Friends With MS

Happy Monday, friends, and hope this finds everybody well.

Regular readers of this blog will know that it's mostly about the trials and tribulations my immediate family (with our various physical, neurological, and emotional issues) deals with.  But I wouldn't want you to think that we're unconcerned about the challenges other people face.

I'm thinking at the moment about multiple sclerosis.  It's a terrible condition; you can find lots more information about it at this website.

It's not a common condition, but we know two ladies in our church who deal with it, both with humor, perseverance, and faith.  One friend, who I'll call "Lots of Dogs Lady," has as a part of her every-morning routine an inventory of her physical state before she gets out of bed.  "Can I talk this morning?  Can my hands grip?  Are my legs going to hold me up when I get out of bed?"

For LODL, fortunately the answer is usually "yes."  But sometimes the answer is "no," and it's going to be a difficult day.  And maybe it's going to be a difficult couple of days, or a difficult week, until the nervous system reboots itself and she'll be getting along on a walker and having a difficult time with simple chores and trouble carrying on a conversation and all sorts of fun things.  Most of the time LODL is actually in pretty good shape, all things considered.  But she can't take that capacity for granted.  Any day could become a bad day, and she's had to build her life around that uncertainty.

The other lady, who I'll call "Montana Mom," has had a fairly mild case of MS for several years.  She's had some scary vision issues from time to time, but physically she's been pretty fortunate.  A few weeks ago she had a flare-up, and it's not easing up so far.  Muscle weakness, mumbling and slurred speech, balance problems, double vision.

And at this stage MM doesn't know if this is going to get better.  Are things going to snap back to semi-normal next week? Or is this what the rest of her life is going to look like?  She's keeping her spirits up, but it has to be terrifying.

You might pray for the both of these ladies, and for others dealing with similar circumstances.

Thanks, friends,  Hope all's well, and God bless.