Caution: MS May Cause Presumptuousness

Yes, I heard all those and more. How I reacted depended on my mood at the moment.:-) The weirdest one came as I was tired after OT at work, proud I was walking with cane fast enough to catch the bus I wanted, and in a huge bldg across the st. from my office, inside the third of 3 elevators necessary to get to my bus stop, I get on one elevator and a stranger is there, dressed in her business attire, and she says to me as I turn facin the door," You look awful." I was too shocked to respond. I mustered a "Who ARE you?"

Funny now, but at the time I got madder as I walked, which pushed me faster to my bus! LOL You give them the benefit of the doubt, "They mean well," yet, *I* have not always been disabled and I NEVER would have said some of the insensitive things that STRANGERS have said to me. Overall, most people, especially younger people, are nice, cool about. Aside effect of, yes, I like that.

"I know exactly how you feel...."

"I didn't let it get to me" or "I didn't give in to...."

"So-and-so is doing great on such-and-such protocol"

"You just need to be more positive."

"come on, buck up, it's not a death sentence."

Yeah, these comments can be rather annoying.  My responsive thoughts usually being with - "that's nice..." or "good for you, but..."

But more often than not, I just nod and smile.  I don't have the energy to go around "educating" well-meaning, ignorant folks.

  I have worked for so many companies and even tried going to college.  I couldn't type fast enougth, I was moving to slow, I was whining about the heat, the list gose on and on. The truth is that we can all be super fast or have great control of our hands. I did my best and I worked hard to help my family out.

       I was even told that one presuptution that I know someone with this so called ms that is doing worst and they are getting around great.

The biggest mistake I made was working at a laudary mat doing pressing in the exteam heat. This cause my ms to get worst.  So the people I worked with started saying that what I had was lazyidcess. I did not try and work as hard as everyone else. Bull! I was working as many hours as 18 hours a day 7 days a week in this heat. If anything I did to much work and was in the heat with no cool air or rest time.

      I like one word of being able to pass my typing test. I was typing 39 words a minute, to pass I had to type 40 words a minute. At the hospital they didn't believe me about the typing test rules. So they felt that I was not really tying to improve myself.

      Even a so called friend told my exhusband that I was just being lazy and not having any problems with my so called ms. Even though he was seeing ever thing I was going though. She talked him up so much that he left me and my children for her.  You can be blind sided by ms in so many ways.

    The only thing that I know is that there are so many others out there who are going though so much wrost than I am.  I wish that they didn't have to. No one should. But no matter what we know what the truth is and we can make a differance for the anyone who needs us.

  Thank you all for the eyes and ears, and the hope to share.

   Susan aka callmetroubles

Thanks Mandy:

It really is amazing how people feel like they HAVE to say SOMETHING. I wonder if in some situations people are uncomfortable and just do the nervous chatter thing.  I also think people like to sound smart and hear themselves out loud.  Maybe that's because our world is SO loud that they cannot hear themselves think - so they say it to another person!

Anyway - just wanted to chime in and say thanks for the post - seems like there were some members out there that knew what it was like to hear similiar words.

Thought it might be appropriate to provide a link to the Basics of Multiple Sclerosis.  Maybe there is someone out there who really wishes they knew more about MS, so they could appreciate those they might meet who face it everyday. 

All the best, sue