyone in the group before getting MS or breast cancer. Now, they\u2019ve become part of her family. On the five-year anniversary of her mastectomy, she arrived at the YMCA to find that the group was wearing pink T-shirts that said, \u201cStronger with every mile.\u201dAnn Marie finds herself paying that kindness forward now. She\u2019s become a resource for other people with MS, breast cancer, or other problems. She talks to people going through tough times and shares her story.She has one message for them: Keep going.\u201cI just say, \u2018You can do anything you want,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIf God brings you to it, he can get you through it. Not that I\u2019m anything special or anything, but I always say, \u2018If I can do it, you can do it.\u2019\u201d"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"04","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/\/04\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"\u2018Today, I Can Run\u2019: MS, Breast Cancer Can\u2019t Keep Mom From Moving","item":"https:\/\/share-dev.upmc.com\/2020\/04\/ann-marie-story-50ph\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]