Some days I wake up and want to be a dragon-slayer. I climb out of bed
with great ambitions, hoping to tackle a long list of tasks. I want to work out
and run a bunch of miles. I’d love to fill my calendar with all sorts of
stimulating and enjoyable activities, especially with people I’ve been wanting
to see for a while.
Basically, I aim to put multiple sclerosis on the back burner – as if
that were actually possible. Sometimes we can sort of do that for a while, if
we’re between exacerbations.
I should have known better today.
This past weekend, I ran a half marathon. Yes, that’s 13.1 miles. And I
pushed the pace a bit. So I might have expected to feel pretty spent (and out
of so-called “spoons”) for a couple of days.
That’s the staccato rhythm of MS, as I live it: Feeling good, feeling crummy, feeling good,
and so on.
I lounged around yesterday, for the most part. I finished some sedentary
projects, but didn’t exert myself much physically. That was a given for the day
after a big race.
Today I was raring to go.
I hit the gym for a midday break and cranked out a 5K on the elliptical
machine, followed by two miles of track running and weight circuits. Midway
through those, I bumped into one of the weight machines, with the metal handle
smacking me squarely in the middle of my back.
“Ouch!” It’s not like I don’t already have MS demyelination in that
neighborhood. And it’ll definitely leave a mark.
I yelped and grimaced and gasped. Then I kept going with my workout
routine.
Eventually, I climbed into my car and reached for my seat belt.
“Yow!” I bent an entire fingernail back, catching it between the car seat
and the center console.
Not exactly nimble.
It is certainly shaping up to be an MS-clumsy day. I probably should have
seen this coming, as soon as my toes went numb during the first mile on the
elliptical.
I almost want to wrap myself up (head to toe) in bubble wrap till this bout
passes. And I am evaluating all of today’s remaining calendar commitments to
determine which are worth the risks my current clumsiness can bring.
Image/s:
Adapted by this user from public domain
photo
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