Ann Romney: I'm Healthy Despite Multiple Sclerosis

Feb. 16, 2007 — -- Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, sat down with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. In a Sunday exclusive, they discussed Ann Romney's health and how it may affect his campaign. Following is an excerpt from their conversation, which will air this Sunday on "This Week."

George Stephanopoulos: Your sister, Jane, says you have lived a charmed life. What's the toughest personal crisis you've ever had to face?

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.: Well, the charm in my life is that I fell in love young. And you can't imagine what a blessing it is, in my opinion, to find your soul mate so young, to raise five kids together, and to see them get married and have children of their own. It's an extraordinary blessing. But without question, the most difficult time in our life was when Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Stephanopoulos: In 1998.

Ann Romney: Yes.

Mitt Romney: And we were in the doctor's office and she was going through a series of neurological tests.

Ann Romney: I was flunking everything.

Mitt Romney: Her right side wasn't working and we were thinking it could be Lou Gehrig's disease. And we said to each other, "As long as it's not fatal, we can live with anything."

Ann Romney: Well, he thought that.

Mitt Romney: You weren't sure about that.

Ann Romney: No, I was really, really troubled by the disease. It was really tough for me.

It was, obviously, hard for Mitt emotionally to have to support me during that, but for me, I am a physical person that loves action and loves to be involved in sports, and I was a tennis player at that point, and I, interestingly enough, had thought, "My gosh, I'm at the end of my 40s, almost 50 years old, I've made it through that period of life where people get diagnosed with MS."

I mean, I was thinking these thoughts, and then to actually have that diagnosis was just such a stunning blow to me.

Stephanopoulos: You're healthy now.

Mitt Romney: She's healthy.

Ann Romney: I am now.

Mitt Romney: She won't brag on herself, but she's really extraordinary. Of course, she used traditional medicine and Eastern medicine, everything she could think of to get herself strong. But she also started riding horses again.