Illustration by Tom PhillipsTime to catch up with my MS (oh yeah, like that could ever happen!): the development of symptoms and ways they’re affecting my life. It’s been a while since I came to this blog just to “chat” – maybe some sort of denial? –and, let’s face it, this thing’s not going to stop in its tracks, do an about-turn, disappear – it’s here to stay and will, no doubt win the race. I should write about it and, hopefully, say something to help others - at least share an empathy with fellow-MSers.
If MS was a racing-car, it would surely be a Ferrari: to my mind (and most others!), the most beautiful of cars and one of the finest pieces of engineering known to man. The fact that I’m anti-cars, because of their use of oil, and pollutant affect on the environment, is by-the-by here (!). I’m not naïve and can appreciate the skill involved in crafting such an exceptional machine (I hate noise – but that wonderful growl of the Ferrari engine…!). It wins… It wins in aesthetics, mechanics, and performance on the race-track, where it leaves rivals floundering.
Yes, if MS were a racing-car it would be a Ferrari.
And, what would we be, us poor little MSers with our spastic legs, chronic fatigue and wasted muscles? Where would we be, with our out-dated theories on cause having something to do with the immune system attacking the rest of our bodies (rubbish!), and the pharmaceutical drugs that do nothing but harm (side-effects) even if they are, duplicitously, offered as help?
Oh, we’d be that tiny dot, still on the starting-line as the Ferrari sped towards the Finish. We’d be the poor suckers left behind - alone, in our cranky, old wheelchair!
And that’s it with the car analogy. I hate car analogies (and too many use them!), except to say…
It is, of course, our disease racing towards the chequered flag, which, in itself, marks the end of our existence. We must enter the race - at least try to keep up - if we are not to lose control completely. And that’s why I’m back here, at this blog. I can see (and feel, and sense) that the MS has me now. I know its progression (primary progrssive multiple sclerosis – PPMS) has been cruel.
But the herbs – praise God! – do help. At least to keep symptoms under control (for instance, in keeping depression at bay; lessening fatigue and pain), and often as cures (e.g.: respiratory problems [see next post]; spasm; anxiety; exhaustion; insomnia).
So this blog must go on, as long as I’m in the race! And, if I think about MS as a Ferrari (which I won’t – it’s an insult to the car!), maybe I can afford it a grudging respect.
As it is, about the only thing they have in common, as far as I can see, is that they’re both man-made!
Yes, I do believe that MS is the result somehow (pharmaceuticals; refined foods; chemicals and additives in food; chemical pollutants [i.e. petrol; perfumes]?) of modern-day society. The post-industrialisation age.
But that’s another story for another time (though I did touch on it in the post ‘Environmental Illness’ in the Comment Column blog).
See you soon.
Note: ‘respiratory’ post to follow…
If MS was a racing-car, it would surely be a Ferrari: to my mind (and most others!), the most beautiful of cars and one of the finest pieces of engineering known to man. The fact that I’m anti-cars, because of their use of oil, and pollutant affect on the environment, is by-the-by here (!). I’m not naïve and can appreciate the skill involved in crafting such an exceptional machine (I hate noise – but that wonderful growl of the Ferrari engine…!). It wins… It wins in aesthetics, mechanics, and performance on the race-track, where it leaves rivals floundering.
Yes, if MS were a racing-car it would be a Ferrari.
And, what would we be, us poor little MSers with our spastic legs, chronic fatigue and wasted muscles? Where would we be, with our out-dated theories on cause having something to do with the immune system attacking the rest of our bodies (rubbish!), and the pharmaceutical drugs that do nothing but harm (side-effects) even if they are, duplicitously, offered as help?
Oh, we’d be that tiny dot, still on the starting-line as the Ferrari sped towards the Finish. We’d be the poor suckers left behind - alone, in our cranky, old wheelchair!
And that’s it with the car analogy. I hate car analogies (and too many use them!), except to say…
It is, of course, our disease racing towards the chequered flag, which, in itself, marks the end of our existence. We must enter the race - at least try to keep up - if we are not to lose control completely. And that’s why I’m back here, at this blog. I can see (and feel, and sense) that the MS has me now. I know its progression (primary progrssive multiple sclerosis – PPMS) has been cruel.
But the herbs – praise God! – do help. At least to keep symptoms under control (for instance, in keeping depression at bay; lessening fatigue and pain), and often as cures (e.g.: respiratory problems [see next post]; spasm; anxiety; exhaustion; insomnia).
So this blog must go on, as long as I’m in the race! And, if I think about MS as a Ferrari (which I won’t – it’s an insult to the car!), maybe I can afford it a grudging respect.
As it is, about the only thing they have in common, as far as I can see, is that they’re both man-made!
Yes, I do believe that MS is the result somehow (pharmaceuticals; refined foods; chemicals and additives in food; chemical pollutants [i.e. petrol; perfumes]?) of modern-day society. The post-industrialisation age.
But that’s another story for another time (though I did touch on it in the post ‘Environmental Illness’ in the Comment Column blog).
See you soon.
Note: ‘respiratory’ post to follow…
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