January 31, 2008 · Filed under How To Cope · Tagged depression, dogs, getting out of depression, how to get out of your depression, M.S., Multiple Sclerosis
Like everybody else, who gets hit with the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, I felt depressed and was on an all-time low point of my life. But thanks to my friend I was able to get out of this dark hole much quicker than everybody around me would have thought.
Maybe this article will help some of you to get out of the depression you are in. I know I was deeply depressed after receiving my diagnosis. But there is help out for you. It doesn’t have to come in form of little colorful pills. My help came on four little legs with a fluffy tail.
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January 31, 2008 · Filed under How To Cope · Tagged losing ability to read, MS. M.S. vison problem, Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis can strike you in many different ways. I am very lucky that I haven’t been hit much and anticipate that it will stay this way for a very long time. I truly believe with all my heart, that I am one of those people that have a mild case. And after having M.S. for almost 7 years now I feel that I am there. I am one of them.
But if your M.S. had made a big break in your life than try find a way to rewire yourself, the way your brain tries to rewire itself after each attack. Maybe you have trouble with your vision and can’t read any longer but you do love books? Did you know how many audiotapes you can get? But audiotapes might not be the only way to go. I still remember when we had Christmas parties in my sport groups back in Germany when I was a little kid. It was just so great to sit in the big gym with just some candles lighten up the room and the instructor reading Christmas poems and Christmas stories to us.
Why don’t you get together with a friend on a regular basis to include a reading hour into your weekly routine. This way you would be able to get to know what other people are reading and your friends will feel that they can actively help you with your multiple sclerosis. Or what about this? You don’t know what you would like to wish for your birthday? How about asking for a personal recording of you favorite book? (Hopefully, it is not War and Peace) I have done this one time for my nieces and nephews back in Germany.
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December 8, 2007 · Filed under How To Cope · Tagged ABC drugs, America, Avonex, Biogen, brain, depressing, depression, eye doctor, firm diagnosis, Germany, greatest gift, Hercules, lose sensation, lumbar puncture, M.S., MRI, Multiple Sclerosis, nightmare, Northern European, numb, oligoclonal banding, Optic Neuritis, recently diagnose, scarring, spinal tap, time bomb, tingling, wheelchair, Worry Hour
(Actually, I’m cheating a bit… this is also in the ABOUT section… but just in case you don’t go there…)
My name is Andrea.
I’ve been where you are. I’ve been diagnosed. So hang with me a bit. Because what you’re about to read might help you not feel quite so scared. Trust me on this.
Wow. Those first days are the worst. Multiple Sclerosis. How do you even wrap your mind around that?
Just hearing the words for the first time — being recently diagnosed with those words — were horrifying. All I could think about was how I would soon be in a wheelchair… my worst nightmare. My friend told me that there were support groups. So I dutifully went. But that was the wrong thing to do. Even she said that was the wrong thing to do. Why? Because most everyone I met was in a wheelchair. I listened to the speaker — about how the ABC drugs were successful in this many cases, yet they didn’t really know why. Then I went outside and burst into tears. That’s when a man came up and told me, “Honey, it ain’t all that bad. We make do with what we have. In fact, my wife and me were riding down the road the other day and she couldn’t pee — she had to pee real bad — but we didn’t have a catheter, so I just pulled over to the side of the road and whipped out a bic ball point pen and that did the trick. It’s really not a bad disease once you get the hang of it.”
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Newly Diagnosed MS 