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MONROE: Woman with MS to ride in benefit for MS

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   MONROE — For Stephanie Howe, hardships and suffering only provide more determination to face the many challenges in life, such as the 50-mile bike ride along the coast of New Jersey she plans on taking, despite having multiple sclerosis.
   Ms. Howe, 39, who is also the founder of Comfort Keepers in-home caregivers, will be participating in her third “MS: Coast to Coast” bike ride tomorrow, May 21, with about 1,600 other bicyclists, including her son, Jeffrey, and her husband, Rich.
   The ride starts from Monmouth University in West Long Branch and has legs of 25, 50, 85 and 170 miles. The total two-day, 170-mile ride overnights in Little Egg Harbor with a dinner at the Tuckerton Seaport and finishes in Cape May.
   Depending on the ride choice, bikers will see coastal views, seaside towns, historic sites, the Pine Barrens and Cape May.
   Now in its 20th year, the event raises about $1 million per year, Ms. Howe said.
   Her first year riding was three years ago, and Ms. Howe rode 25 miles. Last year, she rode the 50-mile course, and she will be riding the same course this year.
   She said maybe next year she’ll do the 85-mile trek.
   ”If I’m able, I’ll certainly try,” she said.
   She said she started to get into bicycling because of the “MS: Coast to Coast” ride and has raced all three years for the memory of her father, Ron Pawson, who was diagnosed with MS when he was 35 and died three years ago at age 62.
   Multiple sclerosis is a disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord. Ms. Howe was diagnosed at age 26 and said people usually are diagnosed with MS between ages 20 and 50.
   ”With all the new medication they have, they find patients are doing better and are healthier for longer,” she said.
   Since the time Mr. Pawson was diagnosed, there have been improvements in the medication available to MS patients, including an oral medication.
   ”My dad was too sick when all the meds came around,” Ms. Howe said. “I’ve been fortunate that at least some meds are available.”
   She said MS affects each patient in different ways.
   ”I’m relatively healthy,” she said. “A lot of people suffer from vision and cognitive issues, and some people have trouble walking. For me, these things happen but they come and go, which is good. I think that’s why they call it the designer disease. It could affect any part of the body. “But since medications have come along, the MS community suggests you get the medication as soon as possible.”
   Ms. Howe started Comfort Keepers six years ago “to help people stay home as long as they can,” she said.
   She now has one office in Hamilton Square and one in Monroe.
   ”We do all of the nonmedical needs,” Ms. Howe said, “like if it’s too dangerous for them to walk down the stairs and do their laundry.”
   Comfort Keepers goes into the homes of the sick and elderly and helps them with whatever they need, whether its grocery shopping, driving them around or bathing them.
   Karen Gibson, marketing director for Comfort Keepers, said the bike ride is for a wonderful cause.
   ”The whole office is behind it,” she said, adding she plans to join the Comfort Keeper bicyclist team next year.
   ”Ever since I’ve been working for Steph, the whole team has been inspiring,” she said. “It’s been one inspiring story after another.”
   ”I’m a very positive person,” Ms Howe said. “I really think attitude goes a long way.”
   Ms. Howe also has started an MS support group that encourages that positive attitude. The group meets at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month at the Mercer County Robbinsville branch library.
   She started the group, called “Positive Living,” because she noticed how easy it is for people with MS to become depressed.
   To counteract that temptation, she hosts the support group and supports causes like the bike ride.
   ”It (the ride) is just a really easy way for people to get involved” in spreading MS awareness, she said.
   There are people who usually don’t ride who are joining this ride because they believe it is a good cause, she added.
   Another worker from Comfort Keepers, Laura Hughes, has signed up for the ride for that reason. She will be joining Ms. Howe on the Comfort Keeper bicyclist team.
   Ms. Howe said she stays in shape for the ride by kickboxing three days a week at a karate studio.
   ”I really just bike recreationally, I’m not a serious biker,” she said. “This is the most biking I do all year.”
   She’s riding to raise money so her children don’t have to go through what she went through as a child with her dad and “keep their mom with them for a long time.”
   Ms. Howe said she is looking forward to riding with her family more than anything else this weekend.
   ”Just the fact that I can still ride with my family after 14 years with MS, it’s definitely because of the money raised from events like this,” she said.
   For more information on MS, visit the National MS Society at www.nationalmssociety.org.