Surfing And Surviving With Multiple Sclerosis
Ryan Brower
- November 11 2009
- 15 comments
RJ throwing down a mean little layback.
You make a living off your surfing. You’re not a Kelly Slater of the surfing world, but you have a steady income coming from something your life has revolved around forever.
In your late twenties your back starts acting up. Hell, everyone ages. But unlike an injury the pain becomes widespread and the numbness creeps throughout your entire lower half. You stop surfing. Your body just can’t take it.
The dullness of your nerves, muscle spasms, and a decrease of your reflexes continue. They spread to your chest and hands. Orthopedic doctors x-ray your back (the original starting place) and they show nothing of concern. Yet the numbness continues.
MRIs are done next so a closer look can be had. The result: three lesions are present on the spine. Cancer is the first thought—no operating on the spine. After further high resolution MRIs, the doctors with their white lab coats tell you it is Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Additional optic and nerve tests confirm this diagnosis. You haven’t surfed for two years.
Meet Roger Jeffrey, a 33-year-old professional surfer whose story is the above synopsis. After two-and-a-half years of circuitous struggles Roger got the diagnosis of MS.
Every year the MS National Society does their 'Walk For MS' day at Lego Land in Carlsbad. Here's Roger and his family: Diane (Roger's Mom), Beth (Roger's Wife), and Roger and his son (Trevor).
“I didn’t get to surf for those entire two years,” Roger says. “I needed to be competitive, which is very tough to do with MS. You can still surf good with MS and have dreams. I had an uncle who had MS, Richard Cobb. But Richard passed away before I was diagnosed, so I never really got the chance to talk to him about his MS all that much. Knowing what I do know I would have spent hours talking to him.”
“I didn’t get to surf for those entire two years.”
Roger’s understanding of Multiple Sclerosis is as in-depth as any encyclopedia or doctor you will find. Here’s Roger’s brief summary of MS:
MS is basically an inflammation of the nervous system. It’s an auto-immune disease based on your immune system attacking itself. Just about anywhere you have nerves you can get these inflammations, or lesions. The inflammation happens to the myelin sheath that covers the nerve, not the nerve itself. It can affect any nerve bundling in your nervous systems—your spinal cord, your brain, your optical nerves. Multiple sclerosis is essentially multiple scarring (sclerosis means scarring in medical terms) of the nervous system. The lesions do damage to your nervous system over time. They develop plaque around them and that plaque is what destroys the communication of nerve messages throughout the body.
Staring all this knowledge in the face, Roger knew after the diagnosis that it was time to return to the ocean.
“My life revolved around surfing, so it’s all I have to sort things out. It’s helped me come to terms with having an incurable illness that can put you in a wheelchair. You get a lot of fears associated with that and cases of depression are common. If I didn’t have surfing it’d be pretty depressing sitting around waiting for the disease to take it’s toll.”
Still surfing (professionally and competitively as Roger rides for ERGO and Ezera Surfboards) doesn’t just help keep Roger at even keel, but it’s one of the best things for him physically. It is said that normal activity and keeping hobbies is crucial for those diagnosed with MS.
“My life revolved around surfing, so it’s all I have to sort things out. It’s helped me come to terms with having an incurable illness that can put you in a wheelchair.”
Moderate aerobic exercise, like surfing and swimming, improves cardiac health, stamina, and mood, and helps manage symptoms like fatigue and weakness. “If you think of your nervous system like a muscle, you need to work it,” Roger says. “I work on my reflexes and moving every part of my body and firing all those nerves all the way down to my toes and fingers. Surfing does that.”
It’s a euphemism for the greater whole: exercise can heal. Staying active with MS allows one to use those nerves and keep them from being fully taken over. As good as surfing is for the body, there’s got to be a group fully devoted to surfing with MS days.
Roger Jeffrey
“There’s big stuff for MS in San Diego [the MS Society North American Chapter is based in Carlsbad], but nothing really associated specifically with surfing,” Roger says. “That is one of my goals, to create a foundation that would be around the whole time I’m here and promote and create awareness for MS. A lot of people in San Diego that have it would definitely show up to the beach for a surf day or just a day to support MS.”
In the water and out, Roger’s got a lot he has his eyes set on.—Ryan Brower
For more of Roger’s surfing clips, head here.
