Jottings

      I feel I can talk about my MS with confidence because my body has experienced just about everything that MS can dish out.   The last thing was losing control of my bowels and that really started affecting me in July of 2016.   It's now March 2017 and I'm still fighting that symptom.  

     I ride my electric scooters (Max & Ginger) 100% of the time.  I use to say as long as I have my scooters who need legs!   I used to joke with people that walking was overrated anyway!   I was just talking cocky because now that I can’t walk or stand some days I think it would be nice to be able to stand up to get to my refrigerator or bathroom.   Max & Ginger will be my legs for the next 30 years and it’s slowly sinking in.   My walking and standing stopped back in November of 2011.  My spinal cord had developed or is still developing more MS lesions which are blocking the functions of everything below my waist.  I'm continually amazed at what the human body can do or not do to itself!  It's kind of weird to experience losing your legs firsthand.  I didn't get blown up in a war, I didn't have a bad diving accident and I didn't have a bad car accident.  Multiple sclerosis just happened to me!  

     MS is a debilitating disease of the central nervous system.  It can affect every part of your body because there are nerves throughout your body.   For some reason and doctors don't know why but the body of a person with MS is literally attacking itself.   If you looked at the MRI of my brain and spinal cord you'd see little white spots which are called plaque.  Myelin is the protective sheath over the nerves like the rubber around an electrical wire.   Your brain sends a signal to do something and the myelin keeps the signal going to where it has to go.  When scarring or plaque occurs on the myelin it interrupts the signal from the brain and sends the signal somewhere else.

     An example of how the plaque affects me is this.   Since January 2000 when I have to urinate I catheter myself.   The signal from my brain to my bladder to release my urine gets short-circuited.  I could stand in front of a urinal until hell freezes over and I would never urinate.   Not even a drop.  I'm not sure where the signal goes but the cathing works great for me!   I’ve now catheterized roughly 37,770 times give or take a couple hundred.   It doesn’t hurt when you use a lubricant.  

Scooterjon