My MS Story

The Veterans Administration decided to send me to an MS specialist.   This civilian doctor wanted to look at my most up to date MRI that I had.   “I have not had an MRI in over twelve years,” I said in a matter of fact tone.   I explained to her that my last MRI was done at a hospital downtown in 2005-2006.   I then remarked that the VA has copies of these images if you cannot get them from the hospital.   I told her that they should be available upon her request.   She decided that she wanted to get a new MRI of my brain. To get the most accurate results this doctor sent me for this MRI at her facility.   However, in my back I have four pieces I will call them metal confetti for a more fun term.   Because of these metal pieces, they had to take an X-ray before the MRI to verify the location. I was taken into an office for an abundance of check-in questions.   The clerk verified that I was the same person who was in their computer system.   She did this by asking me many ve

I was asked: Multiple Sclerosis what is the one thing that you cannot live without?   I pondered this perplexing puzzle for a few minutes.   I suppose that this question is genuinely up for interpretation.   Otherwise, most people might just say that family is the most essential thing in their MS world. This question is impossible for me to answer.   I cannot specify one thing alone that I could not live without.   Of course, I would say, friends, church family, and family, but none of these are things as the question states.   I would say that my current friends are the cornerstone of my life.   The Veterans Administration is also not technically an object, but it has been vital to my existence.        As for the irreplaceable items in my life, there is a bountiful list.   Let me start with my wheeled chariot.   Without this magical manual mechanism, I would be bedridden and merely be waiting for the end.   It helps me stay active by requiring me to propel myself from one

As a seventeen-year veteran MSer, I am sometimes asked to give advice to the newly diagnosed.   Sometimes I am the one to welcome the recently initiated into the fraternity or sorority of MSers.   Questions get posed to me all of the time typically asking the same queries in different forms.   Is MS a death sentence?   No.   You have MS, how do you look so good?   Oil of Olay.   What now?   Hold.   Then one gentleman’s query put me in a quandary.   He asked: What should I expect from an MS life?   I thought for a moment and came up with this answer.   This is the way that I look at it, and it is my opinion.   My explanation had elucidated our strange medical condition in this simple sentence.   With Multiple Sclerosis you must expect anything and be ready for everything.   There are a plethora of variables that make planning for MS an impossibility.   Just to give you an idea of some of these issues: age, how healthy you are and your geographic location just to name a few.

I visited a friend at his new house as he moved and wanted to show his new digs.   When I was there, he had to take an urgent phone call.   After he was put on hold, he looked up and asked me to feed his bird.   “I’m sorry, what,” I asked.   He told me to put some fresh seeds in the bird food holder.   “His bowl has food in it” I clarified.   He explained that the food dish has bird feed that is stale and needs mixing with fresh feed.   He saw me hesitate and said, “The bird will not bite.”   He began explaining the proper procedures for feeding this pet of his.   First, open the cage and remove the food bowl.   I followed his directions to the letter, and the bird quickly escaped.   I apologized for the next hour as we tried to capture the creature and put it back into its cage.   I felt terrible even after we finally caught and re-caged this flying creature of his.   I went home and slept for the better part of the afternoon as the stress was significant. This is an examp