More on MS
Affects roughly 2.1 million worldwide
Causes
Doctors have yet to pinpoint exactly where MS comes from, but indications claim genetics, environment (like a lack of Vitamin D), latitude, among other things.
Cures
No cures exist, but there are expensive treatments that have a low success rate
Symptoms
MS itself is a tough disease to pinpoint because the symptoms can be so generic, and there’s no tests designed for just MS detection. The major problems caused deal with:
- balance
- numbness
- vision
- fatigue
- weakness
- communication (slurred speech)
- dullness of nerves and movements
- decreasing reflexes
- interrupted nervous system messages to the brain
TO FIND OUT MORE ON MS, HEAD TO THE NATIONAL MS SOCIETY WEBSITE HERE.
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November 11th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Inspirational story. I agree with BobB, he’s probably stoked he lives in the tolerant state of California.
He rips though, hope everything works out for him. such a shitty deal he’s having to put up with now..
November 11th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
this guy's good.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Yes RJ rips, 5 years ago or more he did the Van's Airshow series, and was doing gorkin flips all the stuff you just saw on his video. RJ was one of the contestants in the first ever video contest called the Progression 5 air challenge you do 5 different airs and film them and send it in people voted on line and the winner was Gorkin $10 thousand dollars….
November 11th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I bet he busts out the Med MJ every day. Chee
November 11th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
sick shuv!!!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I agree…
TW you should have posted his helmet barrel vid.. sick barrel, superb lighting, and no water-drops whatsoever.
moreover, i think he should be sponsored… never understood why surf companies sponsor the same type of surfers for their entire company…
(If you need a definition for "same type of surfers" you need to immerse yourself in the surf world more or your too dumb to realize.)
November 11th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
This is my brother in law and he is an inspiration!!! I loved this story and he is one of the most amazIng surfers ever. His videos are sick for sure and he makes me want to surf myself I wish I lived in cali!! He already has two sponsers he should have more though cause he is so talented!
November 12th, 2009 at 1:00 am
I love these stories–and I wish you well, Roger!
I also have MS; I was diagnosed 15 years ago though have probably had it for 20 years.
It is a great thing that you are committed to continue surfing; but I'd also advise you to also broaden your interests in case the day comes when you're no longer able to surf. MS is so unpredictable that you can't know the future for sure. So it's important to be able to roll with the punches.
My 12 year old grandson is surfing in contests up and down the So Cal coast & I follow his progress… my son (his dad) sent me this link after we checked out lots of video clips of him earlier today.
Anyway, the BEST of luck to you, Roger!
PS- a couple of things on MS:
1-It does not affect the entire nervous system, only the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord & optic nerves)
2-So many weird symptoms; I would add the following to your list:
vertigo / dizziness
increased reflexes (it all depends on where your lesions are)
cognitive problems
tremor / incoordination
many other sensory symptoms
November 12th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Best of luck sal, I understand the road ahead.. thanks for sharing your story….
Thanks to Transworld surf , Justin C, and Ryan… : )
also thanks Droldog(spence : ) and the rest of u guys for the kind words..
November 12th, 2009 at 1:45 am
Hi I am Rogers wife and when I meet Roger at a WQS surf contest I was amazed by him and his surfing too and started to video him for a surf shop he was sponsered by. It has been so hard for us with his ms but it's so amazing to me how he can still surf as good as the top surfers in the world even with his illness. He is seriously the number one surfer for that.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Roger you are an inspiration to me and my mom Sally above. I know life can be unpredictable like finding out about MS. I was in shock when my mom was diagnosed back when I was in HS. I am only 34 and found out I had CML Leukemia (rare form like Kareem has just come out with) at 30 and with medicine have not let it stop me from living and appreciating each day. Honestly you can almost appreciate life even more when you can't take it for granted. I surf way more then before and it keeps me sane too! Great article again and I think you F-ing rip so hard keep charging. Props to TWS along with Ergo and Dave at Ezera for supporting you through this.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Thanks Mat and sally..
Mat keep surfing, enjoy everyday.. seems like u are.. : )
Thanks again..
Roger
November 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Props for staying optimistic. A friend has MS and I hear its quite a mental struggle, but he keeps smiling and tries to get out as much as he can. Thats step #1 and the most important in everything in life, really.
Keep your eyes set on what's good.
cheers Roger