I have been told twice in the last couple of weeks, by two separate family members, that it's all in my head, and that I'm choosing to be lazy. These come from family members who are convinced they're God's gift to the world. They're so far up their own asses, they can't even imagine someone else is suffering. Do I sound sound pissed? :) I guess I could be, he he. It's to these two family members that I write this for. For these two family member I know will never read this. Eh, makes me feel better anyways.
Okay, I'm just gonna copy and paste this information from Wikipedia. Here is what M.S. is:
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata, is a inflammatory disease in which myelin sheaths around axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to loss of myelin and scarring. The cause is not clear but the underlying mechanism is thought to be either destruction by the immune system of failure of the myelin-producing cells. These changes affect the ability of nerve cells to communicate resulting in a wide range of sings and symptoms. It is more common in women and the onset typically occurs in young adults.
Almost any neurological symptom can occur with the disease and often progresses to physical and mental difficulties. Psychiatric symptoms may also develop. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms occurring either in discrete attacks (relapsing forms) or accumulating over time (progressive forms). Between attacks, symptoms may go away completely, but permanent neurological problems often occur, especially as the disease advances.
There is no known cure for Multiple Sclerosis.
Okay, so that's what it is. What are the symptoms? Let's ask MedilinePlus.com this time.
Fever, hot baths, sun exposure, and stress can trigger or worsen attacks.
It is common for the disease to return (relapse). However, the disease may continue to get worse without periods of remission.
Because nerves in any part of the brain of spinal cord may be damaged, patients with multiple sclerosis can have symptoms in many parts of the body.
Muscle symptoms:
Loss of balance
Muscle spasms
Numbness or abnormal sensation in any area
Problems moving arms or legs
Problems walking
Problems with coordination and making small movements
Tremor in one or more arms or legs
Weakness in one of more arms or legs
Bowel and bladder symptoms:
Constipation
Difficulty beginning to urinate
Frequent need to urinate
Strong urge to urinate
Urine leakage (incontinence)
Eye symptoms:
Double vision
Eye discomfort
Uncontrollable rapid eye movements
Vision loss (usually affects one eye at a time)
Numbness, tingling, or pain:
Facial pain
Painful muscle spasms
Tingling, crawling, or burning feelings in the arms and legs
Other brain and nerve symptoms:
Decreases attention span, poor judgment, and memory loss
Difficulty reasoning and solving problems
Depression or feelings of sadness
Dizziness and balance problems
Hearing loss
Sexual problems:
Problems with erections
Problems with vaginal lubrication
Speech and swallowing symptoms:
Slurred or difficult-to-understand speech
Trouble chewing and swallowing
Fatigue is a common and bothersome symptom as MS progresses. It is often worse in the late afternoon.
Doesn't that sound awesome? These aren't even all the symptoms. These are just the most common. This is just M.S., too. Fibromyalgia adds a whole entire set of its own crap.
Something else people don't know, is that there are four types of M.S. You may hear of someone who's living just fine with M.S., then you hear stories of people who die of M.S. How does that work? The four types of M.S. Like cancer, and many diseases, There is no carbon copy of the disease. Everyone will experience it differently. You can totally live a wonderful, fulfilling life with M.S. IF you get the right type of M.S. If you're one of the unlucky ones, you'll die. I am one of the unlucky ones. M.S. is only deadly when you experience a flare. With most people, M.S. will come and go in flares. You will have a flare up, then you go into remission. Back and forth through this cycle. M.S. does damage on your body when you have a flare up. Medication will prevent flare ups. No flare ups, no progression of the disease. If you have the deadly kind, there is no medication that can prevent it, and unlike the other M.S.'ers, your flare ups never go away. There is no remission period. This is why you die. The constant damage of M.S. will shut your body down fast. If you're diagnosed with the bad one, your average life expectancy is ten years from diagnosis. I got M.S. at 25. That will put me at 35.
PLEASE don't tell me you know someone with M.S. who lives a good life. Please don't tell someone who has cancer that if their neighbor could over come it, they can, too. People die of cancer, people die of M.S. Not everyone is one of the lucky ones. I don't wanna sound like, "I'm one of the ones that will die, pity me." It's not like that. Not at all. I just want you to understand the severity of my specific case. I want you to stop saying stuff like, "everything is mental. You just need to break the mental barriers down." Or, "I wish I could lay in bed all day." It's rude. It's very hurtful. Being sick does not make you lazy. Dying of cancer or M.S. doesn't mean you have mental barriers to get over. It's physical. Say it with me, "PHYSICAL!!!!" Not mental. How can you will yourself better of an auto-immune disease? No one says that to Type One Diabetics. They are auto-immune brothers, but no one tells them to mentally will their blood sugars to a normal level. So I just don't get it. Why is M.S. different? Why? I try, and I try, but I just don't get it. I'm sorry if you're lazy and wish you could sleep in later. I wish I could get up early and live the normal life you live. I'm sorry your life is so incomplete that you wanna pick on a dying cripple. That makes you one sick fu^&. Sorry, but it's true.
Did you know stress makes Fibromyalgia and M.S. even worse? Did you know you're stressing the hell out of me with your insensitive comments? I make it pretty obvious, so I'm sure you do. As# wipe....
Anywho, yay for writing, boo for M.S. I am so worn out from writing this, I don't even know how to close it. I need to go eat and lay down now. So we'll end it with stop being judgmental, you could be killing someone. I'm not harming, hell, even affecting you in ANY way. Why is it any of your dam business? Oh yeah, it's not! Go do something with your pitiful life. I'm gonna go lay down now.
No comments:
Post a Comment