Ugh. I can hardly
even sign my own name today. My hands are achy and sore. My palms are clammy.
And I can’t hang onto a pen without dropping it.
Is it writer’s cramp? Nope. Guess again. It’s one
more drawback of life with multiple sclerosis.
That hand muscle
spasm, wrist weakness, finger fatigue, and overall manual clumsiness all seem
to be part and parcel of MS.
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| Photo adapted from public domain image |
MS can be
difficult to define. Even doctors have trouble with that. (Maybe that’s why it
seems to take them months, or even years, to diagnose it properly – despite
the whopping battery of odd and unpleasant tests they tend to administer in the
process.)
The symptoms of MS are even weirder.
MS warriors may
battle any number of uncanny symptoms of this chronic neurological monster on a
given day. At the same time, we might be able to accomplish quite a lot in
other areas.
Here’s the
craziest thing. The onslaught of MS symptoms varies, both unpredictably and
randomly.
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| Word cloud created by this user with online generator. |
A single Mser can experience the entire gamut, a strange variety of
symptoms, or a single one for a stretch. The symptoms may resolve without
warning or persist. It’s tough to tell.
Tomorrow, for
example, I am slated to run in a midwinter trail race. It’s hilly and rugged
and hard. But I aim to finish. I might even log a respectable race time, at
least for my somewhat advanced age group. (The entry numbers tend to diminish,
as the age numbers go up.)
But I can’t write
a full sentence by hand without fumbling and dropping my pen. And the words I
do scratch out are barely legible. Sure, penmanship was never my strongest suit
in school, but my handwriting was readable.
Wait till I try
to tie my shoes.
You are invited to join the Kicking
MS to the Curb page on Facebook and the Making the
Most of MS board on Pinterest.
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