The stumbling came first, then a foot dragged.

Hand coordination failed next, followed by scrambled speech including switched syllables and words, garbled hearing, blurry vision, falling down, and loss of bladder and bowel control.

Within two weeks, Jo Teal's dormant multiple sclerosis had crippled her, five years after she was first diagnosed, she said.

Teal fought back then and fought back again Saturday when she and several dozen others with the disease, and their friends and families, participated in the annual fundraising MS Walk at Morad Park.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system - the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves - when the body's own immune system attacks the fatty tissue protecting the nerve fibers, which can affect many functions, according to the National MS Society's Web site at www.nationalmssociety.org.

The cause may be related to a vitamin D deficiency, and to those who live far away from the equator, said the Wyoming society's representative Stephanie Batson of Cheyenne.

There is no cure, she added.

Those with the disease may exhibit few symptoms, while others may be crippled and suffer severe pain, Batson said.

About 1,100 people in Wyoming including about 200 in Casper are registered with the Wyoming MS Society, and there probably are others who have it and are not aware of it, she said.

People don't die from multiple sclerosis, but it can be a contributing fatal factor with other diseases, Batson said.

"Most people don't think of it as a death sentence," she said. "Like with most things, it's how you look at it."

A variety of drug treatments are available to curb the severity of attacks, Batson said.

Teal, 49, had been through some drug treatments when she was first diagnosed nine years ago, and dreaded enduring them again.

Her first bout with the disease came with the loss of vision in the right eye and extreme pain in the optic nerve, Teal said.

Like many people with MS, she was initially misdiagnosed, she said.

An MRI did not find any lesions on the brain, but a spinal tap found a "double ring of protein" in her spinal fluid, Teal said. "Everybody with MS has the double ring of protein."

To counteract the vision loss, she began a daily treatment with an intravenous drip of a gram of steroids, she said. "It was brutal."

She couldn't sleep, flew through severe mood swings, grew agitated and irritable, and ate a lot, Teal said.

The steroid treatments were phased out, and she was fine for five years, she said.

That's when her two-week ordeal began.

Medication helped somewhat, but the best treatment was a rigorous regime of physical and mental therapy including word and math games to exercise her brain, Teal said.

On Saturday, Teal's only apparent physical impairment was a slight limp due to a knee-replacement surgery five weeks ago.

She developed her own "bucket list," referring to the to-do-before-death goals in the movie of the same title, she said.

Those activities include horseback riding, dog sledding, motorcycle riding, caring for her animals at her residence near Douglas, and skydiving on her 48th birthday, Teal said.

She now works with the Wyoming MS Society to give talks and work one-on-one with those diagnosed with the disease, she said.

Teal understands that MS can severely cripple people, but she has no patience for those who are diagnosed, play the role of victim and give up living, she said.

Many with the disease have recovered and live with few symptoms, she said. "Most of us strive for a normal life."

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at tom.morton@trib.com. Read his blog at tribtown.trib.com/TomMorton/blog.

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