Hmmm. It’s been pointed out to me that perhaps I live in an MS bubble – I think MS, breathe MS, speak MS.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Fair enough, perhaps I am trapped in some kind of bubble, but through no choice of my own.
I have always said, if I had a partner, he would be my ‘blog’. I could offload, work through feelings, come to resolutions. I don’t have that. Therefore, I blog.
Sadly for you guys, you are the devils on my shoulder. And what a brilliant collective of devils!
So how far has my MS bubble extended?
- First, I must address the point made by some friends – they know people who don’t ‘bang on’ about having MS. Hmm. I write a blog about MS. (come to my house and we’ll chat about anything and everything but not MS – for more than five minutes). Furthermore:
- My blog is not the whole story. Believe me, you would run for the hills if you heard the whole sorry saga.
- I have a life outside my blog. Yup!
- I lost my job thanks to MS and ignorant employers – MS (but I won the tribunal – result!).
- I nearly flunked Uni – MS.
- I passed degree and enrolled on an MA – MS.
- My career path has radically altered – MS.
- My (sadly neglected) dating history has ground to a halt – MS.
So, yes, MS has had an impact on virtually every area of my life. Even down to reading a book. Anything more than 300 pages and it’s Kindle, not a paperback. Numb hands are not much fun. Ditto shampoo bottles. And squeezy ketchup.
I was told (by a fellow MSer) that I ‘may as well go out with him’ as he was ‘the best I could hope for now I have MS.’ Well, no.
My world has perhaps been shaped and altered by MS, but it in no way defines who I am. I was always go-getting. I was always adventurous. I have always brought up The Teenager to believe that life was out there, ready to be discovered.
Which is all the more surprising as The Teenager is somewhere on the autistic spectrum. I was fortunate. I met a leading expert years ago – he told me ‘push him out there. make him believe he can do it. You can’t change his world, but you can help him adapt to it’.
And, you know what? It took me three years to get him to catch a ball and the same time to teach him to swim.
So, no, MS is definitely not the most important thing in my life. The Teenager is.