Understanding of MS from an unlikely source

[Corriel]

Hi all, I wanted to share an interesting comment my brother made the other night over a family dinner.

Please indulge me in a brief background. Since my bro learned of my MS dx almost a year ago he has carefully avoided talking about it and has never asked me anything about the disease.

I know he likes to pretend things are ok and that it is just who he is so I had no expectations.

At dinner, I happened to wonder out loud if chiro might be of some help to me at some point. He looked at me and said "Sis, I don't think they can do much for you with chiro because your issues aren't mechanical, they're electrical."

Glad I was already sitting. :-) Everyone stopped talking to consider what he said and I was taken aback by that simple comment that summed things up so simply and accurately.

It touched me deeply to know that he really does understand as much as someone without MS can and I was amazed at the relief I felt knowing he was no longer in denial.

Anyway, I thought I would share because it was such an appropriate description of the basics of MS. I plan to use it often.

Corrie

[bubbles_04]

This made me teary eyed. He may never talk to you about it, but your brother is thinking of you and your MS a lot. Plus the sum-up is perfect! :)

[anon07072023]

Nice story - thanks for sharing. It's always good when we realize that those around us are thinking of us, when we don't always know that they are. :-)

[kwarendorf]

These stories give me hope for mankind :-)

[cubbiesfan918]

Good story Miss Corrie! It's amazing what an impact a small, simple statement can make. Thank you for sharing!

[calamfred]

Great to hear a family member "get it"!

I want to share approx 6-7 mos ago, my Hubby's Neuro did refer him to a Chiropractor who has special interest in MS. The Chiro also understood where hubby and I were coming from when we told him our concerns about Chiropractic, due to coexisting Addison's disease along with the RRMS. My husband has to be very cautious about taking any oral meds, including "natural" supplements, and we were very up front with the Chiro about that.

Long story shortish, husband has been seeing Chiro, 3x/wk at 1st, also included PT and Spinal Decompression. He then went to 2x/wk for 2 months, then 1x/wk. Now is at once every 2 wks..can adjust and go more often if needed.

The Chiro has helped his pain, decreased neck pain by 90%, and mid back pain by 50-60%. Husband doesn't have any functional back problems that we know of, so we attribute it to MS related pain. Either way, it has helped him.

And as I said on a prior post, in all honesty I can't say I am the biggest advicate for Chiropractic. In this case it appears to have helped a lot. As we are all different, I know we each have to weigh the options along with our doctors, and go from there.

Take care!
C

[Lulu54]

that makes me think of tyring to get a car with electrical problems diagnosed - it can take forever and always takes a ton of money to find the problem.

It's a nice quiet way for your  brother to let everyone know he has done the research and that he cares.

~Laura

[doublevision1]

That is great, Corrie. Moments of undertanding and clarity like that are refreshing when you can often feel really alone with this disease. That this understanding came from your brother who is normally avoident (as you describe) makes is that much more meaningful. I had a similar experience with a friend about a year after I was dx'ed. Same thing, not much discussion about the specifics of MS, I didn't think she was interested in the nitty gritty so I didn't share much, and frankly, she's a bit of a gabber and I didn't want people discussing my situation before I'd yet come to terms with it myself. Anyway I guess I was trying to explain in general terms how it's a difficult disease in that no two cases are alike, and she said she understood because of it being a CNS disease and all the many functions that could be affected and location of lesions vs number/size of lesions, and relapses and progression, blah blah blah. I knew she was bright but her background isnt medical, it's engineering, and i knew i was the only one she knew with MS. I asked her how she knew so much about it and she said casually, Oh, when you were first dx'ed I bought a book about MS so I could read up on it and try to understand what you were dealing with. Wow, I'd had no idea. Then I felt bad for thinking that if I'd shared she would have gossiped about it vs just wanting to be there for me. I really underestimated her.

[karryon55]

What you wrote made me smile. It gives me hope that maybe my family will eventually speak up. I would have been very proud as well because you can clearly see he has invested some time into making that statement simple but accurate.

Take care,
Karry.

[Poppy7402]

What a brilliant, yet simple way of describing a neurological problem.  Mechanical problems can be "seen" yet electrical ones can't, and hence people's often lack of understanding too.

Poppy

[SarahL2491]

well he's obviously put some thought into it, but sure summed it up in a very short sentence, I have to remember that one!  Very well put!