Overdo leads to overdue.

Multiple sclerosis warriors know firsthand. We really do. We’ve been there again and again. But lots of us still fall into this trap. OK, repeat after me:

Overdo leads to overdue.

(And that leads to overdone.)

 

Yes, it’s true (even if this long-time career editor just broke a couple of grammatical errors to get the point across).

When we feel pretty good, we tend to make the most of it. We do and do and do. And we keep on doing until the MS MonSter rears up and swipes at us with his ugly claws. By then, we’re already nearly spent, because of all that doing.

Our “Do-be-do-be-do” has done got up and gone.

That makes us easy prey.

I’m there today. Right now. A couple of weeks of doing and overdoing are pushing into peril. On the up-side, I’ve knocked several items off my to-do list. I’ve enjoyed lots of intriguing and enjoyable activities. I’ve met my personal fitness goals for several days in a row. And I’ve juggled more than the usual amount of stress and emotional overload.

Guess I sort of earned this setback.

Tomorrow, maybe I’ll be back on my feet. But for today, I’m sending more than a few calls directly to voice mail. I’m tabling a couple of not-quite-due deadlines. The overachiever hat will have to sit on the shelf for a bit.

I think every relapse-remitting MSer knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s a classic condition. When we feel good (or less terrible), we usually have more energy and less pain. We get up and go. We eat what we want. We accomplish amazing amounts of activity (at least by MSer standards). We stay up later than usual.

And we wonder if this is how everyone else feels all the time.

It’s almost a high to not feel low.

And maybe, just for a short spell, we almost forget what it feels like to battle MS with both hands and both feet and everything we’ve got. Until the MonSter rails on us and reminds us.

Yup. Overdo leads to overdue. And that leads to overdone. But sometimes it’s sort of worth it.

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Word art generated by this user.

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Yuckies - Facing MS symptoms from A to Z

Multiple sclerosis can give a person the yuckies.

It’s not just that icky metallic after-taste that comes with mid-exacerbation steroid treatments. It’s not the, um, unpleasant and potentially embarrassing personal and private problems that some MSers face. And it’s more than the queasy, woozy, bluesy feeling that goes along with the nearly ever-present vertigo of MS.

MS just feels yucky a lot of the time.

“Where does it hurt?” someone might ask. We may not have specific answers (although we may).

“Are you sick again?” another might query. “Maybe it’s the flu.” But it’s probably not influenza, allergies, food poisoning, or typhoid fever. It’s just life with MS, always running in the background.

The MS yuckies are not like depression or grief. They’re more like riding a tandem bicycle and pedaling hard, while the other person is simply sitting there like dead weight. Add a significant headwind, a light rain, a bit of midsummer humidity, three or four blaring radios (tuned to different stations), a pair of fogged-up glasses, a charley horse in one leg, a too-tight belt tucked up around the rib cage, and some stomach upset – now you’re beginning to get the picture.

And, unless the MS yuckies turn into a full-blown exacerbation, then they just feel like a reasonably difficult day with MS. Sure, some of us have days when we can keep up with fit folks. But we also have times that feel … well … yucky.

Maybe we’ll bounce back again tomorrow or the next day or next week.

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Series title graphic adapted from public domain artwork.

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Ever want to put on a mask and just hide from the world?

Maybe a masquerade isn’t always child’s play.

Halloween is nearly here, and masks are in vogue. Scary and silly masks fill store displays. People of all ages put them on for fun.

Masks invite us all to make believe we are someone (or something) we are not. Maybe we pretend to be spooky figures, wild beasts, or comical characters. Generally, it’s all in good fun – or so folks say.

That’s not what I mean here about putting on masks.

Psychologists like to talk about masks as emotional defense mechanisms. Perhaps people put on figurative masks to hide their feelings, store their internal secrets, or feign positivity when they don’t really mean it. Sure, mental health experts make a valid point.

But that’s not it, either. Not for the MSer.

When the MS MonSter attacks, sometimes the MS warrior may want simply to slip on a mask and go through the motions of life without having to explain or engage. Although we’ve been told countless times on our best days, “You don’t look sick,” we have days when we glance in the mirror and see death warmed over.

Our foreheads crinkle. Our brows bend downward on the sides. Our smiles droop into frowns. Our heads drop, putting even more pressure on our already aching necks and backs. Our shoulders slump. We may look a whole lot older than our years, at least for a stretch.

You get the point.

Then, if we do drag ourselves out and about, we inevitably run into all manner of colleagues, family members, friends, neighbors, or others.

“How are you?” they ask. But they don’t really want a rundown.

So we simply answer, “Fine, and you?” Then we shuffle along, wishing we’d avoided the whole interaction, so we wouldn’t have had to lie about how we really feel.

Some days, a mask is just what the doctor ordered. It’s easier to be anonymous when we’re under the weather. 

Image/s:

 Vintage photo / public domain

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No one gets a trophy in the whiner's circle

The winner’s circle brings accolades, awards, attention, and all sorts of amusement for those who arrive there. Crowds cheer. Cameras and smart phones snap smiling shots.

Not so with the whiner’s circle.

Maybe misery loves company, as the old saying echoes. Sure, there is comfort and consolation in commiseration.

But ask any multiple sclerosis warrior (or anyone valiantly battling a chronic medical condition), and you will find few that want to wallow in misery. We struggle, we strain, and we slug it out the best we can – on our good days and our truly terrible ones.

It's hard. There's no denying that. Living with MS, we have days when it seems impossible simply to show up. Sometimes we don't. We may even moan and groan a bit with a few trusted ones. But we don't linger long in the whiner's circle.

I live a few blocks from a wonderful woman. Bette was diagnosed with relapse-remitting MS five years ago. She’s had some doozy exacerbations, but she hasn’t let them run her off course. Bette and her husband have taken in one foster child after another for maybe a decade.

Consider my friend Bart, who has primary-progressive MS. He has used a wheelchair every day for many years. But Bart shows up for worship band rehearsal at his local church every week, toting his drumsticks. He’s on the platform each Sunday, sounding out holy happiness like there’s no tomorrow.

How about Arlena? She drives an adapted vehicle, parking in special spots to run her own errands and to report to her full-time job. Despite her difficulties, Arlena shares her surplus of smiles with pretty much everyone she encounters.

My friend Micah used to run in track meets. Sidelined by MS, he still never misses a meet. Using his crutches, he shuffles to the track with braces on both legs and cheers his former fellow runners to victory.

These MSers belong to the winner’s circle. No whining. They are kicking MS to the curb. I wanna be like them when I grow up.

Image/s:

 Adapted from public domain artwork

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