One Man’s PSA: Live Your Life
MS is a sh*tty disease. It can’t be cured, only slowed down. I was diagnosed 15 years ago. At that time it was determined that my first relapse was actually 20 years before, meaning I’ve had MS for 35 years. Once I completed 2 NYC and 1 LA marathons. Now I can’t walk without a walker. Once I could ride my bike 50 miles. Now I can’t get on my bike. I used to be an avid bread baker. Now I can’t stand up in my kitchen.
I have been on a b-cell therapy, which is classified as an immunosuppressant, for 14 years. During the height of the pandemic I was forced to live in a hotel for 3 months. The hotel was the NYC residence of flight crews of an international airline who were not fond of wearing masks. The circumstance of my hotel stay required me to be out shopping in as many stores as were open.
So now what? Do I sit home stewing in my loss of mobility? Do I live in a protective bubble, worried about every pronouncement of increased disease susceptibility? Or do I get on with life?
I can’t do anything about having MS and it has changed my life dramatically. But I can continue to live my life within my ever changing limitations. In May I traveled to South Africa for the second time in 2 years. Safaris are a life changing experience. I can no longer bake bread, so I have revived my interest in photography. You can take pictures sitting down. As they say in the MARINE Corps, "Improvise, adapt, and overcome".
I’ve stopped worrying that every twitch is a new symptom. I’ve stopped doom scrolling MS content on the internet.
I am living my life, and you can too😊