MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — An estimated 2.8 million people have multiple sclerosis across the globe, according to the National Institutes of Health. It’s a lifelong disease that’s known to affect the central nervous system.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the National Institutes of Health, multiple sclerosis affects millions of people  

  • Brittany Burton was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer

  • She hopes to open her own bakery some day

Brittany Burton has a passion for making cupcakes. It’s a family tradition, too.

“We are making our drunken pumpkin cupcakes this week,” she said. “Ever since I was young, I’ve been baking with my father.”

She started her business, BabyCake Cupcakes and More, when she moved to Parrish from New Hampshire in 2020. But last summer, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“I was a little bit nervous, but at the same time, I thought it was stress and it would go away,” Burton said.

At that time, her baking business was more of a side job. She was also working at a hospital training to be a nurse. Until one day, she couldn’t write her name and she knew something was wrong.

“It was like stroke-like symptoms. I then got called to the emergency room, stroke alert got called on me, and the next day, I had 2 MRIs, a CT, and a spinal tap to tell me I had MS,” Burton said.

She decided to put all of her energy into her baking business. Just a month after being diagnosed, she started baking again.

“I went right back to baking because if I fully stopped, I would lose the capability to grab things,” she said.

Living with MS has its challenges, but it’s not slowing her down: Burton’s fulfilling about half a dozen orders a week.

“As you can see, I shake sometimes, and that’s part of the MS,” she said. “It’s okay. You can still do things and be good at it.”

And when she’s not whipping up something sweet, she’s at the gym. She exercises not only to stay fit, but also to help maintain function and manage symptoms.

“It just keeps everything moving so you don’t forget things, stay functioning better, and keep you off of medicine, which I like,” Burton said.

Owning a business is a 24/7 job and while she was working out, one of her neighbors texted her, wanting an order of cupcakes.

“I’m known in this community as ‘Cupcake,’” Burton said,

Baking has become her identity, but it’s also helping her battle MS. Right now, Burton bakes out of her home and hopes to open a bakery in the area soon.