Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Many of my friends and followers ask me,
"What's it like to live with Multiple Sclerosis?"

That's a trick question because you won't get the same answer 

from any two people living with MS.

Most people living with MS have remitting/relapsing MS,

that's me...

good times - bad times, good days - bad days, good hours - bad hours.

Exacerbations followed by periods of wellness or at the very least,

the lessing of symptoms.

MS is a disease in which the immune system eats away at the 

protective covering of the nerves.

It is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system

that's disrupts the flow of information within the brain,

and between the brain and the body.

Symptoms range from mild to severe and are different for each person living with MS.

My symptoms are typical, pain being my number one problem.

I also deal with fatigue, weakness, numbness, spasticity, cognitive problems,

bladder problems and problems walking.

It would be awesome if I could transfer the numbness to my areas of pain,

of course, that is not to be.

Two less common MS symptoms I have are seizures and migraines.

Vision problems and optic neuritis are often one of the first symptoms of MS,

and are problems I have dealt with in the past.

There is no cure for Multiple Sclerosis, 
but many treatments are available to slow it's progression.

I treat my MS and all the symptoms I have with medication.
The medications to treat MS work by suppressing the immune system,
therefore making me more susceptible to infections and germs. 

This pretty jug holds everything I take daily.

The overflow goes here...

The colorful bins are filled to the top...

and

this is the reality of living with a chronic illness.

If you are interested, you can read more about MS here.

The National MS Society has some good information on their website.

I did not turn off comments, but no pity party please.

So many people ask me about my disease,

I wanted to do one informative post for everyone.

My life is not easy - but my blog is for sharing the happy moments,

and there are plenty of those to share.

Spring...

Spring brings about so many changes here on the home front.

As the grass greens up and the early flowers bloom,

I start to see a lot of the birds that have been missing over winter.

I call them my "smart birds" - the ones who don't hang here for the cold.

One of those "smart birds" is the 

Catbird.

It is a beautiful gray, with a black cap...and a reddish-brown under carriage.

Often overlooked, it's not a flashy, colorful bird...

but it has the sweetest personality and the cutest "meeow" call.

At times, it also mimic's the calls of other birds, but repeats that imitation only once,

not 3 times like the mockingbird does.

This bird usually returns around May 1st and will stay with me now until early Fall.

I always think of my friend Theresa in Texas when I see them as it was a favorite of hers.