I feel I can talk about my Multiple Sclerosis with confidence because my body has experienced just about everything MS can dish out. I've only been in my current condition for the past three years and I feel it's still not that bad! I'm still looking forward to the future! That is not a bunch of bull, either! My life is good! I get up in the morning and I go to my computer to check my emails. I then work for a couple of hours. After that I can rest, watch TV or whatever. I don't have a boss overlooking my shoulder. Now I can only walk 100 feet before my legs weaken and I'm looking for a chair to sit down on. I always tell people "walking is overrated" anyway. As long as I have my three wheeled scooter Max, I'm OK! Max will be my legs for the next 40 years and I know it sounds weird but that's OK with me. I also use a walker (Sally) in my apartment. Usually, by 5pm my legs are weak and Sally supports me. I also think I may have a serious problem because I like to give inanimate objects real names. LOL Everything I own has a name if it costs more than $200. Everyday people are getting more accepting of disabled people. I feel disabled people are the new minority of the world. Everywhere I go is handicapped accessible. If I need to go to a Wal-Mart, a Home Depot or a large grocery store they have doors that open automatically making access easy. In my little town where I live there are no automatic doors but I can still get in the buildings I want to. I can easily get into my small grocery store, the drug store, the post office and my favorite pizza place. I've been opening doors for 8 years now while riding my scooter and I'm proud to say that there is no building as of yet I haven't been able to get into. When I was diagnosed with MS my neurologist always told me that how I was after 5 years was how I would probably be for the rest of my life. My magic year to get to was 1996. I thought if I could make it to '96 I'd be alright. Well, I made it to '96 and I was still very active. Things looked pretty good for me! However, in the past 5 years doctors have changed their thinking on that 5 year rule. They've noticed some of their patients have a worsening of their MS in years 5-10. They call this type of MS secondary progressive. In '96 if I had an exacerbation which is a worsening of the symptoms I'd still work and everything but I'd feel miserable. In '98 or year seven for me I had a bad exacerbation which I've never fully recovered from. I like to think I'm walking on a hill and there's only one direction to go and it isn't up. MS is a debilitating disease of the central nervous system. It can affect every part of your body because there are nerves throughout your body. For some reason and doctors don't know why but the body of a person with MS literally attacks itself. If you looked at the x-rays of my brain and spinal cord you'd see little white spots which are called plaque. Myelin is the protective sheath over the nerves like the rubber around an electrical wire. Your brain sends a signal to do something and the myelin keeps the signal going where it has to go. When scarring or plaque occurs on the myelin it interrupts the signal from the brain and sends the signal somewhere else. An example of how the plaque affects me is this. When I have to urinate I now catheter myself. The signal from my brain to my bladder to release my urine gets short circuited. I could stand in front of a urinal until hell freezes over and I would never urinate. Not even a drop. I'm not sure where the signal goes but the cathing works great for me! This is another example. The signal from my brain to pick up my feet when I walk doesn't fully get there. I slide my feet when I walk. Sometimes when I start walking too fast I lose my balance and sometimes I trip and fall. I have a lot of black and blue marks on my body. I also have large calluses on the bottom of my feet from all the sliding. Stay tuned for upcoming articles about my story. |
