[Grovenet] Re:about MS

[Eric Canon]

You bring tears to my eyes. Certainly dealing
with something like that can evoke feelings of
sympathy, and there are tears for that. But you
reveal your spirit in your writing. Life is what
happens when we make other plans. It's not less
than, or more this way than that. It's what we do
with what we have. It sounds to me like you live
your life with joy. In your affliction, the way
you live and relate bring my tears. You give us a
gift. Thank you so much.

--- JBlair2154 at aol.com wrote:

>  
> In a message dated 6/5/2006 2:08:22 PM Central
> Daylight Time,  
> grovenet-request at rdrop.com writes:
> 
> would  you say
> more about MS? How is it contracted, what are
> the
> consequences,  how has it changed your life...
> that sort of thing, if you are  inclined.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your interest, Eric.  Multiple
> sclerosis is a  chronic, 
> progressive, incurable disease of the central
> nervous system. It is  characterized as 
> "demylineating," because it causes the T cells
> in our  own immune systems to 
> attack the myelin sheath that covers the 
> nerves in the brain and spinal cord.  
> (Visualize those nerves as  electrical cords
> with parts of the protective outer 
> coating damaged or  destroyed, creating
> short-circuits in the wiring system.) 
> It's a rather  unpredictable disease with
> symptoms that vary widely among 
> different individuals  and even among each
> person on a day-to-day, even hour 
> to-hour basis. Its course  can vary widely,
> too, from a sudden, severe onset of 
> symptoms that can even be  fatal to the much
> more common course of rather mild 
> relapsing-remitting attacks  with lingering
> effects which gradually become 
> worse. Its cause is unknown,  although several
> genes have been identified which 
> are associated with it, and  sometimes it runs
> rather noticeably in families. So 
> there is definitely a  genetic predisposition.
> Viral infections are also 
> suspected as playing a role in  its
> development...something that manages to break 
> through the blood-brain  barrier and evoke an
> overzealous immune system 
> response. Fair-skinned  females are most often
> affected, but males seem to have more 
> severe  forms, and it usually first rears its
> ugly head during young  
> adulthood. 
>  
> In my case, the first symptoms which sent me to
> a doctor occurred  while we 
> lived on Crete and I was in my mid-30s.
> Unexplainable weakness, strange  
> feelings in one leg, occasional tunnel vision.
> Typically vague. The doctor at  our 
> little clinic on base sent me to the Army
> hospital in Wiesbaden as an  
> out-patient for a complete neurological workup.
> No cause could be determined. I  had 
> intermittent, mild attacks over the next few
> years (more vague and various  
> symptoms) until I was finally diagnosed at age
> 47 -- not long after CT and MRI  
> scans came on the scene -- following a series
> of tests precipitated by a 
> sudden,  brief episode of monocular blindness.
> (At that time, the immunomodulating  
> drugs to treat MS had not yet been developed,
> and I have chosen never to take  
> any since then.) I reacted by signing up for
> clogging lessons and buying my  
> Acura. (This is called "Thumbing Your Nose at
> the MonSter." LOL) I continued 
> to  work full-time, long hours for another 7
> years. 
> What most people don't realize about MS is that
> its single most  disabling 
> symptom is fatigue. A friend of mine describes
> this as waking up with  a 
> quarter-tank of fuel and trying to drive your
> body and mind through the day on  
> empty. This is one of those "invisible
> disabilities" that healthy folks just  can't 
> understand. And the fatigue, which comes upon
> you so quickly, causes other  
> symptoms to act up: blurred vision, foggy
> thinking, drowsiness, clumsiness,  
> numbness, "foot drop," etc. I finally resorted
> to occasional wheelchair use,  
> just in the past 3 years, but I walk around the
> house most of the time and for  
> as long, in public, as I can. Aside from
> fatigue and drowsiness, my most  
> troublesome symptom is loss of equillibrium. I
> must be VERY careful about  looking 
> up, down, moving my head suddenly, avoid
> closing my eyes while  
> standing...always fighting to maintain my
> balance. There are other symptoms,  too, but
> this 
> message is already too long so I'll shut up for
> now. Remind me to  tell 
> ya'll, sometimes, about what MSers call "The
> Wal-Mart Syndrome."   (evil grin) Feel 
> free to ask questions.
>  
> Joy
> 
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