Recently I started a blog about all the clothes I have (an didn't know I had). Then, a few days later, some friends talked me into starting one about sharing clothes between ladies who have curves. The second one hasn't had much on it, while the first one is updated daily. Both silly blogs, I know, but with the second one, I almost started using it as a way to somewhat verbally deal with my Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and then decided not to. After a week of thinking on it, I've decided to start this.
I was diagnosed with MS during my senior year of high school. Not only was that hard, but all the things that led up to it were even worse. My parents, one of my sisters, and I had just moved to California a few weeks after I turned sixteen. We were in our other city for 10 years (most of my life at the time) and I was not happy about it. I was excited when I first found out. (What 16 year old girl wouldn't love to move to California?!) But then we got there... My parents were in shock about the price of a house and we needed a place quickly. So they found a cute little house for rent and we moved a week or so later. I wasn't too thrilled about the house. It was only a one story and no family room.
Then, I found out that I had somewhat of an in to the marching band. (I was in band and color guard at my last high school) I was pretty relieved. Then band camp started and I was thinking, ok this is going to be a lot of fun. I was wrong. They didn't march the same way, they didn't do field shows, only parades and they stuck me with girls that didn't even know how to spin a flag. I was a little upset things were starting to look kinda bad.
When school started, things really started to go downhill. About half of my high school credit couldn't be transfered from my last high school and I was basically going to do 2 and a half years of high school in the two I had left. I was in shock. I also found out that if i wanted to do color guard, I was going to need to actually take that as one of my classes (at my last one it was more of a night class type thing). So i dropped color guard and decided that, since I still played flute, I could just be in the band. Then I went to band class... lets just say I ended up dropping band too.
Long story short, in the first two weeks of school, I had 14 different class schedules trying to figure out what all I needed to take and what I could just let go. I was really not the happiest girl then. Around the beginning of the second semester, I found that every once in a while, I had a strange limp with my left leg and my speech would get very slurred. I didn't think much of it and thought I was either stressed, upset, or I needed more sleep.
By the middle of summer, I turned 17 and my left arm, hand, and most of my left side were numb.
Such a great way to start my senior year... then even more happened.
The school didn't believe me! They honestly thought since I had such a bad junior year, that I just didn't want to go to school. It wasn't until that December that my doctor finally found out what I had. Then, the school was more than willing to get me into independent study and help me get all my classes. I was short one semester, by the time my senior year was over.
I was mad, but I was also having to deal with the new crazy thing called MS that I honestly had not clue about.
My parents tried to tell me about all of the research they did on it and help me understand, but I wouldn't hear any of it. I didn't even tell (or let my parents tell) my brothers and sisters (3 sisters and 2 brothers) what I had! I was going to be upset and that was it. But at the same time, I wasn't going to let the whole not graduating high school stop me from anything.
To top it off, I was told I would have to start doing a shot everyday! I had started passing out every time I was stuck with a needle around 11 years old. So when I heard this, I said "no," and basically walked out of the doctor's office. But did eventually give in (kinda had to when a lady came to my house just to teach me how to do the shot, myself).
I went and got my GED, but even that was stressful. The testing part was easy but the way the proctor treated me wasn't all that great. The testing was a 2 day thing and at the end of the first day she said, "you went through this pretty quick," in somewhat of a demeaning tone. Then, at the end of the second day she said the same thing, but added, "when you need to retake this it will most likely be the same stuff, so study that when you get home." The good news is that I passed, and not only did I pass, but above normal (but not above normal for math, I still suck at math even today).
I started college that fall, and started to feel a bit more grounded about my MS. So much so that I even gave a speech about it in my speech class. With my weight training class (I was very athletic when I was younger), I had a long list to tell my coach what all I could and couldn't do. He teased me about my limits but I inadvertently got back at him when he told his wife (she was an RN) about me. From what he told me, he got kind of an earful for teasing me.
I ended up taking weight training and body conditioning with him 4 times, I think (I was allowed to repeat for credits twice per class). I loved college and I loved the new freedom I had with my schedule of classes.
Then the nerves set in and my memory was starting to get somewhat bad. I ended up dropping most classes I signed up for and ended up playing it off like I was just some dumb 20 something year old that was careless in life.
Now I'm 28 years old, married for almost 6 years, with two beautiful boys. I'm also training to do an MS Bike ride with one of my brothers, over in Washington state, for September. So here, I will post photos of my training and what all I've been doing with my MS and how I deal with it.
I also promise no more books like this as a post.
No comments:
Post a Comment