We need this forum, to be able share our fears and ask questions and advice, and in its own way it’s been great. But a common theme, particularly among newbies, is the terror that their lives will come to a screeching halt and they’ll never find happiness or joy again.
We are so much more than our MS. I like that Mogace and Crazy Chick have been sharing parts of their lives that have nothing to do with a horrible disease. Maybe if more of us wrote about our activities and interests it would let the newer ones know that life does go on, just maybe a little differently than before.
This is my Charlie. He reaches the middle of my thighs but thinks he’s a lap dog. I can’t walk him any more, but he has a 20 meter cable that he runs on out back. It’s anchored to my back porch, so I just attach it inside and then turn him loose. We sit outside for long periods whenever the weather’s nice, and he’s able to chase squirrels and collect sticks. I usually read and drink coffee out of my favorite oversized mug. This morning we were able to watch 2 does and a fawn stroll through the neighbor’s field.
But it would not have been helpful to my 37-year-old self to have had that glimpse of the hard realities of the future. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done well, considering the aggressive nature of my MS from day 1. And I am happy and grateful to be as well as I am and I have a good life, blessed with love and laughter. But that assurance would not have consoled the distraught newly-dx me, and nor should it have. The newly dx me would have been aghast at aspects of my life now. The only thing I found helpful was someone telling me that I would learn to deal with whatever came along, and so far that has been true. This is a good life. But it’s not what I was dreaming of and planning for when I was 37. MS is a total pisser. I knew it then, and I know it now.
