Invisible Illness Week

30 THINGS ABOUT MY INVISIBLE ILLNESS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

30 Things

1. The illness I live with is: Multiple Sclerosis
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: Either 2000 or 2001 I can’t remember what year to be exact
3. But I had symptoms since: Since I was in the 5th grade.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Learning to just take everyday as it comes because I never know what the day will hold for me
5. Most people assume: That I am lazy and/or antisocial
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Falling asleep at 4:00 AM and having to get up at 6:00 AM.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: I don’t really watch any medical tv shows now that Discovery Health isn’t on the air.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My iPhone calendar
9. The hardest part about nights are: Being awake all night and/or being in pain.
10. Each day I take _10_ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please) This is only if I am not in pain.  If I am in pain it can be more like 15 or so depending on what I have to take
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: I am skeptical of them but depending on what it is I may be up for trying them.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Invisible
13. Regarding working and career: I work full time and I have days where I wonder why.
14. People would be surprised to know: I don’t think I am have any secrets…
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: Having people understand
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: I really can’t think of anything
17. The commercials about my illness: There aren’t any that I have seen
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: I don’t really miss anything because I have diagnosed for so long that this is my normal now.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: I haven’t really had to give up anything because I was diagnosed so young that everything is normal for me.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Blogging and blog design
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: I would sleep
22. My illness has taught me: Not to judge a book by its cover and also patience
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: But you don’t look sick
24. But I love it when people: Take time to ask questions and understand.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have”
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Knowledge is power
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: How many rude and selfish people are in the world
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: ????
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I want to raise awareness
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Like you care and want to learn a little bit more about me.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Margaret Margaret

30 Things About My Invisible Illness

I was going through the drafts of posts that I have and I found this questionaire.  I am pretty sure I got this last September during Invisible Illness week and for some reason I never filled it out and posted it.  I figured I would fill it out now and compare it to the one I did a few years ago.  If you want to see the other one click here and it will take you to it.

1. The illness I live with is: Multiple Sclerosis
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2000 or 2001 I believe
3. But I had symptoms since: I was in 5th grade
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Realizing that I have to slow down and pace myself.
5. Most people assume: That nothing is wrong with me and that I am just lazy
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Getting up if I have been up most of the night or if I am in pain
7. My favorite medical TV show is: I don’t really watch any of these since they took Discovery Health off the air in my area.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My computer & my cell phone calander
9. The hardest part about nights are: Falling asleep and staying asleep.
10. Each day I take __ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please) 7 everyday and then maybe 3 or 4 more depending on pain that I am having.
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: Really want to try acupuncture but I don’t have the money to try it right now.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Visible
13. Regarding working and career: I currently work as a receptionist and I also design blogs but I had to quit my job in the medical field because of it.
14. People would be surprised to know:That  my hands are numb and I had to reteach myself to type.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been:Knowing that I can’t do the same things other people my age do and also knowing the people get scared off when they find out I have MS
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was:I can’t really think of anything.
17. The commercials about my illness:I haven’t really seen any commercials about MS
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:Since I have had it so long I don’t really miss anything because I have been dealing with this for years now.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: It has been hard for me to stop eating gluten because I love bread.  I didn’t find out that I couldn’t eat gluten till about 5 years ago but when I don’t eat it my MS does so much better.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Since I have had MS for so long I haven’t really picked up anything new other than design blogs and blogging.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: There isn’t anything I  would do differently than what I do now.
22. My illness has taught me: Is to slow down and enjoy the little moments
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: “I am sorry” or “That has to be hard”
24. But I love it when people:Don’t judge and take the time to listen and learn about MS.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have”
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:Do your research because knowledge is power!
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:How shallow and rude people are and can be.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:Just be there
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:I want everyone to learn about invisible illnesses
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:Good because it means that you are willing to learn and you are judging.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Margaret Margaret

30 Things About My Invisible Illness

 I know that Invisible Illness week is over but I wanted to fill this out so that I can update my MS page.
1. The illness I live with is: Multiple Sclerosis
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: I believe it was 2000
3. But I had symptoms since: I was in elementary school
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Not getting upset if I can’t do everything I want to because I am having a bad day.
5. Most people assume: That I am just lazy because I don’t do much after work.
6. The hardest part about mornings are:  Getting up when I have only had a few hours of sleep.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: I love everything in Discovery Health but they got rid of it because of the OWN network.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is:  My cellphone that keeps all of my appointments.
9. The hardest part about nights are:  Being exhausted and not able to sleep.
10. Each day I take 5_ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please)
11. Regarding alternative treatments I:  I wish I could afford to do acupuncture because I hear that it really does help people.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:  I would want a visible one
13. Regarding working and career:  It is hard for me to go to work everyday because of lack of sleep and not feeling well but I have to work so I can have insurance even though we all know that insurance companies don’t pay anything.
14. People would be surprised to know:  That my hands are numb and I had to reteach my self to type.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: I can’t think of anything because I have had this disease so long.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was:  I have tried to not let the MS keep me from doing things.  I do everything that I want to.
17. The commercials about my illness:  I actually haven’t seen a commercial about MS.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:  I miss not having energy.
19. It was really hard to have to give up:  I don’t feel like I have given up much because I have had this disease so long now and was diagnosed so young that it is just a part of who I am.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:  Blogging and blog design
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would:  I am not sure what I would do.  I can’t imagine life without MS.
22. My illness has taught me: To live everyday to the fullest because you never know what your last day is going to be.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is:  When they say they are sorry that I am sick.
24. But I love it when people:  Take the time to learn about MS.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:  “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option you have.”
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:  To learn all you can about the condition because knowledge is power.  I also tell them that they are in charge of their condition and if a doctor wants them to do something that they are not comfortable with they need to kind a new doctor.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:  Because I want to raise awareness about MS and any other invisible illness.  I know how hard it is for me to deal with people who don’t understand invisible illnesses.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Good because it means that people are reading my blog!
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A Friends Prespective

