Greater NEW ENGLAND CHAPTER

MOVING TOWARD A WORLD FREE OF MS SPECIAL EDITION 2014

HEALTH DERAILED LEADS TO CREATIVE SOLUTIONS ona Mondano, most recently of Lexington, Mass., was living a life. She was married, had a Mgreat, full-time job with 3M Company in New Jersey, and was truly content. But, as Mona says, “nothing stays the same.” Unfortunately, the co-creator of LassoapTM, your favorite soap- on-a-rope, had her life turned upside down when she found out she had MS. Shortly before her diagnosis in 1990, she went through a divorce and faced a whirlwind of change. After a great deal of thought, and with it becoming increasingly difficult to live on her own, Mona decided to move back to her home town, Lexington, close to family. “It’s a hard thing to do,” she said, “for an adult to move back in with her parents. I was lucky to have a great place to live but there was a period of adjustment, not only for me but my parents.” Mona Mondano with her Lassoap products. After her MS diagnosis changed her life, she changed it again and made is making it even In 2004, she broke her hip, which affected better than the first time. her independence. If things couldn’t get any worse, Mona had a hip replacement months later and spent a large portion of the year in rehab. Unfortunately, shortly after rehab she broke her leg, so she had to go back to rehab again. “My life at that point was just a mess.” Admittedly, she was depressed, but then she got angry. Everything was difficult. “One day, I dropped the soap one too many times in the shower.” Having to call a home care provider to retrieve her soap was so embarrassing. “I couldn’t even take a shower by myself.” If she dropped the soap, she was unable to bend because of hip precautions after her joint replacement. The serious fear of slipping on a soapy floor in the shower was an obstacle. One day, she had an idea and asked her father to add a 36 inch cord to her favorite soap. In that way, she could hang the soap on the grab bar, soap dish, or shower head. It worked perfectly and gave her a sense of independence in the shower that she had not had in a long time. But she didn’t stop there. She had the idea to make more for others, and then sell the product on the Internet, just to see if there were others who could benefit. “We decided to sell LassoapTM on eBay first,” Mona explained. Sales were good from the start, but more importantly, notes of thanks from customers were heartwarming. One woman wrote that her husband, with one arm, could now shower independently. Some wrote that liquid soap created a slippery floor and soap-on-a-rope diminished a valid fear. Top Stories

Soap-on-a-rope has been around for some time. However it is a home-made brew molded onto a rope and can be expensive and not “skin friendly.” There is not the quality assurance that we get from the large soap manufacturers. It’s not just soap we sell, it’s safety. We can add a cord to virtually any commercial and high quality soap available. With sales growing steadily, this family business, now called LifEase Products LLC, became a merchant seller on Amazon.com reaching a huge audience. Typically, they sell three soaps-on-a-rope for $21 plus shipping. “We now have over 12 different commercial soaps-on-rope, and we just added several Publication of the Crabtree & Evelyn soaps on rope.” National Multiple Sclerosis Society Greater New England Chapter Even though Mondano “suffers” from MS, her disability essentially gave her this opportunity not only to improve herself, but the lives of others. Using her 101A First Avenue Waltham, MA 02451-1115 sales and marketing skills learned during her 20 years at 3M, she hopes to grow 800-344-4867 the business and add additional products that help others overcome obstacles she www.MSnewengland.org and others face. “I’m lucky to have a father, Ralph, who is an entrepreneur and facebook.com/MSnewengland a professional engineer who built all our machinery and continually makes our tweet @ MS_newengland manufacturing process more efficient. My mother, Ruth, an artist, named our youtube.com/MSnewengland product “LassoapTM” because there is a lasso-type loop at the end of the cord, making it easy to hang the soap. She oversees the creative aspects of the business.” Chairman • Douglas E. Bryant Chapter President • Lori Espino While soap-on-a-rope can help people who have MS, and was designed for this MSConnection Editor • Steven R. Sookikian Publications Manager • Wendy Feign purpose, the blind, the elderly, and other physically handicapped people benefit TM from Lassoap . Testimonials on Mona’s lifeaseproductsllc.com attest to that. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Mona designed the website herself. does not endorse products, services or manufacturers. Such names appear The entire Mondano family is instrumental to the success of the business. here solely because they are considered She recently hired a physically challenged person recovering from cancer to valuable information. The Society assumes spends hours alongside her father, manufacturing soap-on-a-rope. She’s hoping no liability for the use of contents of any her nephew, a computer engineering major at RIT, will help automate all of the product or service mentioned. Information provided by the Society is based upon processes, such as inventory tracking. Right now, everything is done by hand. professional advice, published experience Ultimately, I want to hire additional people and those people will be individuals and expert opinion. Information provided with MS, or others with disabilities. We all want to make a difference despite our in response to questions does not limitations. constitute therapeutic recommendations or prescriptions. The Society recommends Recently, LifEase Products donated LassoapTM to the Spaulding Rehabilitation that all questions and information be Hospital in Charlestown to help those affected by the Marathon bombing. discussed with a personal physician. The Society is dedicated to mobilizing people “I felt I really needed to do that,” she explained, solemnly. “To wake up and have and resources to drive research for a cure a limb missing...nobody could see it coming.” and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS. The business is steadily growing and is creating independence for many physically challenged folk in all 50 states. The product continues to be sold on Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow Amazon as well as the official website itself, complete with customer testimonials. of information between brain and “One new product has been added to our product line, a Wound Seal Kit that body and can stop people from moving stops minor bleeding almost immediately. We are waiting for patent approval for forward in their lives. With the help of people like you, the National MS a retrieval device to pick up items from the floor. Society addresses the challenges of “YES! MS is a major inconvenience, but now I can’t wait to wake up each each person whose life is affected by MS and helps them stay connected to morning knowing my efforts are going into making products that will make life the great big moving world. easier for the physically challenged, for seniors and others that face obstacles each © 2014 day.” National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater New England Chapter