Stories of Hope

[bornworrier]

Anyone here who would like to share any stories of hope, please do so.

I think that many people who are really doing well, don't come to these forums, but I am hoping there are some.

Lets hear about sx's disappearing, years of doing well, optimistic input from your doctors, hollistic treatments that have done wonders, diets that are helping, long time MSers still going strong!!!, etc...

Please no negativity on this thread...thanks!!!

[bluesky2010]

I am looking forward to hearing these stories as well.

[Sumanadevii]

My story is nothing but hope.  I feel blessed to be under excellent medical care.  Since being diagnosed my life is being put back in order.  The medications given to me are nothing short of a miracle.  I couldn't ask for more.

[rendean]

I know of one off the top of my head GrannyJo6. Do a search of the members which can be found at the bottom right of the page. I know Granny had something like 2 relapses the last being in her 30's and then the most current in her 60's. She inspired me as I began my struggles with MS

I'm sure there are others and hopefully some of the old timers here can point you to others with similar stories.

Ren

[sllowe]

You must miss a lot of our posts - we do indeed discuss the good along w/the bad and the ugly unmentionable stuff. We don't look at it as negative, just a fact of life sometimes.

I'll be glad to share. I
I'm still working, I can still walk, talk, eat and get around, cook dinner and clean the house. Takes me along time and it's not an easy do by any means, but I can still work at it.

And, when I'm not doing as well, I have many friends here to pick me up!

Thanks for asking!
-shell

[HVAC]

All the MS Specialists say I have had MS since I was 2 1/2 from looking at the damage on my MRIs, my LP having so many o-bands, and old medical records. I will be 48 in April. I can still do everything I ever did, may be a little slower. I do not have the fatigue most people have I never nap in the day time. I have had double vision, vertigo,left side weakness, depression, and cognitive issues all my life. The good news is I have learned to deal with it and am reasonably happy. I have not been on DMDs because my MS does not respond to them but it is very slowly progressing. All my Doctors are excited by my case. My MRIs just don't change.

What has come from my MS diagnosis? Training Service Dogs. I trained a deaf Dalmatian, a dog which was supposed to be destroyed according to the Dalmatian Club of America. Since then I have been asked to serve on the committee to make the rules for Service Animals for North Carolina. Other people who want to train dogs have asked my help.

I have gotten involved in activism. I am now at our state's legislature trying to make things better for those with disabilities. Polly and I are learning a lot and meeting so many people we would never have met.

I have taken up Dressage horse back riding the formal riding. I hope to one day be in a horse show and take the Dressage test. I put an add on Craig's list and this wonderful woman lends me her horse and her time every week. I never would have done this with out the diagnosis.

My husband has always dreamed of going to Paris to ride a 1200 kilometer bike ride from Paris to Brest back to Paris in 90 hours straight. He is training and hopefully we will go this year. I had money set aside but it went to medical so my brother and his wife are paying for the trip as a Xmas present!

I have met Doctors who go beyond the call of duty one who talks to me weekly on the phone and sees me every three months to adjust pain medications at no charge. He told me when I was diagnosed you are on a journey and I am there every step of the way. Another who loads me with samples and only charges my copay no matter what.

I get down but I have learned this acceptance it is like a balance. You get a little off but can go back at anytime. The trick is recognizing you have gotten out of balance, like a teeter totter. It is accepting things as they really are. If it is a bad moment realizing it is not forever. If it is a good moment not projecting into the past or future and grabbing on to a bad moment to eclipse the good moment you are in. This is a gift most people just don't get.

My next aspiration is the MS MUD RUN an obstacle course. When I finally was diagnosed I went up in a hot air balloon, rode a horse for the first time in ten years and went on several 5 mile hikes on the Appalachian Trail while camping in Virginia.

Today life is very good!

Alex

[Lulu54]

For the most part I am doing very well -except for when I'm not!  :-)

I work, I vacation, I have an active social life.  My MS symptoms are minimal if you don't count my daily bladder issues and UTIs.

I walk, I exercise, my only relapse since dx over two years ago was caused by a UTI.  Even then it didn't stop me from going to Alaska, and stopping on the west coast to meet up with Quix.

So what else would you like to know?  It is very possible to live with Ms in all of its various manifestations and still have a happy life.

Lulu

[COBOB]

I'm 48 and was diagnosed in Nov 2010.  Even with Optic Neuritis and the loss of a portion of my vision, I continue to work in Systems Engineering and Architecture for a major IT service provider.   I came down with Trigeminal Neuralgia in Aug.  Just before I was diagnosed, my partner and I traveled to the UK for two weeks.  We saw many of the sights in Brighton and London.  After the trip, I had another MRI and they found more lesions.  The biggest changes in my life have been taking Copaxone every day, limiting my work to 10 hours a day, and adding a nap into my workday.  The 10 hour workday and nap are actually considered an ADA work accommodation by my employer and they now count me as a Person With Disability (PwD).

My partner is very supportive considering MS kind of threw a curve ball into our life. We still go out with friends.  We threw a bon fire of Nov 5th for about 50 people.   I still go out and collect eggs, feed chickens, pitch hay to the cattle, etc.  I may not do it as quickly or efficiently as I once did, but I can still do it.  

I've made a few changes and compromises, but I don;t allow MS to limit what I do.

Bob

[macaroni68]

I consider myself to be doing well and still come to this forum because I find it to be informative, and helpful.

I have symptoms that have come and gone and remitted for 6 years. My most recent relapse this year after the 6 year hiatus lasted for 3 months, but I guess that is why it is called relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

Unfortunately, I can't contribute my string of good luck to holistic treatments or diet, thought I do like to watch my weight and excercise, but in all fairness I have only been doing that for the last year and a half.

I hope I continue to do well, but I do not have any illusions that my MS is going to just go away, I have lived long enough in denial to know that ignoring it and pretending that everything is okay won't make it so.

That being said, I am grateful for the life that I have been given and am extremely lucky in many ways.

I wish you much happiness now and in the future.

[HVAC]

Oh and if you haven't heard of Wendy Booker you need to Google her I saw her on CBS Sunday Morning and met her when she came to our area. She ran the Boston Marathon twice and climbed to the top of the highest peak on ever continent except Everest, she did try.