The Multiple Sclerosis Tapestry: A series of interviews with people whose lives are affected by MS

Multiple Sclerosis is often described as an invisible disease due to the fact that so many of the symptoms are unseen by the public eye.  It would be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to identify all the people in their community who have MS.  Although our disease is considered to be invisible, it doesn't mean we have to be.  Who are the people who have this mysterious disease?  What is life like after the diagnosis?  How does one cope?   How does having Multiple Sclerosis affect work, parenting, and relationships with others?  Who are the many faces of MS? 

I hope to answer some of these questions with my new series where I will interview  various members of the MS community.  I wish to give the reader a broad spectrum of people who have varied backgrounds and experience with this disease.  Some people I interview will be newly diagnosed and some will have had this disease for decades.  Some people will have exhausted most of the MS drugs available for treating this disease and some will have made the choice to not use medication or to use only alternative treatments.  There will also be differences in my interviewee's degree of disability.  Some people I interview use canes, scooters, and wheelchairs while others are only minimally affected by their MS.  I hope to interview people from all spectrums of life including men, women, those who are married, singles, people in the work force, those who stay home, and everyone in between.

Multiple Sclerosis is a different experience for everyone who has it.  My MS is not your MS.  It is beneficial to see all these different experiences represented so that we can get a bigger and broader picture of what it can be like to have this disease.

Lastly, I want to highlight those who are making a difference within the MS community through their service of promoting awareness and  a giving back to help others who travel a similar path. 

My first interview is with Stuart Schlossman who, if you have MS and use the internet, you have surely heard of him.  Stuart runs a very successful MS newsletter which now has thousands of subscribers.  When I was first diagnosed, Stuart was one of the first people to reach out to me on-line.  He has taken his personal experience with battling this disease in order to help others.  I know that his story has helped me and I hope that it helps you too. 

And so I now present to you, Stuart Sclossman.  Thank you for agreeing to share your story Stuart.

Stuart Schlossman - RRMS

Founder of MS Views and Related News

Support Group Leader, MS Walk Comm Chair.,

Patient Advocate and Fundraiser.

When were you given your official Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis? 

  December 1998   ( my 10 year anniversary is soon coming)