A long but lovely true story…hope you have the time and patience.
Yesterday, my eldest grandson JW, 19, brought his girlfriend, Mol, 18, to visit as usual, and I can only assume she had asked him what is the matter with me. Their conversation:
JW Gran has MS which is short for Multiple Sclerosis
M Well, thanks,(roll of the eyes) that means a lot.
JW Soz, it is an illness but not something that can get better. It gets worse and for Gran there aren’t many times when she feels great.
M She looks great though, except for her tripping and bumping into things, you wouldn’t know there’s something up with her.
JW Yeh, but if you spent all day with her you’d see there’s a lot wrong. She gets pain and forgets everything.
M Ahh, it’s a shame 'cos she’s really nice. Do many people get it?
JW Not sure, it’s not rare and not common.
M I wonder why some people stay in bed all the time and some can go out? My Gran would be really mad if she had to stay in bed all day and all night.
JW Listen Mol, MS works differently for everyone, some are a lot worse than others. No-one wants to stay in bed all day and night.
M Yeah, she told me she was tired. My mum said she’d never sleep at night if she went to bed in the day so it must be bad for your Gran. Mum works with a woman who knows someone with MS and thinks they’re putting it on.
JW Well for one thing, my Gran isn’t putting it on and why would anyone want to put it on anyway. I don’t want to talk about it.
M Ok, well I know your Gran doesn’t put it on, I only wanted to understand what it is and why is everyone different.
JW Right, (a bit impatient) first of all, imagine your bedroom and the electric things you have in it. Like, your tv, computer, hairdryer, anything with a plug, right?
M Errrmmm Yeah, where is this conversation going?
JW Telling you what I know about MS. We’ve all got a brain and it tells us everything…how to move an arm, when we are hungry, tired or when we feel ill or great.
M Yeah, I know…erm…
JW Well, the brain is like the main electric supply box that every house has. Our brains tell us everything that we do and how to do it, the main electric supply allows all our electric stuff to work from the power source in the house. So think now, power source for houses, brains for humans.
M You’re taking the mick now, wish I’d never asked
JW No, it’s a good thing to know really, it helped me to understand it. Anyway, with MS if there is any damage to an area in the brain, whatever that part of the brain controls won’t work properly. Same as if there was a power cut in a house and the fuse blew on your hairdryer. The hairdryer doesn’t work properly but the other electric stuff, telly, lights etc work as normal. Well its the same with MS, the only difference is the brain can’t be fixed.
M Right, I think I’m getting it. So MS is brain damage then.
JW I suppose so but I’ve never heard Gran say that. She’s loads worse than last year and will probably be even more affected next year, tho she says no-one knows if she will or not.
M Ahh, it must be awful, I feel so sorry for your Gran. I didn’t know she had a lot of pain. My dads horrible when his shoulder pain starts. Think I’ll get her some flowers the next time I come up.
JW Yea we can both do that but don’t ever tell her you feel sorry for her, she’ll go mad. Anyway, she’s here now so…shhhhhh.
So then I entered the room after leaning in the hallway during this chat. I am truly blessed with Jack and my other 3 grandchildren. Of course I said nothing about hearing and then evesdropping. Just thought I’d share the simple explanation. I often think about how MSers go about telling their friends and family. Hope you can put your own experiences on.
Chrissie x