multiple sclerosis
Not one to be outdone by such notables as Montel Williams, David Lander (who played Squiggy on the Laverne & Shirley show), Annette Funicello, Teri Garr, Joe Hartzler (the U.S. Attorney who successfully prosecuted the Oklahoma City bombing case against Timothy McVeigh),
Neil Cavuto, or
the late Richard Pryor, I was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis (ms) in June 1996. Because it arrived just in time for my 50th birthday, I was understandably thrilled beyond words.
As if that weren't bad enough I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early
2005. Talk about adding injury to injury!
I can't complain, though.
Since the ms diagnosis, I returned to school and earned my Master of Arts degree in Vocational Education (with a 4.0 GPA, I might add, with no modesty whatsoever). On top of that, I've earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Natural Health with the same alphabetic pattern (all A's). During this time, I also began my writing career, proving that even something like
ms doesn't necessarily mean the end of the road, just an inconvenient detour. It
can be viewed as either a disease you can die from, or one you learn to live with. I chose the latter.
One of the effects of ms is brain atrophy - a shrinking of the brain through loss of mass. It's been my considered, non-medical opinion that the brain cells I've lost were apparently those I wasn't using anyway.
You've probably noticed that I haven't capitalized the acronym, "ms." Capitalization is usually reserved for persons or things that deserve respect. Enough said.
Learn what it's like to live with a disabling disease while being entertained with a good thriller by ordering my second release, Chronic Nights.
Veterans with ms or their caregivers should visit the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) website at www.pva.org. I recently underwent Biofeedback therapy and have realized some great gains in the use of my affected limbs. Read about my experiences in the December 2007 issue of PN: Paraplegia News magazine, a publication of the PVA, with a follow-up article in the August 2008 issue.
In the thirteen years since I was diagnosed with ms, all I've heard and read is how to live with it, the medications that might slow its progression, and the new drugs being researched. Anyone diagnosed with ms should check out www.nmss.org for the latest information on making accommodations to the disease. If you wish to fight it, however, research other therapies.
Since there's no "one size fits all" approach to a crippling disease like ms, I can only relate what has worked for me. The standard drugs are designed to treat relapsing-remitting ms, but there are no approved therapies for the progressive forms. Over the years, I've undergone hyperbaric oxygen therapy, biofeedback treatments, and am currently taking acupuncture. Each regimen has produced some reversal of disability, something that none of the "approved" drugs can promise.
It's your body: choose what will work best for you. But whatever you do, DON'T GIVE IN!
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