May 04 2009
No Submissions In This Fight With Multiple Sclerosis
American Harvey Stelman is a relatively new ‘virtual’ friend whom I’ve met via the online Helium writers’ group. He has suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for 26 years and strikes me as generous and courageous in equal measure.
He has allowed me to reproduce his account of living with the condition (below) although he has just returned from yet another stay in hospital.
Please read on, I’ve barely edited a word:
“ME VS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS - THE WINNER IS …”
«Fighting a disease that does not have a cure is no fun at all. I can only speak for fighting multiple sclerosis. The first 31 years of my life were filled with love and fun. Then one day, the fun was taken away.
«It was 1981, and I was having hernia surgery. When they brought me into the operating room I didn’t realise things were about to change. As soon as they put me on the operating table, I began to shake. I shook so badly that it made me jump two feet above the operating table. My doctor ran to me and asked if I recognised him. I said his name and he screamed: “Put him out!” All I remember was the nurses putting warm blankets on me and waking up in recovery. Anaesthetic was different in those days, so I was out of it till morning.
«The surgeon came in to check on me early the next morning. I told him I had numbness going down both legs. He showed me that there was only one side of my body that had an incision. The question was why numbness going down both legs? Of course he had no explanation.
«When I got out of the hospital I felt like one foot was walking on the sidewalk and the other foot was in the gutter. The numbness never went away completely. Later on, I found out that a traumatic experience brings out the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. That summer I was stung in the back by something. The area became numb, and once again, I had no idea what was going on. The fun was just beginning.
«One day I started becoming blind in one eye. The eye doctor had no idea what it was. In two days I became completely blind in that eye. My eye doctor now had an inclination and recommended I see a neurologist. He made an appointment for me, and I went to see the neurologist immediately.
«The doctor was young and had not perfected his bedside manner. He did a neurological examination and told me I had a 33% chance of having multiple sclerosis. I had no idea what the hell that was. He gave me a prescription, patted me on the back and said; “try to lead a normal life.” Then he walked out of the room. I was left in a dark room crying. I had just buried a wonderful friend the week before because of a brain tumor. He started off by going blind in one eye. All I saw in front of me was my funeral.
«Getting home, I began to research multiple sclerosis. Research then told me I had a five per cent chance of dying from MS. I joined a MS support group, and later became the leader of two more.
«The big thing as usual was I had beaten the odds again. Seventy per cent of MS patients are women; 80% have relapsing-remitting MS; 10% have first-degree chronic progressive MS and I was thrilled to discover that I have second-degree chronic progressive MS.
«For 26 years I have been so excited about this disease. It keeps punching and I keep getting up before the referee counts to 10. Putting it mildly, it’s like being in hell, although you’re still alive.
«Here is my definition of Multiple Sclerosis: Everyone knows that when you get a short in an electrical system, the electrical current can not go past the area where the damage has occurred. If your wiring is for a lamp, the bulb will not light up. MS is similar. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system in which the impulses start as electrical signals in the brain and the wires that convey the impulses to our muscles are our nerves. As in our lamp, if the nerve is damaged, the signal cannot pass the point of damage and reach the part of the body for which it is intended. It cannot light the “bulb.”
«In MS the muscle will not receive the signal and it cannot be “willed” to move. Control of the hands, arms, legs, or any other muscle group may become impaired or totally absent, eventually leading to conditions such as paraplegia, quadriplegia and blindness.
«Over 400,000 of Americans are diagnosed with this dreadful disease, but I must get back to the fight. The two combatants are still slugging it out. This writer cannot tell you whom to put your money on, but don’t bet on a knockout either way!»
- Around 85,000 people in the UK have MS.
msniw
