20 Apr 2015 Family comes first: Struggles with disease put life in perspective

by Jennifer Godwin
Mike Kemp photos

Carol Kimery’s father never knew that his only daughter had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Joel Kimery Sr. died of complications from the same disease in March 2010, just months before Carol began to experience symptoms of her own, symptoms that were familiar to her because she had seen her father endure them since his diagnosis in 1998.

It’s a family journey that has seen more downs than ups, but Carol hopes that her faith and strength will carry her through as she fights her own battle with MS, an unpredictable and often disabling disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks myelin in the central nervous system.

There is no known cause for multiple sclerosis, although researchers think genetics and the environment must play a role. Typically, a person who has a family member with MS has a slightly increased chance of being diagnosed as well. In Carol’s case, an aunt by marriage who lived with her family also was diagnosed with MS, leading Carol to believe that environment is a factor.

The Kimery family lived in Hot Springs and moved to Benton when Carol entered fourth grade. That’s where she lives today, along with her mother and daughter, Kendal. Carol was a daddy’s girl through and through, sharing her father’s sense of humor. Joel Kimery Sr. was a supply sergeant in the U.S. Army, and in his free time, he liked to take his daughter fishing.

“He really was my best buddy when I was a kid,” Carol said, recalling that he always made time for family. He was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas for a time during the Persian Gulf War, which was tough on the family, she said.

When Carol was in her mid-twenties, she moved to the East Coast for a job opportunity. She relished being able to experience a new place. She lived in New Jersey, and then New York City, first as a nanny and then in sales. She also found love.

But in 1998, a phone call from back home changed everything. Her dad had fallen on his way to work and wasn’t able to walk. His speech was slurred. Doctors at first thought he had a stroke, but the final diagnosis was multiple sclerosis. Joel couldn’t return to work and retired from the U.S. Army that year. Carol’s mom, Marsha Kimery, was his primary caretaker, and in 2001, Carol returned home to help as well.

By 2002, the family welcomed a new addition, Carol’s daughter, Kendal. Grandfather and granddaughter had an immediate and strong bond. It was around this time Carol’s marriage began to crumble, but the family pulled together and helped her through, just as they had come together for Joel.

Carol decided to put her career goals on hold as she raised Kendal and helped take care of her father, whose MS was getting progressively worse. In 2006, she decided to finish college and enrolled at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

“College was an opportunity for me to grow and create meaningful connections,” she said, adding that many of those relationships continue to this day.

There, she found a passion as she studied toward getting her bachelor of business administration in marketing. Key internships with the university’s College of Business and later, the Little Rock Zoo, gave Carol the inspiration she needed to continue toward her goals.

In 2010, though, as Carol was in her final spring semester, tragedy struck. Complications from multiple sclerosis led to Joel coming down with pneumonia. He died March 5 after a brief illness. The family was devastated. Gone was the husband, father and grandfather who had been such a strong and loving presence, even as MS robbed him of his ability to be active over the years.

Determined to keep on with her studies, Carol entered her final college semester, yet something was off. In September, she began to experience flu-like symptoms and extreme fatigue.

“It was so strange. My daughter and I had been arguing about her lost blazer. It was a stressful moment,” Carol said. “The next morning, I remember my hip popped out of place, and from that point on, I felt like I had come down with the flu. I had hit a wall.”

She was working as a zoo marketing intern at the time and began stumbling and falling on the job. She thought — hoped, really — it was a pinched nerve.

But her gut, and the doctors, told her otherwise. In December 2010, just nine months after losing her father to MS, Carol was diagnosed with it as well.

That December was also graduation month, and Carol was worried that she wouldn’t be able to finish her finals and walk at commencement. She did though, using the four-legged cane that once belonged to her father.

“I never thought to get one of my own,” she said. “Having daddy’s cane was like having him there with me for support.”

It’s been a bumpy road since her diagnosis. Carol, who has relapsing-remitting MS, the most common type, has experienced a few exacerbations that have left her with symptoms ranging from numbness and fatigue to pain and gait problems.

These days, Carol works in the insurance industry. And her degree in marketing has helped fuel a new passion: Advocacy work.

In addition to staying involved with the Little Rock Zoo’s fundraising committees, Carol is a part of Women Run Arkansas and a bootcamp in Benton called Rise and Grind.

“It’s empowering. At first, I didn’t know if I could walk, much less run,” Carol said. “But then I thought, ‘wow, I can do this.’ And I have been.”

She also is involved with the National MS Society’s Arkansas chapter, helping out with the annual Walk MS event and spreading awareness about the disease that has affected three members of her family.

&ldq
uo;I keep on and keep on and keep on,” she said. “No matter what the adversity is, I try to not disappoint my parents or my daughter.”

Carol also relies on her faith to keep her strong. A member of Revolution Church in Benton, Carol finds the supportive atmosphere to be good for her health.

“I’m still striving for better,” she said. “I would want [my father] to be proud that I didn’t give up and I put my family and faith first.”