MS ride ambassador goes extra miles for her parents

By JESSICA DAMICO

Staff Writer

Daniel Reeves of Fords, left to right, Alicia Cardello of Fords, Jessica Bills of South Amboy and Kristina White of Edison will ride 100 miles in the Bike MS Country Challenge. A lthough it has been a tough road for Jessica Bills who has watched both her parents struggle with multiple sclerosis (MS) in recent years the South Amboy resident has tackled it one bike ride at a time.

Jessica, who has been participating in Bike MS rides for four years, was asked to serve as ambassador for the New Jersey Metro Chapters 2014 Bike MS Country Challenge, set for Sept. 20-21.

Its an honor, she said, adding that she was thrilled about the opportunity to get her parents story out. Its probably one of the coolest things thats ever happened to me.

Unfortunately, the honor stems from one of the worst things to happen. In 1999, when Jessica was a junior in high school, her father, Kelly, began having bad headaches and feeling fatigued, among other symptoms. About a year of endless tests revealed that Kelly had MS.

As Kelly began treatment and his symptoms started to improve, Jessicas mother, Janet, started having strange symptoms like pins and needles in her legs, vision problems, fatigue and heat intolerance.

The doctor who had diagnosed Kelly told the Iselin residents that they had a better chance of hitting the lottery than both having MS. Nevertheless, that turned out to be the case.

Janets cognitive issues stemming from the disease forced her to stop working and receive disability benefits. Kelly continues to work full-time, but recently grappled with a difficult medication change, Jessica said.

It was really scary for a little bit, she said. Every day is a different battle.

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MS ride ambassador goes extra miles for her parents