Welcome to "Coping With MS"! The purpose of my blogging is to reach out to other people with MS as well as thier friends and families. I will share my stories of how I cope with having Multiple Sclerosis, how I overcome my symptoms and live a life full of love, laughter, hope and fun.
I hope you will find my blogs inspiring and I hope with equal fervour that you will feel you can contact me with your own stories of how you overcome your MS symptoms. If you just have a quick tip or trick that you use, please feel free to send just that. I know how hard looking at computer screens and reading can be for people suffering with MS!!
I will be posting a link on Twitter whenever I write a new blog, so that those of you who have problems with vision have a faster way of seeing if the day's topic is of interest to you. My Twitter account is Coping_with_MS so feel free to follow me there!
My blogs will likely vary in how I write them. Some will be stories of things I've accomplished that day (which I hope you will find amusing and inspiring) while others will delve deeper into my symptoms, what they let me do as well as what they prevented me from doing and how I worked to overcome them. In the more in-depth blogs about symptoms I Will be posting links to other websites with good, easy to understand help on coping with MS symptoms.
I have access to amazing programs here in Toronto. I have learned a lot so far and I continue to learn and grow through various programs I attend. I hope that my stories will reach some of you who don't have access to similar programs, so that you might reap some of the benefits of them.
If you have comments or suggestions on any of my blogs, please feel free to post them. I welcome any and all comments and hope that others will feel they can share their own stories of how they cope with their own version of MS.
Please keep in mind that MS is different for everyone and affects everyone differently. What might work for me and my symptoms might not be possible in your life, due to money, location, resources or just because your body reacts differently. I am not going to say I will have all the answers, but I hope to provide some of them!
So you have a bit of background, here is a little about me:
- 38 years old (as of October 2009)
- live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- diagnosed with MS in September 2007
- my constant symptoms are: fatigue, pain, weakness in right leg, dizziness and balance issues, Lhermittes sign and vision problems (double vision when reading or concentrating)
- my transient symptoms are: muscle spasms, inability to control my blood pressure and very intense (and frightening) sensation issues
- I am ambulatory and use a walker to get around, including around my apartment
- I can use a cane for very short distances when I have another means of support such as a wall, furniture or another person beside me as I tend to fall otherwise
- I have two exceptionally furry cats who keep me busy with the vacuum cleaner, but who also add so much to my life
- and my rock, my greatest strength, is my love for my Fiance, Henry, who at this time still lives over 3,000 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, but is there for me every single day
Sending you my warmest regards,
Laura
