How to Use Pre-MS Lessons to Tackle MS Challenges

All of us had a life before we were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Some of us were younger or older – with more or less experience – but we all had a life and we had all attained some level of proficiency at living. We had also all gained certain skills and attained some ‘tools’ with which to manage our world. I think it’s important to go back to that old tool box from time to time, to see what old skills might help us get through an MS day. The thought came to mind as I was (and am still) trying to battle back from my flu. I remembered the breathing device they gave me after my hip replacement surgery. It was designed to keep fluid out of my lungs post-op so I wouldn’t contract pneumonia. It was a simple little thing that you blow into to keep a polystyrene ball up at a certain level in a plastic tube. By inhaling deeply and blowing out hard, you help the lung cilia do their job of ridding the gunk from your lungs. I didn’t have my little tube-and-ball apparatus, but I remembered the exercise well enough to go without. I believe it helped keep my chest infection from getting worse – much worse. This is just one of the many things we can use from other places in our lives to cope with a life with MS. The running lists I used to have for weekly conversations with employees are now used for blog topics, medical appointments, shopping lists, and general living. Immediately noting egress routes upon boarding foreign fishing boats in the Coast Guard has turned...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: multiple sclerosis Living with MS Source Type: blogs