MS Awareness Week

MS Awareness week begins tomorrow. What does this mean exactly?? I very much want people to be aware of this condition but I want SO much more than awareness. I know first hand the suffering that this strange condition brings both to people who have it as well as those people who support the afflicted. I know how much my illness and struggle has affected my wife. She has born the brunt of so much of my frustration and anger over my decline. She has stayed with me but it has taken its toll on her. The erraticness of my moods and the irritability which I hold inside me(and frequently let out inappropriately) has been an ongoing challenge for her to endure. It has helped her immensely that I have come out of my denial of my condition and become proactive in trying to get better. She can finally not walk on eggshells around me and can receive support from others because I have now chosen to be open about my struggles.

I have spoken and written with many who struggle from this disease since I started blogging about my personal battles and the new approach I have embraced. People truly suffer (often in silence) with this as well as so many other challenges. I have always felt from the core of my being that one's perceived social support system is absolutely vital to any sense of well-being while in the midst of illness. To be able to speak openly and to feel heard changes the inherent isolation which results from being sick or disabled. It may not change the condition itself or the physical manifestations but it decreases the separation and "aloneness" which far too often accompany and often heighten the physical symptoms, degeneration and decline. I believe wholeheartedly that re-connecting with the humanity around us is crucial to getting well, staying strong, and enduring suffering. With that said, I realize now that I turned my back on this immeasurable power for way too long during my years with MS.

I feel better today not only because I confronted my denial or because I was blessed to have the "Liberation Procedure". I feel better because I let the world into my private, "walled-off" world. I asked for help and support and I got way more than I could have imagined.

I hope this "Awareness of MS" week brings true relief to the many who battle this condition as well as to their support teams. I pray that "Liberation" comes to many or all as eyes are opened to this previously mysterious disease. I know that the management of this crippling condition is in a state of flux and I also know that the "Vascular/Venous" theory of MS is in its infancy, but I truly believe that there is a light in this dark tunnel and someday soon people will be getting liberated on a very regular basis. I also pray that the medical profession can open itself to new, good research and be flexible when answers fly in the face of prior beliefs. Until the mysteries are totally unlocked, PLEASE be aware of others struggles and let's all try to be there for the wounded among us. This is truly what makes the world go round.