There are dark moments, he says. African-American men, as a group, do not fare well with MS. At 52 years old, he considers the average life expectancy of an African-American male, and the slightly shortened lifespan of someone with MS, and sees his remaining years possibly numbering in the single digits. 

"I could quit and say that's it. Stay in bed and not get up. Or I can get my butt up every single day, being a contributing member of society, and try to figure out how I deal with it."

Asked his biggest fear when he wakes up in the morning he replies, "not being able to walk." Boy, can I relate. 

So what do his critics say?

Well maybe if he didn't work out so much he wouldn't be in pain -- he's supposed to rest... How come he didn't name all the vitamins? He should be sharing that information... How do we know that injection is for MS -- that could be anything... What's the big deal -- if he were diabetic he'd take more than one shot a day... He just feels sorry for himself, it's sickening... He shouldn't be crying like that on TV... Why didn't he talk about marijuana?... All he needs to do is give up diet soda... MS is not life-threatening and he shouldn't be such a whiner... Children die, why should we cry for him?... He's rich and has insurance -- he doesn't know what we go through... He's too negative -- he should be more positive in public... Oprah should have REAL people on her show...

Why DID he say this... Why DIDN'T he say that... real people?

I don't get it. We say it all the time here on Multiple Sclerosis Central. "My MS is not your MS." We understand a basic fact about MS -- that with all we have in common, no two cases are alike. Some people with MS barely register it as a blip on their radar screen; others face devastating disability; and the rest of us live in the million shades of gray in between. It's bad enough that we "look so good" that our symptoms are invisible to the outside world. For us to attack each other for how we appear in public is a mistake.

The man lives with chronic pain and depression. Are we really going to beat him up for admitting that? I would not expect him to feel positive all the time and certainly would not want him to fake it so that we can all feel better. I deeply resent it when other people presume to know my reality better than I do, or tell me how I should feel. And by the way, uncontrollable crying is a (rare) symptom of MS.

There is no one ideal public face to put on MS, no role model that will encompass all there is to this disease. Whether it's the healthiest looking person in the world or the bedridden nursing home patient -- each of us represents the face of MS. Because Montel Williams' MS does not resemble my MS does not mean one of us is wrong.

Your face, my face, Montel's face -- aren't we all the face of MS?