Quilting for a cause

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Elaine Aviles
  • 39th Air Base Group Public Affairs
Natalie Veum’s life was progressing at a normal clip. She was young, happily married and working a full-time job she enjoyed.

But in the course of one night, her life changed forever.

It started when the 24 year old woke with a coldness on her right side, which a series of MRIs, spinal taps and specialists failed to explain. She researched yoga, supplements, exercise and diet, hoping to reverse the numbness that caused her to walk with a slight limp.

Finally, a neurologist on temporary duty reached a diagnosis -- transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder caused by inflammation of the spinal cord. It is fairly rare; it strikes an estimated 1,400 people each year, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Web site.

There is no effective cure.

“I was stuck with what feeling was left,” said Veum, an administrative assistant with the 39th Medical Support Flight. “The doctor told me the condition could possibly be a precursor to multiple sclerosis, but he dismissed that idea because of my age.”

Eight months later, the right side of Veum’s face went numb. She had trouble writing, and her speech took on a slight slur. She went for another MRI.

“It only took a day to find out,” she said. “I had MS.”

Veum clung to her husband, Tech. Sgt. Dennis Veum, from the 728th Air Mobility Squadron, for comfort.

“I was a wreck,” she said. “I was bawling and yelling. Dennis sensed this was a life-changing thing. But no one else could be in that moment with me.”

She flew to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and underwent another spinal tap. Neurologists there confirmed the diagnosis.

MS attacks the central nervous system, which includes the spinal cord and brain. It eats away, in the form of lesions, at myelin, a nerve-insulating material. The result is a wide range of symptoms ranging from muscle spasms to an inability to control breathing.

Veum has three lesions on her brain, which affect her speech, motor functions in her right hand and short-term memory. Although more lesions can crop up over time, she takes medications that help prevent further deterioration.

While the disease wreaks havoc physically, it progresses slowly, according to a “What is Multiple Sclerosis” Web site. And, despite popular belief, it is not a death sentence.

“People I’ve known for years treat me differently,” Veum said. “They avoid me or look at me with pity. I’m not going to die. My personality isn’t different. People’s reactions are sometimes harder to deal with than the disease.”

Seeking others who could relate to the physical and emotional impact of her condition, she stumbled upon MS MOMS, a Web site for women struggling with MS.

“The site president had started up an MS quilt project and needed people to donate quilt squares,” she said. “I thought it would be a good way to increase awareness.”

A base quilting group, comprising a group of women who gather each week to work on quilt creations, agreed. Once Veum pitched the idea, the group ran with it. Along with making their own blocks, group members asked experienced and novice sewers around the base to submit a square.

“People can paint, embroider, color, stamp, tie-dye, draw or appliqué their block with any design they want,” said June Wagner, quilting group coordinator.

The quilters will send the blocks to MS MOMS at the end of August, when they will become part of a giant MS quilt that will be displayed at a nationwide conference later in the year.

Although a quilt cannot take away her day-to-day struggles with MS, Veum said she hopes it will make a difference.

“I’m hoping to make people more aware of the disease,” she said. “I want people to treat me and other people with MS normally. No matter what my physical symptoms, I haven’t changed underneath. I’m still me.”

For more information about MS, go to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation Web site at http://www.msfacts.org.