DISQUS

msbpodcast The first thing to realize about MS is that its nothing personal but your nerves are coated with something that your immune system confuses for an attacker.

[In my best Canadian Hoser accent] "Why that is, like, we don't know, eh?"

But the have adapted some of the research into AIDS to shut down the T-cells whenever they get "stupid" and attack us. That's what Avonex™, Rebif™ etc. are. misapplication of research.

What is really confusing is that none, and I do mean none, of the effects you are feeling, tinging, dead spots, phantom pain, staggering, shaking, loss of coordination, spasticity, is really what is wrong.

You can't trust any sensation to be an accurate somatic evaluation.

Now that you know that, for example, the itch that has been blinding you, is NOT real, you can start to access the true situation.

But you CANT just trust the information you are getting from your somatic sense, you have to verify it objectively.

Then, if its real, you can "pull your feet from the fire" or spark up a doobie like Montel Williams.

msbpodcast Fortunately for me, my wife is into eating all kinds of healthy food. She is also the better cook of the two of us, so she does most of the cooking.

I eat very well, consuming almost no beef but some chicken, some fish, some pasta, some cheese, lots of berries, fruit and vegetables. (I sometimes sneak in some buffalo, some caribou, some venison, some duck.)

Just no processed food, ever. (That crap'll kill ya.)

The diet is varied, spicy and never boring.

The only problem I had in the past, about 25 kilos ago (50 pounds,) was one of being too fat.

Much to my wife's chagrin, I lost the weight and got a new "set point" and I now weigh 85 kilos (180 lbs,) plus or minus*.

* Like Nicole Hollander, speaking through her character "Silvia," says: "My weight is always perfect for my height, which varies."

tinglyfeeling well, that's good that you can make your own schedule. flexibility is a major plus when dealing with this disease--or any major lifestyle curveball.

showing up to work is hard some mornings--i've been getting in later and later. but then i've never been a punctual morning person. and i have a lot of meetings where i have to stand to present my work, which sometimes means i have to cling to something to steady myself (and hope no one notices). but i like my job and don't want to stop or slow down.

msbpodcast Hello Carla.

what kind of a cane are you using?

The "traditional" rounded canes are completely wrong for your hand. (In fact if you look at the shape of your hand and the shape of the cane, they are entirely opposite to each other.)

Google Ergonomic Canes (mine looks sort of like [ http://www.amazon.com/walking-cane-comfortable-... ] and its well worth the US$35.00)

Getting better is something else.

It can require that you change your diet (that can be enough if your not too badly affected and you have relapsing/remitting MS.) It should taste good too. :-)

But I'm not a nutritionist and I'm certainly not a medical doctor.

tinglyfeeling dude. that sucks. this disease is such a fickle, vindictive beast.

are you doing anything differently now? like, have you changed your diet or started acupuncture or anything like that? not that those things will help for sure, i'm just wondering what your approach to dealing with all this madness is.

tinglyfeeling yeah, i've been making a lot of lemonade lately, which is why i've been such a slacker with the blog updates. summmmmerrrrrrr whoooo! heh. ;-)

you own your own business, right? does that mean you work from home a lot? is that still really difficult? i sometimes wonder what that would be like, if i had to quit going to work and be a freelance writer (provided that my fingers can still type).

xo

Jason Carla,
That great advice, After writing the article I've been telling myself, i did it once I can do it again. I'm now foucsed on building another 100 million dollar company, all things are possible.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,

Jason

AJ Kumar I agree with you Carla, you gotta "be it" in order to have it.

Yehuda Neuman Hey Carla,
Paul Ekman mentions that there is really no science to telling lies (the tv show Lie To Me would seem to disagree, gotta hate dramatized versions lol). But the most important thing is to establish baselines and deviations from that baseline are going to be the strongest indicator. All this talk about micro expressions, illustrators, emblamatic slips and the like are rare to occur and you have to be very trained to pick it up. Hopefully this article makes it all a little simpler.
enjoy :-)

Yehuda N.

AJ Kumar lol! I think young children are really good at lying because they haven't developed the tell signs that give it away. Usually they come clean when enough authority puts them in place :D.

Nathalie Lussier I'm so glad you've taken the leap of faith Carla. I love Green & Chic, you're really onto something & your passion shines through. :)

Yay very exciting stuff, scary, but exciting. :) I'm so glad you're along for the ride Carla!

Nathalie Lussier I'm sending you lots of love and healing energy Carla. I'm so glad you're doing better physically, our bodies take a lot of stress unto themselves.

Nathalie Lussier Thanks Carla, I did! :)

Aww I'm sad to hear about your sickness, but I'm also happy to hear that you're getting back into the swing of things. Sometimes it's much better to take the time to nurture yourself and then get back into your routines. *internet hugs*