The Importance of Having a Support Network When You Live With MS

First, thank you all for your kind messages of support as I try to find my literal and figurative balance again. Your comments on the blog and social media, along with emails, have been heartening. This little episode I’m going through, and your reaching out in solidarity, has reminded me of the importance of having people around (in person or virtually) who understand or at least empathize with what those of us with multiple sclerosis (MS) are going through. Living in a small town as I do, I don’t have the kind of access to professionals and others who know about MS that I did when we lived in Seattle. What’s more, the Irish culture (or at least the rural slice of the culture) doesn’t embrace “self-help” the way the American West Coast does, so there aren’t many gatherings of people living with our disease. Perhaps my masquerade of being well-adjusted to living with MS has also perpetuated the myth that I don’t need that much in the way of day-to-day help. The Fight for Normalcy Can Leave Us Lonely Warriors I am in the process of relearning the importance of having a few people who know the secret handshake of having a chronic condition. If we don’t make those connections in the good times, the bad times can leave us lonely, indeed. I am humbled that some of you see me as a supportive figure in your world of MS. I take that very seriously and am honored that you think that. I also want you to know that the feeling is mutual and reciprocal. Your participatio...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: multiple sclerosis life with MS Living with MS trevis gleason Source Type: blogs