The much-in-demand, much loved Villages vocalist, Mary Jo Vitale, who is as adept with renditions of everyday songs as she is with opera, is planning a benefit concert at the Savannah Center, Friday evening, March 20, at 7 p.m., to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.
The concert is entitled ‘For MS, with love!’ featuring Mary Jo Vitale and friends… upcoming tenor, Josh Leggett, and dynamite singing sensation, Dawn DiNome. The evening will showcase outstanding solos, dynamic duets and show-stopping trios.
While it is not unusual for these three great local performers to give of their time and talents for worthy causes, this time it’s a little different — a little closer to home. At her parents, Perry and Rosalie Vitale’s, beautiful home in the Village of Caroline, Mary Jo revealed she herself was diagnosed with MS.
“It started with my noticing problems with balance after I recovered from a bout of stomach flu,” Mary Jo said, “and, of course, we thought it might have come from an inner ear infection. But when my ears were found to be OK, an MRI scan revealed evidence of sclerotic lesions in my brain.”
The term multiple sclerosis represents a wide range of auto-immune, inflammatory diseases, ranging from mild to severe, which all have in common the disruption of the insulating coating (or myelin sheath) surrounding nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The de-myelination, and sometimes subsequent re-myelination, disrupts our central nervous system’s ability to communicate normally, resulting in a diverse range of possible signs and symptoms.
Some forms of the disease are episodic, and others are progressive. Scientists believe some combination of genetic, environmental and/or infectious factors may cause MS in pre-disposed individuals. At present, new oral and injectable drugs are showing promise for symptomatic relief and disease modification in some patients. As of 2010, an estimated 2 – 2.5 million people in the world suffered from MS. In the United States, MS occurs on average in 8.3 of 100,000 people. More patients are being diagnosed with MS today than ever before, but advanced diagnostic techniques may be credited with early and more accurate diagnosis.
“Aside from balance issues, I really haven’t had a lot of other symptoms,” Mary Jo said, “and in fact, I feel pretty well most of the time. But I won’t say this diagnosis isn’t scary, because it is. The course of MS is unpredictable.”
Mary Jo’s sister is a pathologist, and after sending her the scans to examine, Mary Jo actually heard the news from her sister.
Since Mary Jo’s symptoms are not all pervasive or pronounced, she could easily have kept her disorder a secret.
“MS is very different for different people. I can drive, I will wear my four-and-a-half-inch high heels for as long as I can — and I’m OK,” she said.
She manages her disease with a daily drug injection and tries to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly to stay in good physical shape.
“My parents are Italian,” Mary Jo smiled, “and I won’t ever give up my pasta and bread, but I just make sure to eat more fruits and vegetables now.”
“Right now, I focus my mind on navigating the obstacle course that MS is,” Mary Jo said, “and keeping a positive mindset. I believe research is close to finding more effective therapies, and that a cure will be found. Because I am well known in this area, I want people to know about my MS — to help raise awareness of the disease, and of the need for more funds for additional research. I want to use my God-given gift — my voice — to help fight this devastating disease.”
“My doctors are happy — and they don’t seem to think I’m getting worse.” Mary Jo sees Tampa neurologist Derrick Robertson and his nurse practitioner Lise Cassady. “They are wonderful,” Rosalie Vitale said, “there are several doctors there, and they are all very helpful.” Dr. Robertson recently began to see patients in The Villages one day per month, but Mary Jo and her mother would prefer to leave that schedule open to other MS patients in this area who are unable to travel to Tampa. “We make a good day out of visiting the doctor. We go to lunch and do some shopping there,” Rosalie said.
Mary Jo’s husband is Jon-Marc MacLean, a pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in The Villages. Their son, Danny, is 5. Mary Jo’s hope and goal is to be able to dance at Danny’s wedding — “and we don’t want him to marry too young either,” she quipped. The family is very appreciative of the excellent support network available in The Villages. “Ronn and Judy Heath from the MS People support group here have been wonderful, and we appreciate the Linn Financial group for sponsoring the concert,” she said.
Mary Jo will also lead a team at the MS Walk to be held at The Villages Polo Club on Saturday, March 21 — Â the morning after the concert. “Last year, we had more than 20 people on our team, including our son. Our goal is for our team to raise $10,000 for MS research.”
Details will be forthcoming shortly — but Mary Jo and her family hope to put MS on more peoples’ radar screens.
“We want them to know we are close to a cure.”
