‘I’m an athlete’: Omaha woman with MS stays positive on fitness journey ahead of Lincoln race | live well

Freeman puts Kozelichki’s arm in a teal windbreaker.

Kozelichki standing. She pulls the zipper and struggles.

“Can you have it, Kim?” Freeman asks.

Of course not, says Kozelichki.

Kim Kozelichki’s frame is slight. Highlight her blonde hair. At 51, she wore office glasses as thick as her smile.

Her husband hired Todd Freeman to take care of Kim during the day while he worked.

Kim Kozelichki has lived with multiple sclerosis for 26 years.

Although they’ve only known each other since early February, Kozelichki calls Freeman “Kim squared.”

With Freeman, Kozelichki can breathe with satisfaction knowing she has a girlfriend to “get it”.

The doorbell is ringing. Kim’s flight has arrived.

She slowly emerges from the kitchen to the hallway, with each step, reminding herself: toe. Heel.

Kim carefully makes her way down a carpeted staircase. Then another.

The toe of her Navy Brooks sneaker grabs her stride. Kim does not shake or start. She stops, like a ballerina in pointe.

She lifts her foot and ventures through the door, past the garage, and into the sunlight and cool air.

She lowers herself into a wheelchair. Freeman rolls Kim through the concrete driveway, where the car door stands open.

Kim lifts herself up and then gets down again into the sedan. Go to the gym.

“She’s a hero,” says Freeman.

A few months ago, Renee Stewart, Kim’s nurse for four years, suggested that Kim, a former Division II college tennis player, take part in the 45th annual Lincoln Marathon.

On Sunday, race day, Stewart and other members of Kim’s care team plan to push her in the half marathon. The team will use an adaptive wheelchair to run until they reach the finish near Memorial Stadium.

Kim intends to get out of her chair and cross the line on her feet.

The team expects 50 to 60 friends and family to come to cheer Kim.

Stewart said that about a year ago while jogging, she envisioned including a patient from the multiple sclerosis program at Home Access in the Lincoln race. She thought about how she would deal with life’s stresses if she could no longer run.

With MS, the immune system attacks the protective layers that line the body’s nerves. The cells are damaged, the connections are broken. As lesions accumulate, a person’s movement and cognition can be affected.

Some people have no symptoms over the course of their lives, while others lose their ability to walk quickly. MS can also cause mood and memory disturbances.

Researchers estimate that approximately one million people in the United States live with the condition. It is three times as common in women as men. Newly diagnosed patients tend to be relatively young, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years.

Illness can affect all aspects of a person’s life, making comprehensive services a vital component of care.

This is the philosophy behind the Home Multiple Sclerosis Program, through which Kim receives services.

Founded in 2013 by Kathleen Healey, a nurse practitioner and neuroscientist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, program staff meet patients at home to alleviate the transportation barriers that people with MS face when trying to navigate the health care system.

Addressing the challenges posed by MS requires more than a standard 30-minute office visit, said Stewart, who helps lead the program.

Stewart hopes to make the marathon an annual event to raise awareness of the program and the importance of physical activity for patients with MS.

During a home visit in April, Stewart sat behind her laptop and reviewed Kim’s chart.

They discussed Kim’s recent hospitalization, which occurred after she contracted an infection. While Kim recovers, her dog, Honey, roams the chocolate lab and Chow Cross, the house. At night, Honey would sleep next to Todd on Kim’s side of the bed.

Kim was released from the hospital and spent three weeks in a rehabilitation center. Her physical strength returned.

The team reviewed Kim’s list of medications. It takes more than 10 a day. Some help reduce the chance of MS relapse while others reduce common MS symptoms such as muscle tremors and constipation.

Several studies have highlighted the benefits of low to moderate intensity exercise for improving quality of life, she said, but medical practitioners tend to prescribe it less than necessary.

Muscles can be strengthened and tightened, reducing the fatigue, weakness, and spasms that often accompany illness. Balance improvement exercises can prevent falls. Depressed mood can be elevated.

