by Steve Wiandt
Reporter
Cuyahoga Falls -- Although she suffers from the highs and lows of life with multiple sclerosis, Tracy Mobley has learned to draw strength from her faith, family and friends.
"My twin boys are my inspiration," said Mobley, who walked in Akron Walk MS April 26 at Blossom Music Center. "My family and my church have been a big inspiration, but more than that, it's been my two [boys]."
Mobley, 42, an Akron native, lives in Cuyahoga Falls with her sons, Lambert and Lawrence McElrath. In 2001, she was diagnosed with MS. Being told she suffers from the chronic disease of the nervous system was a terrible blow for Mobley.
A student at The University of Akron at the time, she was a year away from earning a master's degree in exercise physiology. "Ego would not let me use the cane," Mobley said. Unable to buy a wheelchair or motorized scooter, or find anyone to help her secure one, Mobley had to quit graduate school.
"That put me in a depression," she said. That wasn't the first time Mobley had to put her education on hold. In 2000 she had breast cancer and discontinued her studies to be a nurse, one class away from graduation.
Suffering from pain and depression, Mobley stayed in bed all day. This bothered her twin sons, Lambert and Lawrence, who were 9 at the time. They wanted their mother to get up and spend time with them.
"They made me promise to get up out of the bed every day, no matter what the pain was," she said. "I got up every day and went to the computer or went downstairs and watched television with them.
"I felt I was depriving them of their childhood because of my health," Mobley said. "They have been my inspiration. They are truly my blessings from above."
Mobley said her pastor, Bishop Joey Johnson, and his wife, Cathy, of House of the Lord, have given her emotional and spiritual support, as well as financial support to her fundraising for MS. She said her other inspirations include WZAK radio personality Kym Sellers and actress Teri Garr, both of whom have MS.
Soon after her diagnosis, Mobley joined the Mighty Oaks, an MS support group named for the Oak Clinic in Green where her doctor practices. In 2002 she walked in her first MS walk with the Mighty Oaks Team at Boston Mills, the former site of Akron Walk MS. Upon encouragement from her sons, Mobley formed her own team the following year, recruiting her friends and her co-workers from Macy's at Summit Mall.
Mobley named her team Blessings from Above after a greeting she had been using on her answering machine: "May the heavens continue to rain down blessings from above on you and yours." "I've always been a spiritual person, but having MS and other health problems has made me more spiritual," she said.
Mobley walks every April in Walk MS to mark the anniversary of her diagnosis, April 18. She said this year's team (seven people and a dog) raised $260, which surpassed her goal by $60.
Mobley said her MS relapses and remits as the severity of the symptoms rise and fall. She said it is currently in a period of relapse due to stress and "overdoing it" physically. In addition, she said she has not been able to go to her doctor in Green for her weekly shot of medication since she began having car problems two years ago.
Mobley, however, keeps pressing on.
On April 26, despite struggling with a relapse, Mobley walked the entire three miles of the regular route of Akron Walk MS at Blossom Music Center.
She said participating in the MS walk has boosted her morale. "It's helped me in a lot ways, even on a weekend during a relapse when I had no business walking."
"I have to do it," Mobley added, firmly. "This is my way of fighting back. I have to let MS know, 'You are not going beat me. I refuse.'"
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