27 msfocusmagazine.org quickly that there are so many organizations that have been funding research and providing resources for so long and they all have a far better understanding of the landscape than me. I was really fortunate to partner up with Teva Neuroscience and we decided to create a websitewhere people can go and get reallyeasy, digestible information, told through webisodes, thatwaseasytounderstand.Mygoalwastomake the experience a more human one instead of a clinical one. MS Focus: We know that you really try to stay as healthy as possible with MS. What is your health routine? JackOsbourne:I’m a reallya big fan of exercise. I know it’s kind of a hot button subject amongst the MS community because some people have the frustration of not being able to do what other people can. For me, I look at like this – a body in motion stays in motion. So, if I’m physicallypushing myself, sometimes admittedly too far, my mindset is that the rust won’t set in. There is a woman who started training at the same gym I go to and she has progressive MS.When she came in, she couldn’t do much. She was using a walker. I saw her recently and she was doing squats. For her, I think just starting to move a little bit at a time fired her back up. I’m fully aware that not everyone is able to do it, but, for me, exercise is so important. Even if someone’s exercise is just walking around the block, that’s something. MS Focus: How has your perspective changed because of the MS? Jack Osbourne: Oh, man. There is constantly living in that state of, “I hope tomorrow is a good day” or “I hope nothing happens tonight.” Forme, I always seem to go to bed fine andwake up with something. I wouldn’t say its fear, but more concern about what tomorrowwill be like versustoday.Butthenthere’salsothecomponent where I don’t take things for granted. My doctor said, “You need to take things easy and slow down. You have to prioritize and prepared for the worst case scenario.” I said, “I’m not slowing down. I’m gonna do everything I possibly can, while I can.” MS Focus: With MS symptoms, how do you deal with your bad days? Jack Osbourne: I’ve been pretty lucky over the last six years. My most common symptom is probably fatigue. There are moments where it’s two in the afternoon, and I’ve had eight hours of sleep, and all of a sudden I’ll find myself falling asleep at the wheel of my car. I’ve had to pull over and sleep in my car. Between that and these weird little windows of seventy-two hour bouts of depression, those are probably my most significantly occurring symptoms. MSFocus: Depressionissuchabigthingforsome people with MS. How do you deal with that? JackOsbourne:It’s tough. Myreaction is, “I gotta go get this handled. I gotta talk to someone and get on some medication for it.” They say depression is the most common symptom amongst people living with MS. I think it’s the least spoken about. I try to not let it interfere too aggressively with what I’m trying to do. I find that if I give into it and say, “well, I’m just not gonna get out of bed for the next few days,” that’swhen it becomes a biggerproblem forme. MS Focus: If you could tell people, with or without MS, one thing that they need to know, what would that be? Jack Osbourne: MS is not the same for every- one, so don’t instantly lump us into a category of kind of not being able. I think there is such a preconceived notion of “You have MS. You are no longer able-bodied.” Unfortunately, there are people who have that circumstance, but, by and large, MS is an unseen disease. That gross generalization has just always irked me. And that was kind of the inspiration to create the website, because this disease has many faces and it’s not the same for everyone.