Veteran with Multiple Sclerosis explores her world

Traveling with multiple sclerosis

A multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis often brings with it a wave of logistical, emotional and financial challenges. For Anne Padgett, who had been out of the military for more than five years when she received her diagnosis, turning to VA for care was the furthest thing from her mind. She was busy raising two young children and building a career as an aerobics instructor; it simply hadn’t occurred to her that she, like most honorably discharged active duty Veterans, was eligible for VA services.

Her path to service began while she was pursuing a music degree. After nailing an audition for the Army Band as a flutist and being accepted, she enlisted. Her love of music soon opened unexpected doors. “Music and language are very much related… it’s just imitating sounds,” she said. She passed the language aptitude test, completed training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., and went on to spend four years as a Russian voice interceptor, followed by six years in the Army Reserve.

Challenges and breakthroughs

About five years after leaving the Reserve, Padgett felt her left leg go numb in the middle of a busy aerobics season. A friend noticed her unusual gait and suggested a chiropractor, who quickly referred her to a community neurologist. The diagnosis was prompt, as was treatment with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT). “The quicker you can get treated, the better your outcome is going to be,” she shared.

For years, Padgett struggled with the high cost of her DMT. At her stepfather’s urging, she began receiving care at VA but didn’t receive a disability rating for another decade. She tried for many years to establish a service connection, but just “wasn’t speaking to the right people.” Finally, in 2021, Padgett used Disabled American Veterans (DAV), who helped her successfully establish service connection for MS and access the financial support she had earned.

Padgett encourages other Veterans with MS to pursue service connection early on in their journey with the help of a qualified VSO, because with the right support, financial assistance is within reach. If you or someone you know would like to connect with a VSO for help and representation, you can find a VSO based on your location.

VA helps Veterans travel while still receiving care

Padgett has also taken advantage of VA’s unique ability to provide uninterrupted care to traveling Veterans. For the last decade, she and her husband have traveled the country in their RV, spending summers with their daughter in Utah or visiting others in the Pacific Northwest and winters basking in the Arizona sun. Because Veterans can receive care at any VA facility, Padgett has been able to maintain VA health care access, no matter where her adventures take her.

One challenge, however, followed her everywhere: self-coordinating a complex, time-sensitive effort to have VA ship her MS medications to family members’ homes along her route. More than once, her disease-modifying therapy (DMT) arrived no longer refrigerated, leaving her without viable medication and scrambling for a solution. It was then that Padgett fired off an email to the Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence (MSCoE), hoping someone could help.

The email was swiftly answered by MSCoE-West’s Administrative Officer Lani Pitofsky. “Lani became my caseworker and went to work for me from the first contact,” Padgett recalled. Together, they worked out a solution: the VA pharmacy would properly package her temperature-sensitive medication and ship it directly to Anne’s doorstep at her RV resort.

Today, she continues to travel and loves to hike in and around the Rocky Mountains. Her advice to fellow Veterans with MS is uncomplicated: “When in doubt, call MSCoE.” With more than 20 years of experience helping Veterans navigate VA MS care, MSCoE has the resources and expertise to meet you wherever you are in your MS journey, and to help get you where you need to be faster.

To contact MSCoE, email MSCentersofExcellence@va.gov or visit Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence.