Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group
This community is a place where members can discuss current events and weigh in on what's going on in the world.
MS has been eating my brain for 14 years. It is eating my memories, it is eating my college education, it is eating who I WAS... I admit, I am no longer the woman I was when I was diagnosed, and that's OK because I like the woman I've become better anyway.
Now, I am more of a Polly Anna which makes me a more understanding person who takes other's feelings into consideration much more than I did before MS. It has made me a better person because I have taken the time to consider spirituality and faith in a deep and personal fashion. It has made me a better person because it taught me to take the time to grow an entire plant from seedling to flower to fruit. (Before MS, I had a very brown thumb! Now, I grow an entire large garden from seed--BTW, I've got plenty of tomatoes and peppers if anyone wants some!)
Does any one else have this issue of your brain and memories disappearing? (I'm glad we only use about 10% of our brains because the other parts are disappearing.) PLEASE MIND YOU, this is simply an observation... I am curious of the experience of others. Thanks! xo Cj
Now, I am more of a Polly Anna which makes me a more understanding person who takes other's feelings into consideration much more than I did before MS. It has made me a better person because I have taken the time to consider spirituality and faith in a deep and personal fashion. It has made me a better person because it taught me to take the time to grow an entire plant from seedling to flower to fruit. (Before MS, I had a very brown thumb! Now, I grow an entire large garden from seed--BTW, I've got plenty of tomatoes and peppers if anyone wants some!)
Does any one else have this issue of your brain and memories disappearing? (I'm glad we only use about 10% of our brains because the other parts are disappearing.) PLEASE MIND YOU, this is simply an observation... I am curious of the experience of others. Thanks! xo Cj
Eating the brain? oh yeah. Slows the mind, slows the speach, slows the body motion, slows the comprehension process, slows the body reactions....sometimes like I'm in a world...a speed ...of my own...the world of slow motion speed.
But then, I begin to be thankful for everything that I am ABLE to do that day. For some days...I may not be able to do those same things, and I never know when the ability will return for, or how long.
Hugs hun!! Ellen
My sense of organization has suffered majorly too...I struggle with words also...I truly understand the gradual slowing down of the brain...It has left me feeling inadequate at times...
I rely on my kitchen-table notebook for all things. Lists for the grocery, telephone conversations that need to be remembered, appointments to make--if I write it down, I remember better. If I write it down, I can often find myself going through 8 or 9 notebooks to find the info because I remember I wrote it down. OK, not perfectly organized but very helpful nonetheless... If I could not write it (as I experience when I broke my right hand--yeah, right handed--a tape recorder helped or even just a shorthand-type note helped).
When a conversation gets ahead of my brain, I put a hand up and call "Swiss cheese for brains" to slow the speaker down. I have one friend who really challenges me here, but I just tell her the story is so long, I forgot where it began. Honestly is the best policy!
As far as punctuation, I see we've both adopted the simple ... which takes care of that problem! I know we are all dealing with the same issues here, so how are others solving these challenges? I'd love to learn other solutions! xo Cj
i feel like many of my childhood memories are becoming a blur...
i attend Celebrate Recovery which is a 12 Step Program and people give time lines of their lives...i am always amazed...i know i was born, i graduated, went to cosmetology school, etc...i can't tell you what i did in all my 41 yrs. though...
1. I do math in my head to keep my brain active. When I'm grocery shopping, I keep a running rounded off tally in my head, and usually am within a couple of bucks (round everything off).
2. I figure my gas mileage on each tank of gas by doing the math on the way home from the gas station (this does give me a 12 mile trip to do math in my head--although I get frustrated, I am my father's daughter and he was a teacher of math and chemistry).
3. I live 12 miles from the nearest library, so I re-read all books that I have that I love. I've read Mists of Avalon probably 5 times because it sharpens my memory (I remember more that I would like I would) and yet I learn new things each time. Mists is a winter book, Remembering Blue is an almost spring book, Prodigal Summer (LOVE) is of course a summer book. I love that I don't remember everything so that it is like reading a new book each time that has some familiararity.
4. Frankly, I know there are many things that are in my past that are best left there and forgotten. See, it can be very benificial. OK, when I went back to school transferring to Kent State, I had to convince the powers that be that I really didn't need to take French (after 3 years undergrad at Slippery Rock University) because frankly there was just no way I could face a different language at the collegiant level no matter how much I had had in the past...
5. Me being the Polly Anna that I am find many positive things for not remembering. Yes, it is frustrating, but it is all good. I've found that playing Mah Jong really sharpens my memory though I've just begun playing again after a couple of years, and I'm back to novice level. That's OK, it's like owning a whole new game!
Pontificating is my think this evening, but I must say, I forgot my sadness of the day that had me sad, so it is all good! xoxoxo Cj