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Member
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Southern California
Posts: 308
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Southern California
Posts: 308
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First - I'm sorry if the cancer comment upset/offended anyone. I don't toss that around casually at all - and sorry if it came across that way; definitely not my intent.
My mother died of cancer when I was 19. She got sick when I was barely 10 and struggled for 10 years. I know firsthand how horrendous it can be.
Sadly, I also know firsthand how horrendous MS can be for SOME people. I am/was one of those people. On my best day, I probably felt no better and wasn't doing any better than she was on her worst day. If anything, it is worse because I declined so rapidly (from a zero disability to nearly a 6 in less than six months). Her decline took many years - and similar to MS, it was a rollercoaster ride. Short periods of remission - never more than a year - during that 10 year horror story.
What is probably most interesting is that my entire life I have been convinced I will get cancer (every female on my mom's side of the family has had, has, or has died from cancer...and it's up to my generation now.  However, after seeing my mom's horrific battle - I always swore I would never NEVER do chemotherapy!  I always said I wanted quality of life vs. quantity. Yeah, my mom had 10 years - but they were G-d awful. Yet - here I am - 32 years old (about same age my mom was when she was diagnosed with cancer)...and I practically begged to receive this chemo treatment! Strange, huh?
I guess I got my fighting spirit from my mom - she traveled the country to receive treatment - and fought with everything and anything. Sometimes I wish she hadn't fought so hard so that we could've enjoyed some of her short time here in my life. In many ways, I lost her when I was 10.
Anyhow, cancer and MS are individual battles.
Some people with cancer don't get very sick. Others lose their lives to it.
Some people with MS can function fine with very little disability - and others - we do end up in wheelchairs and some do die from MS. That is just a fact. Thing is - these days - so many people are doing so much better - that we really do comment on how MS doesn't have to be crippling - and it's true, for many people it isn't. And for the unfortunate ones, myself included, that isn't the case - we decline rapidly and lose nearly everything. Same thing is true of cancer these days. The treatments are better and better for some and not for others.
Since getting sick - I have said that at least with cancer - there is somewhat of a known path - I know what to expect....they could "Stage" it and tell me things - now, that doesn't mean I will follow that path - but at least it's an outline. With this MS garbage (that's my G-rated word to describe MS) - there's nothing, no standards, no rules, nothing. Zip. You're on your own.
Anyhow, again, it's so individual.
~Keri
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