Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Multiple Sclerosis

A family member died of Multiple Sclerosis a few years ago, so every year I donate money to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This upcoming year I'm planning on doing the MS Walk as well.

For those of you who don't know MS is affects the central nervous system (i.e., the brain and spinal cord). It causes nerve degernation and affects one's ability to perform certain movements.

He had technically had multiple sclerosis for over 20 years, as he was diagnosed early on but he really suffered from the heavy Ms Symptoms until later years. These included depression, spasms and tremors, weakness and fatigue, loss of eyesight, and lots and lots of pain.

One thing that always confused me about him, was the fact that he didn't really seem to care about taking care of himself. He drank a lot, he smoked, he didn't eat well at all. This didn't really make sense to me. I know if I had a disease like multiple sclerosis I would want to prolong my life (and my quality of life) as long as possible. That includes abstaining from stuff that would hurt my body further (like alcohol!) and eating a healthy, low-fat, low-sugar, and low-sodium Ms Diet.

I don't know what really stopped him from taking care of himself... Maybe he felt like it was pointless to try to be healthy when he believed he was ill? Maybe he was depressed and didn't care anymore? Maybe he just wasn't disciplined enough to kick his bad habits and start new ones? Maybe he was in denial or just too stubborn to change his lifestyle any more than he had to? I don't know and I probably never will.

What I do know, is that he could have possibly prolonged the length of his life and improved the quality of his life, but he didn't. So I know that if I am ever put in a similar situation I will do whatever I have to do. In the meantime, I will continue donating to the National MS Society and spreading the word.

 
*Photos (and some facts) courtesy of AllAboutMS.com

1 comment:

Go Go Scooter said...

Hi... I'd be interested in finding out if treatment for MS is limited to only medication? Or are there basic physical exercises patients can do??