My MS Story

Update number one My life with multiple sclerosis has been ever changing.  Five years ago I did not have the arm strength to get out of even a wet paper bag.  This weakness did not allow me to maneuver in and out of a simple sedan without great struggle.  I lacked the know-how and the skills needed to transfer to and from my wheelchair and a car correctly.  Sadly car manufacturers still have not accepted my idea of a slingshot device for help with this.  This mechanism would shoot me into an SUV from my wheelchair. A catchers-mitt would help catch me on my way out.   At that time the only vehicle that I physically could enter and exit easily was a small SUV.  It was because my legs could hold my body-weight steadily.  I merely stand next to the SUV grab the handle above the passenger side window.  Holding the handle, I simultaneously hop up and pull.  This procedure would land my rump on the seat where I physically grab my legs a...

Having to say those dreaded words: “table for one please” is the worst feeling in the world.   The issue of romance and MS has been a significant topic of discussion for an extremely long time.   I have never done a blog on the subject because like a schoolgirl watching a horror movie I fear it.    Since I am as confused as most on the topic of love I thought I would discuss it from my perspective.       The meaning of love is subjective.   I have seen arranged marriages or even people who wed out of convenience.   Both couples say that they genuinely love each other.   I have heard some couples say that they eventually came to love their significant other.   I also saw someone who was asked if they love their spouse and this person just said “sure.”   Neither of the last two examples sounds like love to me, but who am I to judge.    The idea of love for those of us with many medical conditions i...

I would rather walk three miles in the dark with a friend than one mile in the light alone.   There are many types of friends, and they all have their specific place in one's life.   We have good friends and not so good friends, text friends, and best friends.   There are phone friends and lone friends, school friends and cool friends.   There are work friends and camp friends, church friends and nerd friends.   Each of these friends has their strengths, and they tend to stick with those characteristics.   They can move from one zone to another although it does not happen often.   A work friend can become a best friend, and a lone friend can become a cool friend.   Most days I feel like life is a soup and I’m a fork. I feel that it is essential to have a variety of several types of friends at all times.   It is crucial to have good friends in all aspects of your life.   For example, I have swim class friends and church friend...

The further that I get into the swim for MS challenge the more that I get hit with physical difficulties.   So far these struggles have not been significant enough to make me want to stop swimming.   I have spasms in my legs more often than I used to.   When my legs spasm now they look like they are in a river dancing competition.   My routine of standing exercises that happens at home hourly has been happening less often because of a few falls.   I find myself cautiously slowing down my transfers to eliminate the chance of tumbles.   I try to do squats in the pool as it is safer to exercise in the water.   It is imperative to make sure that my legs can continue to bear weight.   However, these leg building exercises have not been as successful as I had hoped.    Since I have had MS for seventeen years, I am more willing to take some risks.   I now keep all of my movements deliberate preventing possible problematic perplexi...

I occasionally deal with those that see me in my wheelchair for the first time and talk to me like I am five.   “Hi, and how are you doing today?” people ask.   I answer like they are two.   “Wow look at the grown-up clothes that you are wearing today” I comment.   That usually goes over like a lead balloon at first.   After a few minutes, some people smile sheepishly and apologize in embarrassment.   I believe that when non-wheeled individuals see someone in a wheelchair, they make many incorrect assumptions. The following is difficult for me to talk about because my MS issues are more evident than other MSers.   Many with multiple sclerosis have symptoms that are not visible.   These hidden symptoms cause many who are not sick to distrust MSers.   The ill sometimes will say that they are too weak to do something.   At that point, the word liar gets tossed around like a ball in a dodgeball competition.   Wheeled indiv...