Disabilities Don’t Have to be a Death Sentence

There are two ways that you can look at your disabilities. You can either look at it through a “half-empty” glass, whereby your whole life seems to be over. Or you can view it through a “half-full” glass, and see that your life is changed, but that you will continue to live, cope, and adjust.

People with multiple sclerosis face this decision every day. Depending on what type of multiple sclerosis, or MS, that they have, every day could offer new challenges. Some MS patients get progressively, and inexorably, worse, leading to increased levels of disabilities and dependence.

Other face spells where they seem normal, followed by relapses that take them out of the normal everyday rhythms and activities. Days, or weeks later, the MS subsides, but the person is a little worse the wear for it.

Who is to say which kind of MS is worse? For the person with MS, it is a unique struggle that offers unique moments of dismay, depression, hope, and redemption.

The DL on MS

The DL, or down-low and truthful, information on MS shows that the disease attacks a person’s central nervous system. This is the part of your body that includes your brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord. It is essentially the wiring of the body, in charge of motion, senses, and thoughts.

Around all of the tissues in the central nervous system is a layer of protection, fatty cells called myelin. This material not only buffers the nerves, it also helps them conduct the electrical signals necessary for the nerves’ function.

MS destroys this myelin. Where it hits, the MS leaves behind damaged myelin called sclerosis, hence the name of the condition. Sclerosis patches are more like plaque or lesions, which is essentially useless scar tissue.

MS can be as bad to actually attack the nerves underneath the myelin. In these two ways, MS affects how the nerves function in your body. Not only may the nerves be broken, but their conductive material, the myelin, is gone, making it more difficult for them to relay their messages.
Essentially the hard wiring to your brain is broken down, which results in all of the symptoms of MS that can be so debilitating, such as slurred speech, blurry vision, trouble moving, and pain.
The Many Forms of MSThe extent of disabilities associated with MS depends on the exact kind of the condition that a person has. There are four different types of MS, each of which can range in severity from mild to debilitating.
Relapsing-RemittingThis first kind of MS comes and goes. Its relapses, or flare ups, ignite the symptoms of MS. The MS becomes severe and leads to disabilities during the attacks.
However, they tend to pass and are followed by periods of remission. During this lulls, the MS symptoms can completely or partially disappear, leaving the person on a yo-yo of problems and emotions.
Primary-ProgressivePrimary-progressive MS poses the most disabilities over the long run possibly for people with it. Once this form of MS begins, its progresses gradually but continuously over time.
There are no remissions. The symptoms only get worse and worse. For some people, problems build up slowly over time. For others, however, the MS can come on fast. Some others even experience plateaus, when their MS symptoms seem to stabilize for a time.
Secondary-ProgressiveThis type of MS is a mix of the two types of primary MS. It begins with a form of relapse-remitting pattern, whereby the symptoms come and go in waves,
At a certain point, though, the disease takes a turn for the worse and strictly becomes progressive. There may be an occasional remission, flare up, or plateau, but for the most part, the disease stays its course toward further disabilities.
Progressive-RelapsingPossibly the most dramatic form of MS, progressive-relapsing begins as a steady drumbeat of increasing symptoms and disabilities. Instead of experiencing brief respites from the condition, as in remitting MS, these people only have periods where the MS gets drastically worse.
Once these bad spells pass, there still is no break from the disease. It continues to progress over time.
A Hopeless Case?MS may seem like a death sentence to a person’s old way of life. Where once they could walk and work and play, they may become confined to a walker, a wheelchair, or a bed.
There is no cure for MS at the moment. There are many treatments, though, some of which seem helpful for some patients. Some MS victims may even show improvement without any treatment at all.
The disease is so personal, in both its symptoms and its effects upon a person’s psyche, that it is hard to predict what treatment will work for a person. Doctors can offer steroids, physical therapy, hormones, and a host of other medicines and physical treatments to help an MS sufferer.
The best treatment, nevertheless, is a good attitude. No matter how dark the condition seems, and can be, the best way to cope and recover is for the MS patients themselves to treat the condition with a positive mindset, hope, and strength.