Helen Keller

 “I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life,--if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing.”

Excerpt From: Helen Keller. “Optimism.” 37Fides, 2012. iBooks. https://itun.es/us/PR7KI.l

Find ways to be happy. Ms. Keller did it. I'm doing it. So can you!

life-sustaining abilities

I want to apologize for my saying that you can't die from MS- some upset people. I completely agree that MS can take away life-sustaining abilities. So, yes, you can die from MS.

Still though, that is not going to happen one year after diagnosis, unless there is an extreme situation I've never heard of. I just don't want the public believing that MS is a death sentence.

Most people, before they die of MS, live with some degree of disability and frustration. I was diagnosed 23 years ago and am now quadriplegic. I'm not saying that MS is a happy thing, but it doesn't mean your life is coming to an end right away. I worked for 10 years as a teacher and now enjoy having more time to spend on my photography and writing.

I am frustrated every day, but I love my life.

misrepresentations

I wish I didn't see so many misrepresentations of MS in entertainment. I was watching an episode of "Hart of Dixie" in which a young woman was earlier diagnosed with MS. She wants to perform in a parade on a hot summer day. Her doctor urges her not to perform because she may encounter another exacerbation. That much is true. The heat of summer can increase MS symptoms.

But the young woman says, "Doctor, you and I both know this may be my last chance to really live." That's a little over the top. One year after diagnosis, life is not likely to end. Then again, it depends on what your expectations are when you speak of "really living."

In other shows, I especially don't like to hear people claim, "she died of MS." MS itself is not fatal. It is only after years of progressive disease that someone might die from complications related to MS.

Anyway, MS is not the end of anything. It is the beginning of a challenge, but life goes on.