It is already the time of year when I am getting ready for the MS Walk!! The yearly MS Walk is May 7 in Denver's City Park – it’s in-person again (or virtual if one wants to do that).
Here is the
link where you can donate to support me in the MS Walk:
https://mssociety.donordrive.com/participant/147676
Money
raised goes to research toward a cure for MS as well as for programs for people
with MS, their families, and friends. Every donation, large or small,
helps!!
My life with MS since the virtual 2021 MS Walk:
I have
kept swimming – in fact, in 2021 I made a goal to swim 100 miles and I reached
that goal in December. I’ve been told I stand and walk straighter now, and that
is from swimming. I also got back to skiing after a year off, and this year was
able to ski, standing up, for half-days which was exciting. My ski instructor,
who has tethers attached my skis to help me ski, told me that I was making my
own turns, even though I couldn’t feel myself making my own turns. I do remember
another time, when I started to be able to lift my foot again, randomly, and I
remember not being able to feel that at first (but now I can), so this seems like
a similar thing. Maybe next year I will feel that I am making the turns myself.
There is always hope.
- I’m not getting younger, part 1: While simply taking off my ski boot one afternoon, my right upper arm made a loud “Pop!!” Sudden, excruciating pain followed the “Pop!!” and did not go away, but I made it home even though reaching for the steering wheel seemed to correlate with pain and tears the whole way home. Yes, it is true – I skied all day with no problems, but it was the taking off of the ski boot… “Pop!!” I am slowly improving and have been told I have an “unstable bicep.” This has nothing to do with MS except that I do use my arms more than the average person to compensate for my not-as-strong-as-I-would-like legs.
- I’m not getting younger, part 2: After 2 years of right knee pain, I went to see a doctor about that pain, had an MRI, and was told my right knee is not in good shape (that’s the short version). The good news was that physical therapy could help!! Recently my physical therapist said “Your right quad is not strong enough for you to be able to bend your knee when you walk.” Most people know that using the word “not” with me is probably just going to result in me trying to prove them wrong. So, in true Beth style, I have figured out how to walk with a bent right knee, and my knee is feeling much better. This does have to do with MS – I continue to get stronger.
- I’m not getting younger, part 3: it’s a story of a cat who wanted food and was incessantly meowing, so I tried to hurry to get the food. Result: the iPad escaped the counter and landed on my right foot. Ouch!! Did the cat care? Of course not. He is not a small cat and was still hungry. The iPad was fine, the cat was fed, and I survived. This has to do with MS in the sense an iPad landing directly on my foot caused my foot to have spasms – a symptom of MS – for a long time.
More walking in Boston!! Lori got a scholarship to the Boston
Conservatory to study musical theatre and started this fall. Dave helped her
move, my mom and I visited her in October, and Dave and I are going visit her
in late April/early May. Boston is a great city to walk!! In October, I spent a
whole day walking through the parks there – it was beautiful. I have wanted to
spend a whole day just walking through parks for a long time. From our Boston
trip, I know that I can walk far, day or night, wind or no wind, up and down
hills. I enjoyed it so much.
Treatments for MS have continued to
improve over the years, and I still hope for a day when there is no MS. In the
meantime, I am incredibly grateful for the last 10+ years where I have gone
from wheelchair, to walker, to hiking sticks, to no assistance; from leaning to
standing straight; from having trouble writing to being able to write again;
and much more.
Love
and peace to all.
Beth
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