Railroad
Routinely Derailed
Since March is MS awareness month and the annual MS walk has been advertised on the radio recently, and because my wife has severe MS, I thought I'd post a brief overview for anyone who's interested.
MS is a disorder of the body's immune system that causes damage to the body's neurological system. The auto-immune system incorrectly identifies a substance called myalin as a toxin and goes to work trying to rid the body of the myalin.
Myalin is the protective coating on the nerves in the body.
Antibodies attack the myalin and destroy it, causing nerve damage. The reultant symptoms include the loss of sensory and motor functions, loss of cognitive abilities, and depression. Other severe medical conditions can complicate things, and some of them are direct or indirect results of MS.
There are two stages of MS: Stage 1, which is a relapsing-remitting form of the disease, and Stage 2, which is the progressive form of the disease. In Stage 1, symptoms come and go. In my wife's case for example, she woke up blind in one eye one day - that's how we found out she had the disease. The blindness went away in a few weeks. In Stage 2, unfortunately, the symptoms develop and just get progressively worse. There's little warning before these symptoms start developing, and the decline in the patient's condition is inexorable and slow. It's like dying a very slow and painful death, except that death doesn't come to bring relief.
MS most often strikes women between 20 and 40, although it strikes men as well (same age group). Notable Stage 1 MS sufferers include Montel Williams and Neal Cavuto.
As yet there is no known cure for MS. Research continues and drugs are being developed, but so far none of them have been able to stop the disease permanently, and none of them have been able to reverse the damage.
As an up-close observer, I can say without reservation that I'd rather someone had cancer than MS. Cancer is treatable, and if not, death is the result.
My wife was originally diagnosed with MS in 1997. She'd had MS for some time before that, and there's no way to tell when it started.
My wife also has rheumatoid arthritis in her back. It also is a progressive condition. She also has degenerative disk disorder. She and I believe (but can't prove) that MS indirectly allowed those ailments to occur.
Today my wife can't get out of bed. Her legs are rigid because her MS got worse, and her back is so painful she can't stand it. Her hands (both of them) are clamped shut. All I can do is administer meds and try to help her get comfortable.
There are charities and institutions taking contributions to help with MS research. The drugs on the market are extremely expensive, because part of the money goes to fund research.
If you read this far in this post, I want to thank you from my heart for reading it all.
MS is a disorder of the body's immune system that causes damage to the body's neurological system. The auto-immune system incorrectly identifies a substance called myalin as a toxin and goes to work trying to rid the body of the myalin.
Myalin is the protective coating on the nerves in the body.
Antibodies attack the myalin and destroy it, causing nerve damage. The reultant symptoms include the loss of sensory and motor functions, loss of cognitive abilities, and depression. Other severe medical conditions can complicate things, and some of them are direct or indirect results of MS.
There are two stages of MS: Stage 1, which is a relapsing-remitting form of the disease, and Stage 2, which is the progressive form of the disease. In Stage 1, symptoms come and go. In my wife's case for example, she woke up blind in one eye one day - that's how we found out she had the disease. The blindness went away in a few weeks. In Stage 2, unfortunately, the symptoms develop and just get progressively worse. There's little warning before these symptoms start developing, and the decline in the patient's condition is inexorable and slow. It's like dying a very slow and painful death, except that death doesn't come to bring relief.
MS most often strikes women between 20 and 40, although it strikes men as well (same age group). Notable Stage 1 MS sufferers include Montel Williams and Neal Cavuto.
As yet there is no known cure for MS. Research continues and drugs are being developed, but so far none of them have been able to stop the disease permanently, and none of them have been able to reverse the damage.
As an up-close observer, I can say without reservation that I'd rather someone had cancer than MS. Cancer is treatable, and if not, death is the result.
My wife was originally diagnosed with MS in 1997. She'd had MS for some time before that, and there's no way to tell when it started.
My wife also has rheumatoid arthritis in her back. It also is a progressive condition. She also has degenerative disk disorder. She and I believe (but can't prove) that MS indirectly allowed those ailments to occur.
Today my wife can't get out of bed. Her legs are rigid because her MS got worse, and her back is so painful she can't stand it. Her hands (both of them) are clamped shut. All I can do is administer meds and try to help her get comfortable.
There are charities and institutions taking contributions to help with MS research. The drugs on the market are extremely expensive, because part of the money goes to fund research.
If you read this far in this post, I want to thank you from my heart for reading it all.
It is very hard to live with.