It’s Like A Bad Storm

We have been glued to the weather channel lately.  So many in my family were in the paths of the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that have been plaguing the country this past week.  It is hard to watch as storms get close to those you love and you have no way of contacting them because of power outages and such.  It is such a relief when they let you know they are fine.

Unfortunately, last spring one in my family lost their home and almost their lives to a tornado.  It was one of the most frightening and sad things I have been through lately.  Although thankful to be alive, the ordeal they went through will be with them the rest of their lives.

MS is kind of like a severe storm warning – you know it is there, you just don’t know where it will strike.  Most of us have a multitude of symptoms.  Some of them are with us all the time while others come and go.  You know they can strike at any moment, just not when or where.

I remember when I was young and the adults would talk about arthritis pain coming and going.  Some of them even made light of the fact that it must not really be that bad or it would hurt all the time.  If you have arthritis, you know this is not true.

The same goes for MS.  As all of us who struggle with it on a daily basis have said many times, it is a monster.  It takes over your life and refuses to let go.  It may ease the stranglehold it has on you at times, but it never leaves you totally alone.  The thing MS patients hate to hear more than anything else is: “But you look so good”. 

There is no “weather central” for MS patients to know when things are going to get worse.  That may be a good thing.  If we knew how bad we were going to be tomorrow, we might just stay in bed!  There is no test to tell how bad any one particular person will be in years to come nor any way to tell how you will feel tomorrow.  We all just have to hope and pray that each day we will have the strength and will-power to deal with whatever the day brings.

I guess if medical science ever gets to the point they can predict MS on a daily basis, there will be an MS weather channel and all of us in the family will tune in.  I would love to be one of their weather girls…………..but only if the outlook is for pain free, happy days!! J