Say It Isn't So

Saturday, April 09, 2011


I went to see my neurologist a couple of months ago. It had been a year and a half since my previous visit. There were really no new issues going on with me. I wanted to discuss my tingle sensations being excited by electrical storms. He said he'd never heard any one else report this. I asked if there had been any insight on whether MS was a disorder or a disease. To my dismay he said it was considered a disease. He then stated that it was thought to be caused by the Guillain-barre virus. Interesting to me that he never said that it was caused by but that it was thought to be caused by this virus. This can be the result of a case of Mononucleosis which is usually linked to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), but can also be caused by other organisms such as cytomegalovirus (CMV). I do not believe that I ever had the 'kissing disease' but I do recall spending a lot of time in the 6th grade at home sick. I thought it was bout after bout of tonsillitus though. He went on to check my functionality.

I showed off my tremendous skill at balance by standing on one foot for a longer length of time than he was comfortable with. When his hammer hit below my kneecap I nearly kicked him off his stool. I could see that he was not expecting such movement and was startled. To tell the truth so was I. He then went on in his very diplomatic way to let me know that he thought that I had chosen the correct course of action for me. I asked if there was any kind of statistical data collection for someone like me. That is for someone who refuses to take the treatments that are offered by the neurological professionals. He said, no, there wasn't. That is a giant shame in my opinion. The only statistics to do with MS are for persons who are taking certain immune suppressing drugs or persons who think they are taking those drugs but are getting placebos. What about me? A person who just wants to keep moving by keeping moving. God willing I will not let this thing suppress me. He said that being active is now recommended by the medical community.

So I am not a statistic, but he took copious notes while talking with me. I liked that he was talking with me and not at me. Perhaps I like my neurologist now more than I did before. I am not sure though why I am dismayed at this MS thing now being considered a disease and not a disorder. Perhaps it's because that virus thing is resistant to all we throw at it and therefore feels more hopeless.

There is no such thing as hopeless. There is only hope.

It's time to do the walk.

Be well