I am lucky.

I am veering slightly off track today.  Many of you who know me personally (and those of you who have followed my blog since the beginning) know that in addition to the weight issue, I also deal with MS  I spend no time feeling sorry for myself or expecting others to.  We all have a cross to bear.  I am typing with just my left hand today because my right takes too much effort to lift to the keyboard and my fingers would be pretty useless anyway...on the bright side, my leg is much better!

I am often asked what is the worst thing about having it.  Society's insensitivity.  Not just when people say "You don't look like you have MS."  That used to make me nuts (how does it look?)  Now I realize people are unsure of what to say, so I smile and gently explain that it can often be a silent and often invisible disease.  Invisible to the people who do not interact with us all the time.  My husband would argue invisible because he sees the shift in my gait  when I am trying to compensate.  Or the tired look in my eyes when I cannot keep going with shear determination when completely exhausted.  Or any of the other myriad issues I deal with.  And I am among the lucky.  My mobility is not severely affected, only annoyingly so, I am not using crutches and I am not in aheel chair.  I am lucky.

But take a minute and think about other people today.  When you open one of those spring loaded doors, hold it for the person behind you.  I cannot shift items from my left to mt right to grab the door behind you today.  If you see items in a walkway that you can easily navigate, don't take for granted that the person coming after you can.  Today I can yesterday would have been a challenge and tommorow, who knows?  Picking a paper clip up off the desktop may be simple for you, if you see someone struggling, offer to grab it.  It is the little things.  I know my mother, God rest her soul, always griped about how the buttons on women's blouses were never in the right spaces and had to add snaps.  Shortly after I was diagnosed years ago, my fine motor skills became quite compromised for a time.  I remember snapping at her once and telling her something about being lucky her button problem had a fix...the damn things are way too small!  Can fashion designers not find a way to make cool, bigger buttons a part of fashion?

I am lucky.  I have great support for both the MS and the weight loss.  I have wonderful immediate family, wonderful friends, and I work with people who understand and allow me to find ways to continue to be successful.  I am lucky.

If you know someone with MS are you are newly diagnosed, check out http://www.ms.org/.