HELLO, MY NAME IS MISTI AND I WAS ASKED BY MARGARET TO WRITE A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT HOW I SEE HER MS AFFECT HER DAY TO DAY LIFE.  I HAVE KNOWN MARGARET FOR SOME TIME NOW AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU WHEN I FIRST MET HER I HAD NO IDEA THAT SHE EVEN HAD MS UNTIL SHE OPENED UP TO ME AND TOLD ME ALL ABOUT IT. I HARDLY KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT MS AND WHAT AFFECTS IT HAD ON PEOPLE. IN THE PAST I KNEW A COUPLE OF PEOPLE THAT HAD BEEN AFFECTED BY MS BUT I NEVER KNEW THEM PERSONALLY SO I WAS NOT FULLY EDUCATED ON THE MATTER. MARGARET WOULD TELL ME HOW TIRED SHE WAS AND HOW SHE WAS HAVING A HARD TIME DOING SIMPLE THINGS. AT FIRST I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHERE SHE WAS COMING FROM AND HOW IT REALLY MADE HER SO TIRED. BUT WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS OF REALLY GETTING TO KNOW HER AND SPENDING ALOT OF TIME WITH HER I COULD DEF SEE WHERE SHE WAS COMING FROM AND HAD A WHOLE NEW OUTLOOK ON IT ALL AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING. I TRULY FELT BAD AFTER BECAUSE OF THE WAY I FIRST WAS THINKING. IN MY MIND I COULD NOT SEE HOW SHE WAS SO TIRED AND HOW SHE NEVER WOULD DO ANYTHING AFTER WORK OR HARDLY EVEN GO OUT ON THE WEEKENDS. BUT AS TIME WENT ON AND I GOT CLOSER TO HER AND WHEN HER AND I WOULD GO OUT I WOULD SEE HOW MUCH IT TOOK FROM HER AND HOW MUCH IT DRAINED HER. THE SIMPLEST THINGS AND THAT REALLY SADDENED ME TO NO END. SOMETIMES HER AND  I WOULD GO OUT ON A FRI NIGHT AFTER WORK AND THAT WAS THE HARDEST FOR HER BECAUSE OF BEING AT WORK ALL WEEK LONG. SO THE REST OF THE WEEKEND SHE WOULD BE DOWN AND TIRED TRYING TO CATCH UP SO SHE COULD MAKE IT THORUGH THE NEW WORK WEEK. I NO LONGER GOT UPSET IF SHE DID NOT WANT TO DO ANYTHING INSTEAD I STARTED TO FEEL SO VERY BAD FOR HER AND WISHED THAT SHE FELT WELL ENOUGH TO GO OUT. ITS NOT THAT SHE DOES NOT WANT TO DO THINGS SHE HAS NO STRENGTH NOR ENERGY TO DO SO. SHE IS SO YOUNG AND ALL SHE CAN DO IS DO WHAT SHE CAN TO GET TO WORK AND THEN THE WEEKENDS LAY LOW SO SHE CAN DO IT ALL AGAIN THE NEXT WORK WEEK. I HAVE TO GIVE HER TONS OF CREDIT SHE SURE DOES TRY AND SHE SURE DOES TRY AND PLEASE EVERYONE EVEN IF THAT MAKES HER SICK. HER AND I HAVE A UNDERSTANDING NOW AND I TRY TO HELP HER OUT AS MUCH AS I CAN. IT MAKES ME VERY SAD TO SEE HER GO THROUGH SO MUCH AND HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS. I HAVE EVEN WENT TO SOME OF HER INFUISIONS WITH HER AND AFTER THEM SHE IS REALLY SICK. IT BREAKS MY HEART AND I LOVE HER WITH ALL OF MY HEART. SHE IS A WONDERFUL WOMAN THAT IS SWEET AND TRYS TO HAVE THE STRENGTH AND ENERGY, BUT CANNOT BECAUSE OF HER MS. I WISH THAT MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE MORE OPEN MINDED AND GET TO KNOW HER FIRST BEFORE THEY JUDGE HER. PEOPLE SHOULD NOT ASSUME THINGS BEFORE THEY KNOW THE FACTS!!!!!!!!

Guest Post Friday-Depression

This video is super touching and funny enough it spoke to me today.  Melissa didn’t know I needed to hear this but I truly did need to hear this.  I hope that this can help others as much as it helped me.  I am going to post this on the top for awhile.