About 9 years ago I got diagnosed with MS. It was not an easy thing to hear, I will admit. I remember after my Dr appointment I was supposed to have lunch with my friend. I went and she asked me about it, and I told her that I was just diagnosed. She was concerned that I was not crying or all emotional. I was not quite sure why she was acting that way, because I was still the same person. I had not changed and my body had not changed yet, so I saw no reason to be sad or depressed about it. Really I have not been sad or depressed about it at all. I knew and was ready to face the fact that my body was going to change whether I liked it or not. I could not do anything about it. I have to say that I was wrong about not being able to do anything about it.
Five years after I was diagnosed with MS, they diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes. This diagnosis was so much harder to accept than MS. If I wanted to control this then I would have to change. I did not do anything to change at the time. I did not have the energy because the pain, and fatigue from MS got to be so overwhelming. My quality of life was really non existant. I would go to work come home and go to bed. Get up and repeat the process. My balance was getting bad too so I purchased a cane which I promptly named my light saber. It helped me in a weird way to be able to deal with all of it. After about a year of limping and gimping around with my light saber I felt that I could not work anymore so, I talked to my primary care Dr, she decided that it was time for a wheelchair. I decided that it would be worth it if I did not have to file for disability. Which I was COMPLETELY against since my mind worked fine, and I went into be fitted for a it. I got to pick my own color so I asked my niece Haley what color I should get, she said something sparkly, so I got a purple sparkly wheelchair about 6 weeks after ordering it. I promptly called it my pod racer, it just seemed to go along with the whole light saber thing.
I adapted to using it at work, and certain excursions well. I used it for about 3 years when I went to the Dr. for a physical and I got diagnosed with a liver disease that is not curable but I could stop the damage. I went to see an endocrinologist and he immediately told me that I had to lose weight or I would be dead within 10 years. He put me on weight watchers and told me that I had to start excercizing. I agreed with him but did not really think he knew what he was talking about. I decided to giving excercize a try. I started out really simple with a DVD that I picked up at the diabetes expo. I liked it, and after about 3 months I decided to try working one day without my pod racer. This soon turned into a month, two months, 3 and 4. It has been over a year and a half that I have used my pod racer. Now it sits at work, in an office and collects dust. Who would have thought that I would be kick boxing now. I am only taking one medicine for my diabetes and my liver tests are normal. My pod racer can collect all the dust that it wants because I am not anymore.
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