SPONSORED BY:

On Pins and Needles

 

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

Separate multiple addresses with commas

SPONSORED BY
 

My first step was to start treatment immediately with an interferon drug that I inject every other day. (Starting treatment after a first "attack" is important, as it may help delay disability.) Luckily, in the six years since I was diagnosed, the disease has progressed little. Every once in a while, especially when I'm tired, my fingertips will get tingly or my eye will twitch. Otherwise I've experienced no episodes anywhere near as severe as that first one. That's promising news, because the first five years with MS often foreshadow the rest of your life.

As a result, nothing has held me back from living my life as I've wanted. I finished college. I started a band, as a singer and guitarist, and toured the country, playing concerts from coast to coast, and recorded two albums. More recently I started a job as a computer engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense, and I'm pursuing a master's degree in engineering.

All along I stuck with my MS treatment. I've taken nothing for granted nor accepted any limits. I even got a tattoo on my right bicep that both expresses my overall attitude and serves as a reminder. It says, "Unbroken."

Still, being an MS patient is no picnic. I've faced a certain stigma, for example. When I tell people about it, they automatically assume it's a debilitating disease. A few years ago I came across a survey that showed how widespread such misconceptions can be. Half those surveyed believed MS to be fatal (usually untrue), and 40 percent said MS meant life consigned to a wheelchair (also usually untrue). Believe me, I get a special satisfaction from shattering that stereotype.

My parents deserve credit too. When I turned 21, for example, they gave me an unusual birthday gift: a scheduled trip to go skydiving. Yes, it's true: my own parents wanted to mark this milestone by sending me out the door of a plane. They knew about both my aversion to heights and my need to conquer it. They wanted to challenge me and, in so doing, invited me to challenge myself.

At 12,000 feet I might well have frozen in place. But for me, a person with MS, staying put is never an option, and so out the door I jumped, right into the unknown. In a single, contradictory, altogether symbolic act, I sought both to let go of my need to control my life and also to maintain a grip on it.

Label

Newsweek Top Stories
Solving the Palin Puzzle
Solving the Palin Puzzle

See how well you can see Sarah from your house, by taking our trivia quiz.

The Failure of Copenhagen
The Failure of Copenhagen

Why there could be a silver lining in a failed climate treaty.

Dial 'A' for Accessory
Dial 'A' for Accessory

This season's top i-Phone add-ons.

118 Days in Hell
118 Days in Hell

A NEWSWEEK journalist recounts his captivity in Iran.

Discuss

Sponsored by

Member Comments

  • Posted By: ShamanStacy @ 09/21/2008 2:08:07 AM

    Cannabis is the best treatment for MS regardless if the government wants you to know it or not. Multiple studies have confirmed it's use for the symptoms of MS as well as showing a slowing or halting of the progression of the disease as well. The government even has a patent for it as a neuroprotectant and anti-oxidant. Do your part to help legalize this medicine for all people, there is currently a bill in congress contact your representitive and make your voice herd.

  • Posted By: ShamanStacy @ 09/21/2008 2:07:45 AM

    Cannabis is the best treatment for MS regardless if the government wants you to know it or not. Multiple studies have confirmed it's use for the symptoms of MS as well as showing a slowing or halting of the progression of the disease as well. The government even has a patent for it as a neuroprotectant and anti-oxidant. Do your part to help legalize this medicine for all people, there is currently a bill in congress contact your representitive and make your voice herd.

  • Posted By: desislava.store @ 04/17/2008 5:16:54 AM

    My sister got the diagnosis 3 years ago and startet Betaferon treatment immediately.It has stopped the process and she feels well.Getting a family member with MS made me realize how little we know about the future and that we should never take anything for granted.And also it unrevealed many myths about MS,I thought that this was a heavy disability,which proved me wrong.It is possible to have an active life with MS,and I admire deeply people who do it!

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse

My Take

Customize the NEWSWEEK homepage
to feature your favorite columnists.

Customize Now