Greta - Cheryl is the toughest boss Cheryl ever had or will ever have.

Cheryl, I have been reading your posts for several months, and you have inspired me with your attitude and your abilities. This last year has been a roller coaster for me and your knowledge and support have been wonderful.

I have also come to realize that we will all have periods of down time and readjustment. I also do not want to accept that, but it is the reality. So hang in there and take care of yourself. You do so much and it sounds like you have not given yourself the time or permission to take it easy. You should not feel guilty about your need to take some down time. I hope you have a wonderful time in Wales. It is a beautiful country -- lots of rolling hills/mountains and sheep

What have I lost:

1) a sense of independence. I still live alone and I can still drive, but I need to rely on friends to give me rides to various medical appointments when I have been told not to drive due to sedation, etc. I have 2 of these appt's this week (colonscopy and MRI). I hate asking for help.

2) the freedom to just get in my car and go away for a weekend to Chicago or somewhere else. I can walk but need a cane. I can only make it about one block in the city before I need to rest.

3) financial security -- I know that I am better off in this areas than some, but I planned on teaching until I was 62. That is 11 more years. I do not know if I will make it. I have four more year to go before I can retire, but if I have to retire at the age of 55 my income will be drastically reduced.

I know!! I think she needs to ask for a raise!

Sorry about your flying av8r.

Well, for me I can start with the good... i've lost alot of weight due to ms, because of swallowing problems.

I've also lost my ability to paint the way I once did. I showed in galleries before the MS, and now my paintings are gloppy, and missing detail. Both of my hands are curled in and no longer work proprely. I'm still trying to gain that back.

I didn't lose my photography skills.

I lost my drivers license. I miss the independence.

The following things I either lost because I let it happen, because people didn't understand me, or because I was horribly sick with no diagnosis.

My husband
My job
My home
My friends
My social life
My money
My family.
My self esteem.

All of those can either be fixed or forgotten. Ms dosen't have to ruin your life. You just have to adjust.

So sorry Av8girl, it has to be incredibly frustrating. You sound like you are fighting so hard to hang on to what you currently enjoy.

I can only imagine how frustrating it will be one day for me, too. You obviously chose a topic many people can relate too.

I have pre-MS losses, because I had a very bad accident and had to stay home on disability for a year, mostly in pain. That is how I incidently found out I had the beginning stages of MS, at 50.

I survived slightly breaking my neck, and could not move anything from the neck down, until the pressure was taken off. God must still want me to be here for a good reason. I could have easily been Christopher Reeves.

I learned how to cope and got by with quite a bit of help from friends and family. However, I wlll never be able to ski again or ice skate. I would be afraid to fall and negatively influence the rest of my back around my fusion.

It took away quite a bit of my savings and a year towards my pension. Now I don't know how long l will be well enough to keep working. All in all, I just tell myself, things could have been worse.

Starfish - I had a neck injury too. But unlike you, it did not affect me initially.

I was lucky. I walked away with some stiffness and went on to have kids, a job, etc.

The neck grew more painful and sx started cropping up a few years ago. One night I went to bed and suddenly both arms were in incredible pain, paralysed. That comes and goes, scary to think it may come and stay some day.

For a while, I lost the strength to play guitar, and that was a tough time for me. After some treatments, slowly I'm getting my jam back.



I played for 30 years, and now I pretty much have to relearn it. But that's okay as long as I can.



I think like you do - I could have been like Chris Reeves. But there must be some reason I'm not, so there's no time to freak out, no time to waste. I'll do what I can do as long as I can do it.

a bf of 17 yrs. lol
a job of 36 yrs.
use of a lot of my legs and hands - most important of all...

but not my sense of humor and my love of life.

I don't know if this was meant to be funny or not but if you read it the way I just did you'd all be ROTFL.

(((((((((((Cheryl))))))))))) Bless your Pea picking Heart..

That's the horror of this %$#@$ disease....It chooses to strike us during the prime of our lives and dwindles us down untill we have little of our old selves left.

Am I a little bitter...Nahhhh.. I am thankful, like Cherie says. that it happened to me slowly over the years and I was able to lead a fairly normal life until it hit me again in my 50s....then the bottom started fallin out and I sort of lost all the big stuff, like walking, running, driving, bowling, partying, strength and youth, over the last 10 years.

You are still one of my heroes, Cheryl..I just know things will get better for you soon..

OK Cheryl..Don't let this go to your head or anything (), but I've always admired you. You've always seemed so strong, even if you didn't feel like it, and have helped others stay afloat thru their questions and fears of this disease thru your words..We've all lost something to the MonSter, but we've all gained something, too..
(((HUGS)))
...Kris