Carnival of MS Bloggers #2

Welcome to the Carnival of MS Bloggers, a bi-weekly compendium of thoughts and experiences shared by those living with multiple sclerosis.

¤¤¤ Life ¤¤¤

How would you answer the question, "well, what do you do all day?"

Some days, plans go out of the window as soon as I wake up. We had visitors yesterday. Although I slept well last night, the fatigue today is not correlated to that sleep at all. The fatigue today hurts like I have flu coming. It may well be. But experience tells me this is not likely. It is just my pathetic immune system fighting the rest of my bodily functions that involve the nervous system.

Today, everything has been slow. Walking around the flat, slowly. Washing up the breakfast things took ages. Loading the washing machine...placing the washed clothes on the airing rack...peeling some potatoes and chopping the corned beef that Pete is now cooking into a delicious hash.

Sometimes "the pain of fatigue removes all the emotional impact of fun, fulfilment, creativity, achievement and self-worth." - Shirl's the Girl

Fortunately, Shirl is a "tell it like it is" kinda gal. Go visit her new digs.

¤¤¤ Multiple Sclerosis ¤¤¤

We like to know folks care, but what should they ask?

Over the holidays, I see family and friends I haven't seen for a year and there's always the inevitable awkwardness where they are trying to ask me how I feel. Some of the phrasing includes:

"So, how are you feeling?"
"Is everything going OK?"
"You look great - are you doing all right?"
"What happened to all your hair?"

OK, I don't think the last one has to do with multiple sclerosis, but I do tend to blame my male pattern baldness on MS. As I've said before, what good is MS if I can't blame things on it?

Each time someone asks a question and sincerely wants to know how you're doing, it may be an opportunity to spread awareness about multiple sclerosis. Or it may be a chance to reflect upon how you are managing your MS and working to move it off centerstage.

Sometimes it comes down to how much you know yourself and how much you KnowMS.

¤¤¤ Opinion ¤¤¤

January 2008 is National Blood Donor Month. Blood donation continues to be a hot topic with M.S. patients. Can we donate or are we deferred? Should we donate even if our blood is readily accepted? Kim Fabrizio explores the issue in To Give or Not to Give.

Life isn’t always easy, but despite being bruised and confused this past week, Kim let seduction sweep her away – to the point that she actually forgot about having M.S. for one full day!

¤¤¤ Life ¤¤¤

Courtney Carver is officially in training for the 100k "Ride the Vineyard" MS Bike Tour in May. When asked why she rides?

Courtney simply says, "Because I Can."

Things may be different tomorrow, but today, I can ride and so I will. When I have thought about exercise in the past, I always think..."I HAVE to work out tomorrow" (or I will get a big butt!) or "I NEED to work out tonight" (or I will be really grumpy or stressed out) but to keep things simple this time around in my new commitment to exercise, I will just do it because I CAN.

Courtney is determined to make no time for MS.

¤¤¤ Opinion ¤¤¤

In general, MS bloggers want to share their stories. They want to connect with other MSers who may have had similar experiences. However, what happens when Big Pharma tries to burnish a tainted reputation, creates "fake news/public affairs" infomercial, and does a little astroturfing online? For the answer, check out "'Sharing Miracles' brought to you by PhRMA" brought to you by Lisa Emrich.

¤¤¤ Inspiration ¤¤¤

Each week, O Sole Mio Sundays on Sunshine and Moonlight features the stories of others who let their Moonlight times inspire them to let the positive blossom from the negative. 'O Sole Mio' translates to 'My Sun' in Italian. So many patients with M.S. have made something positive come out of their diagnoses. Read the stories of others here and submit your own story for a future edition.

¤¤¤ Multiple Sclerosis ¤¤¤

The next Carnival of MS Bloggers will be hosted here on January 31, 2008. Submit a post (via email) from your blog of which you are particularly proud, or which you simply want to share, by noon on Tuesday, January 30, 2008.

Thanks for visiting and happy blogging in the new year.

Thank you.
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