Monday, December 30, 2013

"MY COLUMN THIS WEEK IS TITLED: FINALLY, A JOB AGAIN"




    Some people may think getting to write a column here is no big deal, or even a pain but, for me it is an honor.  I had to stop working 6 years ago when I was 28, thanks to MS.  I complained about it all the time when I was working but, now that I can’t, I miss it so much.

     When I was told I could write a column here I was so excited.  I’m not getting paid like a job but, getting to do this makes me feel like I’m working again.  I consider each column I write here to be important  and, hopefully they can teach people things they didn’t know about MS.

   I was diagnosed on December 7, 2004 and until that day, I knew nothing about MS.  Now, nine years later, I know more about it than I ever cared to.  I know people feel too embarrassed to ask questions but, I wish they would.  It worries me that people just assume they know what’s going on and, I really don’t mind answering any questions someone may have.  I know I didn’t know anything about MS until I was diagnosed and, now I take it as a responsibility to educate people whenever I can.

    To me, this is basically the perfect job.  I get to reach out to people and, there’s no meetings.  That was by far my least favorite part of working.  People might think doing this isn’t that important but, to me it is very important.  I have something to do every week and, if I do my job right, I will be educating people, which I think is very important.

MY COLUMN TODAY IS TITLED: 
Aren’t Dating & Relationships Hard Enough Already?  ADD MS TO DATING & OMG!

I remember when I first started dating as a teenager and, was so excited. Then, at 25, MS came along. At first I tried to wait as long as I could to mention it. Then I had to tell people, especially girls, right when I started talking to them because I had to have a reason I had no job and still lived with my parents. I managed to dance around those issues pretty well somehow until I had a first date and didn’t take my cane. Then walking to the car, I fell. That was an uncomfortable moment. I probably could’ve said I just slipped but, once I fell, I couldn’t think of that. I just kinda froze. We ended up being together about two months but, we just weren’t right for each other. 

 I met my current girlfriend, Kelly, on a dating site just for disabled people. We were both tired of dealing with non-handicapped people and, how they would usually disappear once they found out about our disabilities. Thankfully, together, we only see the other person. I’ve thought a lot too about how different it was for women with MS, if at all. Then I had a psychologist who specialized in working with people with MS. 

 She told me about a female patient she had who was dating a guy and hadn’t mentioned her MS. Then they got engaged. Now she had to tell him. When she did, he broke up with her. Not because of her MS but, because he started thinking about “What else hasn’t she told me?”