Another refugee...hi.....

My name is Melissa, and I live in Texas. In 2003, I had an attack of optic neuritis. Several months later I was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis with an added bonus of lumbar and cervical spine stenosis. I was set. Those two compliment each other, when one is taking a break, the other steps in to go to work.

I am s-l-o-w-l-y working on my bachelors degree in art history emphasizing in early modern art (c. 1500-1900), with a minor in studio art (painting) which I have already finished. I will be graduating soon, finally, since MS has put a brake on doing it any faster. When I can, I teach art and photography to children at a local arts center. I enjoy that very much. I am an artist and photographer, and with my challenges I am able to claim disasters as masterpieces.

As a hobby, I write screenplays and dream about what they would be like on the big screen. Who knows, ya know? I read...a lot...mostly biographies, art and history books. I am a movie buff, love to travel, am a shopaholic and a collector of very strange things (Living Dead Dolls, Webkinz, angels, rabbits, makeup, pez, state spoons, snow globes...you get the idea). I am a Starbucks freak, when I travel my hotel must be in close range to a Starbucks and a galleria that has a Sephora and L'Occitane shop.

I am a mother to a wonderful teenaged son who is working on his Eagle scout rank. He is homeschooled and doing wonderfully. I am a daughter to the best mother around who has beat cancer and is currently fighting rheumatoid arthritis, so when I have my moments, I look to her for inspiration to smile through it. These are my best friends too.

Let's see...MS wise I take betaseron since I'm allergic to everything else. I am in and out of a wheelchair, use a stick most of the time to get around. If I decide to just wing it thinking I can, I use the wall for support, sometimes rather painfully. Right now I am enjoying the results of tremors. Whenever someone cannot read my handwriting, I advise them that they need to learn how to read MS. Whenever my cognitive functions go out of whack, I just explain that I need to warm up, there is a short somewhere, try again later. And when my vertigo goes off like a roller coaster, I hold on to something and act like the other person is about to fall if they don't do what I am doing. My wheelchair has a sign that reads, 'I am a bad driver. I will run you over'. Surprisingly at Disneyland this past November, people did not listen to that warning. I don't know how many people I took out in the mass of crowds. But they were good sports, must have been the mouse ears and pink bow on the back of my wheelchair.

As you see, I try to smile through it all as much as I can. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Ok, that's enough.

WELCOME!

I'm fairly new here but can tell you this...there are great people here...take your time and check things out...I'm sure you're gonna love this place!

Oh, so that was you when I was at Disney.

I know what you mean about the "complementary" whammies of spinal problems and autoimmune nerve disease. There are a number of us here with autoimmune situations of one sort or another who are "co-morbid"--maybe not as bad as it sounds, but no picnic, either.

It does seem that you have a good sense of humor about all this, which is quite essential.

If you need any help navigating the forums, or anything else, don't hesitate to ask.

Woohoo, Melly made it!

Hiya Mellygirl-
So nice to see you around here!
g

Hi there.

You sound like a very nice person with a great outlook (even though Life has certainly thrown you some curves, now hasn't it).

Just wanted to stop by and say welcome.

Hello Mel and welcome from another newbie.

I'm Anne and I have RRMS. I'm an old rival to the dreaded optic neuritis, having been plagued by it on & off for the past 25 or 30 yrs, so I empathise with what you've been through.

Congratulations on your studies. I'm sure you'll do well. I understand how the studies affect us, because I started & completed a Bachelor of Applied Science since being diagnosed, but I too had to do mine over a longer time frame than most of the others.

Welcome again to the site.