17 msfocusmagazine.org about her experience with those issues. “My biggest challenge in maintaining independence is asking for help. I’ve always been the one providing help to others, so I never felt comfortable asking for help. My psychotherapist has helped me to understand that a part of being independent is asking for help when necessary, instead of limiting myselfwhen I can’t do something. Maintaining independence doesn’t mean doing things in themannerweareaccustomedto.Maintaining independence means changing our lifestyle to fit our needs. While I don’t feel sexy with a cane, I accept I may need a cane if I want to go on a long outing with my husband, instead of being limited to watching him from a bench.“ Monica isn’t planning on slowing down any time soon. She is already using her strength and will to create bigger and better things for her MS community, “I am in the planning stages to be the founder of SPEAK (Sharing Personal Experiences and Knowledge) MS. This will be a support group for anyone, but specifically for newly diagnosed and/or undertreated individuals. I plan to see this come to fruition within the next few months.”