My MS Bully and Me

I just wanted to pip in and say Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy 2019! Over 8,700 visits in the last 6 months. Visitors from all over the world are welcome! Happy holidays from my home to yours. Carla 🎄🎄

© C King This week is the ten year anniversary of my MS diagnosis. Having a diagnosis anniversary is unlike any other. You don’t celebrate. There are no gifts.  It’s a reminder of how much you’ve lost and how far you’ve come. You remember it with both sadness and hope. For me, it’s been an opportunity to reflect. Of course, I’d be lying if some of this didn’t involve thinking about where I was as a person ten years ago. No fatigue, lots of energy, virtually no pain (other than the relapse confirming diagnosis) and living day to day. I never felt the need to look back and had no concerns about my future. I even wore heels. I was diagnosed two months into my marriage and well into the mindset of having children; not so much a want as it was a need. Even then, I had other parallel health conditions, such as PCOS. Professionally, I was in demand and at the peak of my career; very much an expert in my field.   When you reflect, it’s hard not to revisit the Kubler-R

Oh God, I've forgotten to buy the brussel sprouts and the world is about to end! Alright, which one of you moved the French baguette? What do you mean, you’ve eaten it?! That was for the Christmas MEAL! Okay, okay - I think I still have the bread machine somewhere. Flour, check, salt, check, yeast… where did I put the..? I. Don’t. Have. YEAST! (As you hyperventilate, you momentarily consider packing a bag and buying a last-minute one-way ticket to Spain. No one will notice.) In principle, those with chronic conditions love Christmas as much as anyone else, but the reality is that it can be anxiety-inducing and energy-draining. This isn’t just about the panic that descends upon our houses over a twenty-four hour period. It’s also about the fatigue brought about through entertaining others, the overwhelming – and growing - number of tasks leading up to and on the day, the need to create the perfection that is kids’ Christmas, and the aftermath in the subsequent few days that kno