living with a chronic condition (part 4)

colin13

Letter from MS
letter from MS
To whom it may concern:
Congratulations! You have been selected to be the host for Multiple Sclerosis. You will begin to experience many or all of these symptoms -- and may even deal with several of them at the same time.
--Pain can be anywhere you can imagine. We are equal opportunity destroyers, therefore we will choose many places for you to experience pain. We have even devised many different types of pain -- it could be aching, stabbing, throbbing, tingling, burning, gripping, or cramping. We are continually improving our repertoire of pain categories, so updates are to be expected.
--Dizziness. This can be accompanied by nausea, mental confusion, ringing in the ears, vomiting, loss of coordination, and sensations of spinning, rocking, or shaking. We try to simulate the experience of riding a never-ending roller coaster to satisfy your adventurous spirit. No safety harnesses required, and you have no choice of when the coaster ride starts,ends, or how fast it goes.
--Extreme fatigue (Now remember, this is not just being “tired”. We will suddenly “pull your plug”, so to speak, and you will have NO energy at all. Even dressing or taking a shower will be too daunting of a task for you to complete. And because we like surprises, we will NOT give you any advance warning, so you could be in the middle of the grocery store, at work, playing with you kids, or trying to clean the house.)
--Poor balance, lack of coordination. Let’s just say you may walk or talk like you are drunk -- even if you haven’t had any alcohol recently. And for those of you who have never indulged in alcohol, you are now going to understand what it is like to be drunk and to have a hangover.
--Forgetting, losing, dropping things. These are just a few of the perks of your condition. You will learn to expect them, but never to enjoy them.
In addition to the symptoms above, we also want to eliminate some things from your crowded lifestyle. Here are a few of the things which will be taken away from you now that you are chosen to have a chronic condition:
The ability to stand or walk for longer than 15 minutes without experiencing pain in you feet, ankles, knees, or legs.
The ability to sit for longer than 10 minutes without experience cramping in your legs and butt, or shooting pains in your back.
The ability to complete any task which requires more than 10 minutes of concentration, multi-step activities or long-term projects will take 2-3 times longer then average.
The ability to play and run with your children like you did before.
The ability to have a “normal” social life.
The ability to accumulate sick days at work/ school to earn the perfect attendance bonus.
As indicated previously, this condition is in constant flux and more symptoms will be added as we deem necessary. There is no warranty guarantee, technical support, or customer service available.
Sincerely, Your chronic condition

__________________________________________________ ______________
And the response

Dear My chronic condition:
I would like to clarify that, while you may wreak havoc on my body, and maybe even confuse my mind -- you cannot have my heart or my soul. You cannot have my faith, my hope, or my love. There are some good things that you have given me, things I never could have experienced had you not come to possess my body.
You have given me:
-- renewed friendship with strong, close, true friends.
-- appreciation for every precious moment I am given. A gift that is sometimes lost on the “healthy”.
-- growth in character, perseverance, and hope.
-- inspiration to help others.
-- more compassion for others who are suffering.
-- better knowledge of my own body & health.
-- a reason to eat more nutritiously and take care of myself.
-- reasons to rest when I need it.
You see, you will not find me an agreeable host. I will fight you, I will not give up. On bad days, I will take care of myself. On the good days, I will take advantage of every precious moment. You have thrown some obstacles in my life’s journey, but I will go over them or around them, no matter what it takes. In fact, while I am overcoming them, I will stop for a moment to reflect upon the mountain I am climbing, plant a few seeds and then continue on. I will learn and grow from this experience and help others.
Sincerely, Me

sorry for being so morose

i thought this was brilliant,,but then again I may be biased
__________________

jazabelle

sammy10 wrote: »

Sorry I knjow yuo weren aiming it at me i jus seemm to caues problmes maybe i shoudl sdtop osting

Sammy no one thinks that at all. Please don't stop posting, we'd miss you.

mesb210776

sammy10 wrote: »

Sorry I knjow yuo weren aiming it at me i jus seemm to caues problmes maybe i shoudl sdtop osting

No you souldn't stop posting. Are you feeling ok? You're writing's gone odd again so I hope you're not heading for another seizure. :smileyheaSending love and calm wishes you're way

Paparika

ooo this is annoying now... on marriage and family forum there is hardly anything remotely money saving or on topic :mad: half a dozen threads on getting pregnant, do they need that many, perhaps they can have a sub forum to themselves.





I find a great help with ex fibro thread, it helps me each day, just knowing i am not alone, please don't force us in a box,

We are not rude, we don't cause trouble, like some other threads on this website,

Just talking about how are days are, is an enormous help, it may not be money-saving, but it goes better than that its lifesaving, i for one don't know what i would of done if i had't known about the fibro thread, these guys and gals are my support, and i hope i am theirs, just for being here and posting.

We offer hugs, we open our lives on here, so that others can see how we cope or not cope.

I know we have discussions forums where you can talk about anything, we would be swamped and lost in there with the amount of postings going on every day... marriages seems to be a bit, messy but that's been accepted, by yourselves, we have a pet section, that's not always money-saving, so wouldn't it be right to allow this and old crocks to be how they are,

We don't offer medical advice, we don't verbally attack others on here because we don't like what we read, we don't advertise, we don't claim to be experts, we just want a little home here where we can offer support and love to those that need a bit of tlc.

Force us into a box and i will ask you look at the other forums on here too and have a major tidy up...i would go to each forum area and point out those not sticking to your rules.

We stick to the forum etiquette, other forums on here certainly do not and get away with it.

hassie

Well said Paparika :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

pipkin71

mesb210776 wrote: »

No you souldn't stop posting. Are you feeling ok? You're writing's gone odd again so I hope you're not heading for another seizure. :smileyheaSending love and calm wishes you're way

I noticed that too, so hope you're ok Sammy xxxx

pipkin71

I've been having a really sharp pain in my hip since yesterday. It's quite tender to touch and I can't seem to get comfortable, no matter which way I sit or lie down.

The pain killers I'm taking have a wonderful bonus of 'weight gain' as a side effect, so I am now looking at having to watch more carefully what I eat, as I have put on quite a bit of weight since I started taking them in February

I feel really low right now and can't seem to shake it, and as much as I tell myself off for feeling like this, there are days it's really difficult to look at things positively.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Bless you pipkin. We're all familiar with those days where it's hard to cope. I don't know if you are able to get into a bath, but a hot bath with some bubble bath or smellies is my remedy for those sort of pains. Or various wheatbags strategically placed to ease things? Hugs to you.

jazabelle

Where do people get wheatbags from please? Only ever seem to find lavendar ones, which I hate.

pipkin71

Careful_with_that_Axe wrote: »

Bless you pipkin. We're all familiar with those days where it's hard to cope. I don't know if you are able to get into a bath, but a hot bath with some bubble bath or smellies is my remedy for those sort of pains. Or various wheatbags strategically placed to ease things? Hugs to you.

OT assessed that I needed a bath seat so it's not too bad getting in the bath, although sitting presents problems CWTA. I'm going to make up a hot water bottle to see if it eases.

Thank you Knowing I'm not the only one going through it, and that there is support out there does help