Grateful for the care their loved one received at the Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a Radnor, Pa. family orchestrates an annual fund-raiser concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. This year’s "Music from the Heart" concert, is scheduled for 8 p.m. on June 3.

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A healthy young man in his late 20s, art teacher John Kline was very involved in his career at the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Married in 1995 to fellow Country Day School music teacher Christine Malone Kline, it seemed to Kline that life couldn’t get any better.

Yet in August 2000 the Radnor, Pa. resident began experiencing odd, troubling symptoms. Without warning, Kline lost sight in his left eye. He sought medical treatment at a local hospital. He was checked for an array of diseases, including brain tumor, lupus and Lyme Disease. Finally Kline was told he had optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve. He was also told he might have multiple sclerosis, but the diagnosis was unclear.

 “Some people who have optic neuritis do get multiple sclerosis,” Kline says. “Some people don’t. It was very much up in the air.” He was sent home with a prescription for steroids and later regained most of the vision in his eye.

Resuming his normal schedule, Kline soon went on a vacation to a reserve in Montana with his wife and his mother-in-law, Cecilia Beatty, head of the music department at Country Day School and the Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pa.

What should have been a relaxing trip turned into a life-changing event when problematic symptoms returned--this time even worse. “I began to experience numbness to my feet and the numbness worked its way all the way up to my chest and shoulders,” says Kline. “My legs were completely numb and I was losing control. We all began to panic.”

The nearest hospital was in Boseman, Montana, 90 minutes away, down a gravel road. Kline and his family decided to hit the road and made their way to Boseman, but at the hospital they were told there wasn’t much that could be done for Kline. The trio considered an immediate trip home to Pennsylvania.

“That was when we began making phone calls,” says Kline. “I started with my regular doctor. He provided me with numbers. I called and called and left many messages for many people. The only person I could get a hold of was Thomas Jefferson University neurologist Thomas Leist, M.D., Ph.D., -- and thankfully so.”

Dr. Leist, director of the Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center at Jefferson, “held Kline’s hand” through a very difficult and scary experience, says Kline. After a lengthy phone discussion of Kline’s symptoms, Dr. Leist told him that, indeed, it did sound like Kline had symptoms of a sensory multiple sclerosis exacerbation. Dr. Leist recommended that Kline be seen immediately upon returning to Pennsylvania, but added that the best thing to do was for Kline to try to enjoy the rest of his vacation–and relax–until he got home.

“It is not uncommon for the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis to be due to inflammation of the optic nerve which carries vision from the eye to the brain,” says Dr. Leist, assistant professor of Neurology, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. Then, Kline’s subsequent problems fit in with commonly reported symptoms. “When I talked to him on the phone while he was in Montana, I explained what was likely to be going on..”

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system in which destruction of myelin (a collection of lipid fats and proteins that sheaths the long extensions of the neurons called axons) occurs in patches throughout the brain and spinal cord and which also affects nerve cells. This destruction interferes with the nerve pathways and causes weakness, loss of coordination, and speech and visual disturbances.

“A multiple sclerosis ‘exacerbation,’ or flare of symptoms, is different from a stroke or neuro-emergency in which you need immediate care,” says Dr. Leist. In Kline’s case, the characteristics of his symptoms allowed for him to complete the work-up after his return. Once back in the Philadelphia area, Kline was seen personally and immediately by Dr. Leist at Jefferson and after full testing, long-term therapy for multiple sclerosis was initiated. When multiple sclerosis is suspected, typical testing includes a neurological exam, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and likely of the spinal cord and, depending on the circumstances, may include a lumbar puncture or spinal tap, during which fluid is removed from the spinal column for diagnostic purposes.

There is no single test for multiple sclerosis. Clinical symptoms, findings during a neurological exam and findings on MRI are helpful in the diagnosis. But as the name implies the ultimate diagnosis relies on the occurrence of new clinical or MRI findings over time. Care for patients with multiple sclerosis is a team effort, says Dr. Leist, this includes physiatrists, ophthalmologists, neuro-ophthalmologists, urologists and psychiatrists, in addition to primary care physicians and the MS Center team.

Says Kline, “I struck out on both key tests [spinal tap and MRI]. My spinal fluid indicated multiple sclerosis and my MRI showed demyelination lesions.”

Currently Kline is managing his multiple sclerosis under Dr. Leist’s care with the drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate). “It’s a daily injection,” Kline explains, “that slows down the process of the disease.”

Now 33, Kline has his symptoms mostly under control, although the numbness in his hands still continues, and he has some balance impairment as well as trouble controlling body temperature. “Summers are brutal,” he says, “but I feel good and continue with what I need–and like–to do. At Jefferson, I have a great team of doctors to address my situation.”

Turning Negatives Into Positives
Once Kline became a patient of Dr. Leist’s, he and his wife and mother-in-law inquired about ways to “give back” to the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Jefferson University Hospital. Upon hearing that Kline was an art teacher and artist, Dr. Leist suggested that Kline might be interested in donating a piece of his art work to a future auction. Kline liked that idea but wanted to take it a step further.

“My mother-in-law, my wife, and I certainly wanted to do something to say thank you and to raise funds to help people with multiple sclerosis,” says Kline. The idea of a concert came to mind. The family began investigating concert halls and recruiting musical talents in order to set up a very successful concert series.

An initial fund-raiser concert was performed in 2002 at Carnegie Hall. Concerts in 2003 and 2004 were performed at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center. All proceeds benefited research at Jefferson’s Multiple Sclerosis Center.

This year’s Carnegie Hall concert will feature the Valley Forge Military Academy and College Regimental Choir and the Young Women’s Choral Society performing mainly classical compositions, as well as one modern requiem. Christine Malone Kline will conduct, and Cecilia Beatty and William Carr are featured as pianists.

“When John got sick, we all wanted to do what we could,” says Beatty. “He is a son to me and we all care about him deeply. It was Christine [Kline] who thought of the concerts and Carnegie Hall. She said, ‘If we want to do something that works, let’s start at the top!” Part of the funding to rent the space at Carnegie Hall comes from private and pharmaceutical company sources.

The Multiple Sclerosis Center at Jefferson has as its mission to provide comprehensive patient care and to advance research into the cause and treatment of MS. The Center has a team of expert clinicians, nurses and research staff striving to provide the best treatment possible. Embedded in the Division of Neuroimmunology, the Center is part of a wider effort to improve the life of people with immune disorders affecting the nervous system.

For more concert information and ticket sales, log onto www.carnegiehall.org, or call Carnegie Hall at 212-247-7800.