Hi Ya'll, I was having trouble jumping in to conversations out of respect for the fact that I can't truely relate to what ya'll are going through with MS and I didn't want to provide some surfacy and overly simplistic (nieve) reply to serious posts. but I did read a number of the posts and I am silently interested in how all of you are doing, I just don't know how to respond without coming across as surfacey or out of touch.

So i decided to post a semi- light hearted anticdoteal to something that I know I can relate to and that I think ya'll might be able to relate to as well. A tribute to the almighty cane.

Now this tribute is not to a piece of candy (candy canes), so lets get that crooked right now. Candy is nice and has it's place but what I'm talkn' about has much more substance. it is the almighty cane that keeps us steady when we are woozy, keeps us on the straight and narrow, comes in designer fashons, and even fits neatly in our bags as a folding model. and most imporatntly keeps others from wondering how much we have had to drink at 8 am in the morning.

Now the cane is much more than just a hip decor item: lets start a thread with all the wonderful uses of a cane (besides just the obvious mobility aide)...


Brief background on this post:

This is a celabratory post of something that has gotten me through the worst of a 2 month long flare up of Meniers disease (an inner ear condition where from what i understand things happen in the inner ear that arent' suppposed to that bascily messes up your balanance and damages your hearing and makes life spin around you (vertigo) at fun times). I have been on the medicine for it for about a month now and I'm looking foward to it kicking in (anytime now med, come on I know you can do it!)

In the mean time, I am trying hard to keep steady with the use of a cane (as of last week). I have found so many uses for it besides just walking... (hey gotta have fun at age 25 some how when people are asking you what happened and looking at you like you have two heads).

I have been having hearing problems and tons of dizziness and I have been working closely with my doctor to get things monitored but it still hasn't been easy to stand up only to fall back down in the chair b/c of lost balance.

It has been a eye opening and humbling experience for me that has taken me out of myself and taught me to enjoy each day of life all the more b/c I realize how much I have to be grateful for when I have days like i did yesterday where I only had to use the cane in open spaces but not around the house (too much anyway). Anyway here's to being grateful for each day and to the canes that make each day easier (and safer too). Have a good day.

Hello BC long time no hear, hope the ear situation settles and your balance gets back to normal, please do not hesitate to ask or post, we are all here together for folks DX'ed and non-DX'ed

and the uses for canes are unlimited, attitude adjustment device open doors, push carts and of course trip putzes

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The local police department stated that in my hands it is a serious weapon...I don't why...maybe because I either taught them or went to school with most of them.

However, I use an umbrella with a metal rod...so my cane is my umbrella, and my umbrella is my cane...it can be used for:

scaring off pesky birds at the beach
shaking water, if opened/closed really fast on people that just called you old
very fashionable when posed for pictures...
the handle can be used to pull things towards you when you don't feel like getting up...like to get the remote that fell three feet away...

canes have many many uses...

Hope that dizziness goes away...I hate that feeling, it made me fall off a chair once.

I use my crutch (sort of like a cane, eh) to knock things off upper shelves. Also to nudge the lazy dog out of the way, flip dog toys out of my path and to drag out my hair barrettes when they fall wayyyy behind stuff.

Of course they also fend off my husband's tickle attacks (kind of like a sword)

The most creative use of a cane I've ever seen was when House knocked Wilson's car keys out of his hand, down into the water drain, after Wilson kid-napped him to attend his father's funeral. HA!!

Cherie