Sacramento, Calif., mayor discusses living with multiple sclerosis

By TERRY HARDY
Thursday, February 15, 2007

Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Heather Fargo vividly recalls the first time she noticed that something was wrong.

It was in December 1995, a cloudy weekend afternoon, and the then-councilwoman was at a community meeting.

"My foot went to sleep and stayed asleep. Days went by and the numbness moved up to the lower part of my leg. I thought to myself, 'What's this?' " she said.

Then it felt, for a long time, as if she was standing on gravel. It didn't matter if she was walking on cushy carpet _ it felt like stinging pins and needles, and didn't go away.

Several months later in 1996, she and her husband, Alan Moll, met with her doctor after a course of MRIs and painful withdrawals of spinal fluid. The diagnosis: multiple sclerosis _ a disorder of the central nervous and immune systems _ in its most mild form.

For about a decade, only Fargo's immediate family and closest friends and associates knew about her neurological condition. She kept her secret through her third successful City Council campaign, and then two mayoral bids in 2000 and 2004.

That changed Tuesday.

The very-private Fargo, 54, announced she wanted to become active in fighting the disease, and it was time to go public. She will continue as full-time mayor and still plans to run for her third mayoral term in 2008.

In the past year, Fargo said her condition has progressed from "relapsing-remitting" MS _ in which symptoms, mainly leg weakness and sometimes trouble with balance, would flare and fade. Last summer, her doctor determined it had progressed to "secondary progressive" _ in which symptoms never go away.

"I honestly didn't know how people were going to react," Fargo said. "I'm hoping that people who have it (MS) can look at me and feel better about themselves. Those who don't have it can learn more about what it is."

For those watching Fargo, it's become clear that her health has worsened over the past year. She broke her foot in early 2006, began walking with a cane and never stopped.

Fargo's never missed a day because of the disease, she said. However, she has to make sure that an event doesn't include lots of walking, and that there are handrails for steps. Heat, more than anything, seems to exacerbate her condition.

"It really tests my stamina and mood," she said. "I feel like I'm in molasses. It's very strange."

Fargo is upbeat and appears eager to take on a new activist challenge. She has sent a letter to supporters, alerting them to her condition and telling them she has formed a team to raise money for the city's yearly MS walk. The letter is paid out of her re-election fund.

Still, Fargo acknowledges that learning the latest diagnosis was difficult, particularly because she continues to struggle with scoliosis. But Fargo said now that she walks and carries less, her back pain has lessened.

She injects herself every other day with Betaseron to help control the illness. She tries to eat healthy, lots of fruits and vegetables, and has regular physical therapy.

A great regret is that she's had to pare down considerably one of her favorite hobbies, gardening. Too much and she feels "weak and stumbly."

She remembers watching with great interest the television show "The West Wing" when the White House endures a scandal after it's learned that President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (Martin Sheen) had MS but kept it secret.

"There were definite parallels, things I needed to think about," Fargo said. "But I finally decided that it didn't seem necessary to tell the public because it wasn't affecting my ability or judgment."