Mar
25
Learning to Trust Myself
Filed Under Personal Stories | Leave a Comment
There was, at first, the occasional numbness, but as friends were quick to point out, everyone gets pins and needles, right? Then there were the words I couldn’t find . . . but that happens to all of us as we age. Stranger symptoms came and went. My speech was slurry, and then not. I was depressed, and then not. I was confused and overwhelmed, but then moments later clearheaded and capable.
I’m 45 now, and for years I suspected I had a biological brain illness. Yet I was told by many medical professionals, including my own husband, that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. Or rather, they said, there was something wrong, but not what I thought. I was not physically ill, I was just nuts. They suggested that I was simply imagining my troubles.
I’m not the first woman to be jollied into believing it’s better to be neurotic than ill. In fact, several studies have shown that women’s medical problems are more likely than men’s to be interpreted as emotional issues or complaining, a mistake that can have grave consequences. What was unusual in my case was that the people who scoffed the loudest were those I trusted the most: my husband, several close friends and a few relatives—all doctors.
When I finally got a diagnosis, the verdict proved that I was not, as my husband had frequently said, a hypochondriac who was “too tuned in” to my body. It proved that my intuition had been correct. So my story is about more than sleuthing out the source of my symptoms. It’s also about a patient’s journey from self-doubt to self-trust.
read the rest via Learning to Trust Myself – MORE Magazine – For Women 40 Plus.
Mar
24
Online Social Networks Bridge Gaps for Chronically Ill
Filed Under News, Personal Stories | Leave a Comment
A former model who is now chronically ill and struggles just to shower says the people she has met online have become her family. A quadriplegic man uses the Web to share tips on which places have the best wheelchair access, and a woman with multiple sclerosis says her regular Friday night online chats are her lifeline.
For many people, social networks are a place for idle chatter about what they made for dinner or sharing cute pictures of their pets. But for people living with chronic diseases or disabilities, they play a more vital role.
“It’s really literally saved my life, just to be able to connect with other people,” said Sean Fogerty, 50, who has multiple sclerosis, is recovering from brain cancer and spends an hour and a half each night talking with other patients online.
People fighting chronic illnesses are less likely than others to have Internet access, but once online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation.
“If they can break free from the anchors holding them down, people living with chronic disease who go online are finding resources that are more useful than the rest of the population,” said Susannah Fox, associate director of digital strategy at Pew and author of the report.
read the rest via Online Social Networks Bridge Gaps for Chronically Ill – NYTimes.com.
Jan
1
Q: I have had multiple sclerosis since I was in my late 20s. I’m now in my early 50s and have been in remission for a while.What can you tell me about MS and bee stings? I got stung a couple of days ago, and I started walking much better and feeling perkier. I have energy that I haven’t had in years. One of my daughters told me about bee-sting therapy.
A: The medical use of honeybee products is known as apitherapy. Bees have played a role in alternative health care since the Egyptians used their byproducts to cure arthritis. Those byproducts have since been used to treat chronic pain, a number of skin conditions, burns of the skin, coughs and a great deal more.
Researchers have found that specific compounds in the venom, namely melittin and adolapin, can work toward reducing pain and inflammation through a process that allows the body to release natural healing compounds in its own defense. It is rumored that thousands of multiple-sclerosis patients in the United States appear to be using bee venom as an alternative to interferon, corticosteroids and other drugs. I don’t know how so many have tapped into this approach, because there are only about 50 physicians nationwide who use bee-venom therapy to relieve the symptoms of MS.
read the rest via Family Doctor: Can it be that bees can help MS patients? – Canton, OH – CantonRep.com.
Dec
14
Victoria multiple sclerosis patient wary of ‘Liberation Procedure’
Filed Under Personal Stories, Research | 2 Comments
So when the 25-year-old heavy-equipment operator read media reports of a revolutionary treatment and possible cure pioneered in Italy in which some MS patients are professing a near-complete recovery, Hall said he decided to keep a lid on his emotions.
“To be hoping and wishing and have all this excitement over something that is not 100 per cent sure yet, I’m not 100 per cent stoked on it,” said Hall. “I don’t let that kind of stuff get me away from my way of looking at my MS.”
read the rest via Victoria multiple sclerosis patient wary of ‘Liberation Procedure’. This article does a good job of explaining why caution is warranted regarding this procedure.