Dana Szwec to undergo surgery in U. S. to help relieve symptoms of MS.
By Debra Downey, Senior Editor, Dundas Star News.
Jul 29, 2010.
Dana Szwec has a dream. It’s not a big dream, like winning the lottery or travelling the world.
Dana’s one wish is simple. She wants to stand up again, preferably at the top of Dundas peak with the wind whispering through towering maple trees, a butterfly’s gentle wings brushing her ankles and her lungs filling with cool, refreshing air.
“If I could walk again, that’s what I’d do. I really miss the trails around Dundas. I loved to get out and go hiking, up to the peak, for the fresh air, exercise and just being outside".
Dana, 37, hasn’t been able to stand for five years. She doesn’t have any balance and she can’t move her legs. Her once healthy and active body has been ravaged by multiple sclerosis. The unpredictable, often disabling disease attacks the central nervous system. There is no cure.
Dana was just 29 when she began experiencing symptoms. A dancer since the age of 2 1/2, Dana is a graduate of the Ryerson University dance program and had, for eight years, been affectionately known as “Miss Dana” by her young students at her mother’s dance studio.
Dana had planned to take over Szwec School of Dance from mom Marilyn. She was learning the ropes, had applied for and received an arts council grant to attend a small business and arts course at Mohawk College.
Dana had more or less grown up at the Szwec school. She taught younger children jazz, tap and ballet, performed in shows at nursing homes and community events and showed off her own immense talent during solo performances at annual recitals.
By the time Dana had reached her early teens, there was no question she would pursue a career in dance, one day take over from mom.
Marilyn vividly remembers the day MS crept into their lives, heartlessly and forever changing their plans.
“Dana was at the front of the studio, sitting at the desk there, trying to read a paper about six inches from her face. I knew something was wrong, and that seemed to trigger everything,” said Marilyn.
As is typical for multiple sclerosis, the first symptoms were vision problems. Dana’s eyesight had started to jump and she experienced extreme fatigue.
Marilyn sold the dance studio in 2004. She had operated it for 32 years.
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Dana didn’t believe the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis when she finally heard it from the head neurologist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
She knew a little about the disease, had participated the MS Society’s fundraising read-a-thons as a child.
“I was in complete denial,” Dana said of her feelings at the time. “There was no way. It’s got to be something else.”
But reality eventually set in. Dana was presented with two options to halt or delay the disease — stem cell replacement or chemotherapy.
Dana opted for chemotherapy. She suffered through the treatments, lost her thick dark locks. It did, however, keep her well for two years. Dana used a walker but managed to get around.
Five years ago, things went downhill...fast.
Dana has Primary Progressive MS, which is characterized by a slow accumulation of disability. Only 10 to 15 per cent of people diagnosed with MS have primary progressive. There are no medications and nothing, until very recently, to treat it.
Despite her physical challenges, Dana has tried to stay active through Mac Wheelers, a twice-weekly exercise rehabilitation program for adults with a spinal cord injury, and yoga at the MS Society in Hamilton.
“Although it’s getting harder and harder to move my body, I am still keeping up with my programs,” she said.
For the past five years, Dana’s friends, family and supporters have participated as a team in the annual MS Walk For the Cure. Dana’s Dancin’ Divas and Dudes has won awards for best team name, best team spirit and best costume.
Dana picks a different theme each year; this spring, they were the Pirates. The 40 or so team members have raised more than $10,000 in the past five years.
Dana looks forward to the annual fundraising event.
“My life has definitely changed within the last eight years. It is definitely not what I thought it would turn out to be,” she said. “However, people keep telling me how great my attitude is. I do choose to be positive, besides I can’t change what has happened to me. It’s not what I expected, but I do still have to live, and it’s not in me to just shut down.”
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Last November, Dana and her mom tuned in to W5, a Canadian current affairs program that highlighted the work of Dr. Paolo Zamboni. The Italian neurologist has treated MS patients through angioplasty to widen veins in their necks, a condition known as CCSVI or Chronic Cerebralspinal Venous Insufficiency. The surgery is fairly simple; people around the world have experienced positive results. For some, the improvement is immediate; others get a little better each day.
News of Dr. Zamboni’s success has spread around the globe. Dana believes it can help her.
Since the surgery is not not yet available in Canada, Dana must travel to Albany, N. Y. Her surgery is scheduled for Sept. 28. It will cost about $10,000 U. S. for the aptly named Liberation Treatment.
One of Dana’s friends has circulated a letter to service clubs asking for donations. Dana and Marilyn both hope the community will also find it in their hearts to contribute.
“Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” said Dana. “I'm hoping with the Liberation Treatment, I will become independent, productive, and with a renewed quality of life, be able to give back to my community.”
An account has been set up at the Royal Bank on King Street West in Dundas to help the Szwec family, account number 5024120, transit number 01262.
