By Prue Salasky, psalasky@dailypress.com
September 25, 2011
Newport News woman, defies MS
“You’ve got to have a great attitude, knowing the disease is progressive,” says Lorrie Brantley, 52, a retired Air Force intelligence officer. Brantley was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, MS, at age 28, when she was six years into an active duty military career. She continued in the military, garnering several promotions before retiring as a lieutenant-colonel in 2003 after 21 years. Meanwhile her husband, Steve, left his military career to work several home-based jobs in order to be with their daughter, Amber, now 17.
Since retiring, Brantley has become an advocate for others with the disease. “I tell them they’re lucky,” she says. “There are five medications available now. You have a choice. You have a lot to look forward to. When I was diagnosed (in 1987) there was no treatment.”
The Newport News resident gives equal credit to each of a trio of lifestyle choices for keeping the disease manageable. A former college basketball player, a guard for Virginia Tech, Brantley continues to work out five times a week; she also eats right — skewed toward vegetarianism — courtesy of Steve’s cooking; and she has had recent success taking the drug Tysabri, delivered by infusion once a month. The latter carries with it the risks of contracting PML, or progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, abrain virus.
“You’re voluntarily taking meds that could result in your death,” says Brantley. Still, it works for her, relieving her of fatigue and flu-like symptoms. “I feel I’m able to do a lot more. My balance seems to be a lot better.” She even looks forward to the monthly medication. “I visit with my infusion buddies,” says Brantley of the one-hour process that’s followed by a one-hour observation period atRiverside Regional Medical Center. “It’s very comfortable, a very soothing day.” She describes the drug’s action as like Velcro; “it catches those bad T-cells and makes the molecules too big to cross over into the brain,” she says. Her husband, Steve, has seen a big change in her dexterity and improvement in her memory since she started on Tysabri three years ago.
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