Battling Multiple Sclerosis

By Jon Wegner

I would like to say first that I’m not a doctor so I don’t know all the technical words for what I describe in the following paragraphs. But I speak in layman’s terms that I think most people understand. I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and as I sit here I’ve been thinking what my life is going to be like in a year, five years and 10 years from now? I’m 49 years old and I suppose I’m getting set in my ways. My MS is only going to get worse. That’s not a very cheerful thought but I try to never feel sorry for myself. I was dealt this hand of cards and I have to deal with it the only way that I know how, with laughter and a never say die attitude! I was diagnosed in 1991 but now that I know what the symptoms of MS are I can easily trace it back to 1980 and maybe even earlier. It’s ironic but I managed health clubs in southern Minnesota from 1980 until May of 1987. It’s ironic because I used to be able to run a couple of miles per day and also bicycle 20 miles the same day. Now I can hardly get out of bed and when I do I’m reaching for my electric scooter or my walker.

The first symptom that I clearly remember is from 1980. Obviously, I didn’t know it was a symptom back then but I do now. I was working at a racquetball club in my hometown of Rochester, MN. I remember sitting in the whirlpool after work or working out and when I got out of the whirlpool I would feel strange. I thought I just didn’t like the hot water because the whirlpools were at least 105 degrees. I couldn’t explain the feelings then and I can’t explain them now but I just didn’t feel right! I was sort of lightheaded, a little dizzy, and sort of wobbly. Thinking back now I was at the clubs for almost 7 years and I bet I wasn’t in the whirlpools more than six times! I also remember having that feeling when I sat in the saunas or the tanning beds. Now I know that it was the beginning of my sensitivity to heat. When I think back I can’t believe that my MS was in my body just waiting to get out. I did a lot of activities in the 80’s that made me warm and I always drank extra beer and blew it off that I just didn’t like heat! Who would ever imagine that it was multiple sclerosis? I know I didn’t.

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By Michael Russell

If you have Multiple Sclerosis, you without a doubt have at least some occasional bouts of low vision. It is rare for anyone with Multiple Sclerosis to escape this often-terrifying limitation. An encounter with vision problems of some sort is usually what signals a problem that begins the journey into a sometimes-tedious ordeal of a diagnosis of MS. Seemingly simple symptoms such as blurred or double vision, floaters and a dimming of or loss of color recognition can more than just disrupt your life. It can leave you feeling like a helpless victim, unprepared and very frightened.

Suddenly, your lifetime enjoyment in jotting notes and letters to friends and loved ones and reading your morning paper or a book every now and then, just became more complicated - even impossible and these are just the things you look forward to doing. Just think about how dependent we are on our eyesight. Because we can see, we don’t bump into walls and other obstacles. There are traffic and street signs with particular colors that are important for us to be able to not only see but also recognize for the safety of others and ourselves.

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