I need a cure
If a person can turn from predicting illness to anticipating recovery, the foundation for cure is laid. (Bernie Siegel) Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. (Albert Einstein) Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible. (Anonymous) Illness shows us what we are (Latin proverb) Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are. (Bernice Johnson Reagon) © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2013. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with…
MS Awareness Week 2013
MS Awareness Week from Monday, March 11 2013 to Sunday, March 17th 2013. Tell us why you connect on: http://www.msconnection.org/ © Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2013. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Trigemin…argh!
Brain fog. “Being blonde”. Now I know what it feels like. Years ago I acquired the “just being blonde” tag by others in my team at work because I suddenly needed time to digest ideas, questions and discussions. I would never have referred to myself as “being blonde” in those days because I used to be quick-witted, but I was dark-haired back then, and still am. In other words: my elevator of knowledge does not travel all the way up to the top floor right now; it keeps sticking somewhere between the 3rd and the 4th floor. I hear people talking, but there’s no understanding flowing from hearing and seeing them move their lips and vocal chords into linguistic marvels of the 21st century.
The sorry state of neurology in Ireland
On Tuesday evening, I received a late invite to join a lobby group of the NAI (Neurological Alliance of Ireland) and the Irish MS Society to protest in- and outside Leinster House, the seat of the Irish government. I was quite happy to do so, because, after being an MS Society spokesperson last year relating to new MS medication being denied to Irish patients, I more than wanted to put my shoulders under a new campaign to highlight the state of neurological services in Ireland.
What about it?
3.30am. Eye pain and headaches have taken an option on my sleep, wanting to do better than each other. In addition to that, ideas for a blog post keep flying in my head. My mind is busy compartmentalizing thoughts while my eyes are in charge of my sleeping patterns. Nice! And now my hair also hurts. Seriously, it does! The frequent – if not chronic pains – have prevented me from blogging much lately so I am slowly turning into a state of anarchy. Several attempts of writing happened but none were finished because either sleep came knocking on my door, or I have to analyze a few episodes of James Joyce’s Ulysses for the reading group I’m in, or I have other things requiring attention. So if I do…
Very Inspiring Blogger Award
Yesterday I found out that I received a ‘Very Inspiring Blogger Award’ on a blog post of early February (MS: a social disconnect) and the award comes from ExperiencedTutors on WordPress.com. Needless to say it was quite a pleasant surprise because as a blogger I actually wondered if anyone found it interesting enough what I was writing. I suppose doubting yourself is a trait a lot of people who write have, and I am certainly no stranger to feeling that way. Either way, the blogger who gave the award always has very good posts and I find the ExperiencedTutors blog to be a very interesting, because as I grow older, I realize how important learning and studying is, and their blog speaks to me because the bloggers contributing to it…
MS: a social disconnect
Therein lies the disconnect: the way others want me to be, and me not being able to keep up. How many of us have pretended to be well enough to walk another 500 meters? How many say they are OK when they feel pain in their limbs, their eyes and in their soul? How many say they will be able to go to work when they were awake half the night because of pain? Unwillingly we are put in a non-self-imposed isolation; we are put there by our illness, and quite often by the outside world. Our mental functioning is now processed differently because of our illness.