March 2025 Newsletter

Michele Snyders was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) on April 4, 2018. She began experiencing weakness in her legs, her foot would drag on the ground after walking for a while, and she had an electrical shock sensation that ran down her neck and arms whenever she bent her head forward – what she now knows is called Lhermitte’s sign – a symptom of MS.

She works for the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) as the hospice and palliative care program manager. Prior to coming to SDAHO, Michele worked as a social worker at Avera for 23 years. She’s been with SDAHO for three years.

Unfortunately, Michele was at work when she received her diagnosis, so it was hard to hide her emotional response to the phone call. Her disability had progressed to needing a walker when she started with her current employer, so it was no longer a hidden diagnosis. Michele was very open with both employers and her coworkers about having MS.

“For me, it would have been emotionally more difficult to keep the diagnosis a secret. I have used living with MS as an opportunity to provide awareness of the disease, starting with my coworkers. It helps to work in healthcare,” Michele states.

She enjoys working with Palliative Care and Hospice Care professionals across the state to try to improve care for those living with serious illness. Their organization works at both the state and federal levels advocating for the needs of healthcare organizations so high-quality care can be delivered to South Dakota residents. While Michele misses working directly with patients, she loves having an impact on care through advocacy and education.

Michele has an amazing employer that offers a flexible work schedule as an accommodation, which allows her to do extra physical therapy and manage her doctor appointments. SDAHO has been extremely supportive of Michele. They installed an automatic door as she transitioned to using a scooter. Even though that is not required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), they did it. 

She feels very fortunate to have had jobs that fit her needs living with MS. Initially when diagnosed, she provided palliative care via telehealth. In her current role, most of what she does can be done online through Zoom or other electronic means. Michele shares, “Our staff has grown, and we’ve run out of office space, so I volunteered to work remotely about a year ago which has been great. I don’t have to worry about getting around in snow and ice!  I can go into the office whenever I want. We also have regular All Staff meeting days when the other four remote workers come to town, and we connect as an entire team.”

MS affects every part of her daily life. It transitioned to secondary progressive MS very quickly, so she has a lot of physical disability.  Michele uses a walker for short distances and a scooter for longer distances or when she’s outside. She’s had to adapt to just about everything she does daily from how she showers to how she drives. Michele can do nearly everything independently, but she does it more slowly.

Michele says, “Cooking is probably the biggest challenge, but it’s given me the opportunity to teach my husband a few things around the kitchen. I’m not sure he is thrilled with the cooking lessons, however!”

Michele is involved in an MS support group at Avera McKennan Outpatient Physical Therapy. They have a monthly support group that meets on the 4^th Monday of the month at 6:00pm in Plaza 5 (the former OI building). They have weekly small group exercise classes based on one’s physical abilities and then she regularly has physical therapy, including working with exoskeleton technology.  Michele participated in Walk MS for several years and served on the local MS Community Council for three years.

Thank you, Michele, for sharing your story as an employee with MS!