Truth be told, Kim doesn’t care much about running. But she enjoys working out.

“I am an athlete, and I will always be considered an athlete,” Kim said.

The team convinced Biogen, a biotech company, to sponsor their efforts. Stewart bought T-shirts that read “Together We Are Stronger MS.”

People consider the Kozelichkis an inspiration that tempts the family, but shy away from being interested.

However, if their participation raises awareness of the importance of the exercise, Kim and Todd will gladly accept the role of spokespersons.

Kim won’t stop moving. She can’t. To stop means to give in to despair.

And what’s the use of that?

Kim can’t remember the day in May 1997 when she was diagnosed.

The first signs of MS began the previous fall, with tingling in her hands and feet. When Kim played tennis, she sometimes missed the ball and tripped. A fiercely competitive player, she couldn’t hit her evil head.

I thought it needed more practice.

Then months later, Kim’s left side became numb. Was it a stroke? Within a week, she received an answer.

The doctor’s statement kicked her in the stomach.

There were few treatments available in the late 1990s that could alter the course of MS, but Kim was one of the few patients locally selected to receive the recently approved chemotherapy that relieved some of her symptoms.

At first, Kim and Todd treated MS as something they needed to fix in their lives.

“Then you start to realize you’re not fixing this,” Todd said. “You live with it.”

Kim began to compromise.

She retired in 1999 from a bright career as a Program Manager for CSG Systems Inc. , then the billing software company.

The two decided not to have children. With Todd’s challenging career with the Omaha Police Department, Kim couldn’t imagine how he would be able to take care of a child if her health deteriorated.

Todd Kozelichki, 51, now works as a sergeant with the Firearms Squad in the OPD’s Gangster Unit.

Because of her MS, Kim has lost some of the mental sharpness that attracted Todd when they started dating in 1990, their junior year at Northwest Missouri State University.

Follow Todd Kim, attracted by her playful personality.

But in recent years, on the bad days, her mind has fluctuated.

Conversations with Todd meander in circles. Kim does not catch repetition.

“Not being able to think like I was going crazy,” she said. “I pray more, that’s for sure.”

She prays for others. She prays for herself. When Todd gets frustrated, Kim asks God to step into her mind and help her cast the thought away.

When Todd looked at Kim, he proudly spoke of someone who had pushed through the diagnosis for 26 years.

“I’m a positive person,” Kim said. “I don’t see any other option…

“As long as I can get to the gym – I’m so happy when I get there.”

Kim arrives at MS Forward on Friday morning.

Greetings from a circle of friends and head coach Josh Kuchera.

In 2001, Josh’s father, Daryl Kuchera, opened a gym for high school athletes, then renovated it after being diagnosed with MS a month later.

Now, it’s one of the few places in Omaha where people with MS or other neurological disorders or injuries can work together: a community that supports their physical, cognitive and emotional wellness.

The indoor facility is located in a mall in southwest Omaha, near a children’s entertainment center and Smokin Barrel BBQ.

Classmates alternate between exercise stations, which consist of tools and machines, some worn and scratched from heavy use. A ceiling-mounted sign reminds them to “refuse to lose”.

The pop anthem “Watch Me Shine” is played through a Bluetooth speaker.

Josh holds a stopwatch and launches combos.

Kim raises an 8-pound bell over her head.

“Is that a light, cuz?” Josh asks her.

They call her “Cuz,” a moniker given by Daryl when meeting Kim nearly two decades ago.

“Midway!” Josh says. “Ten seconds! Time! Relax!”

Kim exhales and moves on to the next stop, where she winds a piece of rope around a tube. As you roll, the weight attached to one end rises and falls.

After a few rehearsals, Kim hits the Everlast punching bag.

“Is these punches?” asks Kim Freeman, who is accompanying her.

Kim Kozelichki takes a few more hits.

“That’s enough to bring someone down if they’re exposed to a lot of those,” Freeman says with a laugh.

Lincoln’s race will be Kim’s first. But in other words, it won’t happen.

Kim’s life is really long.