Cecelia, 35, discovered aerial arts in 2016. In spring 2020 - amid pandemic stress and relocation - she woke with numbness from her belly button down. Symptoms rapidly progressed: ascending left-side numbness, vertigo, vision disruption.
Her primary care provider, recognizing urgency, arranged an MRI despite three-month Covid backlogs. An ER physician dismissed her concerns - citing gendered bias - before her diagnosis.
MRI confirmed relapsing-remitting MS, with lesions across brain and spinal cord. She began high-efficacy disease-modifying therapy immediately.
Now relapse-free for five years, Cecelia adapts aerial practice: using rigged silks at lower heights, prioritizing yoga and stretching over flow when dizzy, and openly communicating needs to students and studio staff at Aeriform Studio.
She credits neural plasticity for maintaining function - rerouting signals around damaged areas - while emphasizing that MS remains invisible yet ever-present. Her advocacy centers on self-advocacy: ‘You know your body best. If providers don’t listen, find ones who do.’