Spotlight on...
Ellen, USA
 Introduce yourself!
My name is Ellen. I am 47 years old and live in
Huntington, West Virginia in the United States.
My motto is: Disabled but not
unable.
My hobbies are computers, working on my web
page, fiction writing, watching tennis, and anything about I Love
Lucy.
When did MS enter your life?
I have been diagnosed with MS since 1982, but it
has only been a real demon to me for the past 4 years. I can no longer do the
things I used to love as I am wheelchair bound but I refuse to let it defeat
me. I am trying to find God's will for me 'in this place'.
What do you now know about MS that you wish
you'd known when you were diagnosed?
It's not life-threatening and there is life
after diagnosis. You just have to adjust, just like you adjust to anything
different that comes your way.
Lowest/highest point in your life with MS
Last November, I really had a physical and
emotional crash. I seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. I have been
wheelchair bound for a couple of years. I was having a total breakdown. Bladder
and bowel problems. The skin on my face and arms was flaking off. I had a
massive yeast infection. I couldn't push to a stand anymore so my husband would
have to lift my huge body out of bed and put me in a recliner at 7:00 am until
he got home at 5:30 pm. I wasn't moving any muscles all day. I could only move
the fingers on one hand and couldn't even do that well. I felt my feet were
beginning to atrophy.
I called doctors - no appointments for months,
voice mails, answering machines, no person to talk to. I started feeling as
though I was dying and there was no-one to help.
I finally called someone I knew that was married
to a quadraplegic. She told me that I was just so overwhelmed I couldn't think
straight, that I needed a family doctor to look at the whole picture and send
me to the various specialists I would need.
I contacted a doctor from our local rehab
hospital who admitted me immediately. He ran bloodtests, urinal analysis, ekg,
x-rays, everything. He put me on solumedrol. He found a unrinary tract
infection. I have hypo-thyroid, which was causing the dry skin and
constipation. He also found that I have high blood pressure, needed a larger
size catheter.
He started me on physical therapy 4 times a day,
and a discussion group about depression, stress, humor, joy, fatigue and
learning to cope with chronic illness.
When I went into hospital, I went to dinner with
the other patients, but where I normally would smile and talk, I just couldn't.
I felt as if I was of no use to anyone.
The very first night, the Lord put an elderly
lady next to me who could barely see. She couldn't find something she had
dropped in her lap and asked me to help her. I was astonished that anyone would
ask me for any kind of help, but I could help her do that.
I started sitting next to her at every meal and
I would tell her what she had on her plate and where her salt and sugar packets
were. I started to smile again. She was all alone and after dinner a nurse
would sit her in the lobby and she just sat and stared. When my husband came we
would visit her and she would come to life. She says I saved her and I say she
saved me!
I stayed 3 weeks, until my urinary and yeast
infections and my skin problem had gone.
I'm now on a workable bowel program. I've lost weight, my blood pressure is
down, and my MS has calmed down. I can use my hand and arm again, and can push
up to a stand and pivot to my wheelchair so I'm not stuck in the recliner all
day. I go to outpatient PT twice a week. Life is good again and I praise God
for the people He sent me who helped me pull it together.
Please, don't let yourself ever get so bad that
you see no hope - I almost did. I thank God He held on to me and I feel alive
again.
What do people with MS need to help them enjoy
fulfilling lives?
I think everyone needs a purpose. We need to feel
that we are able to add something to this world. Once I found a place where I
could help others, such as contributing to an MS mailing list, building a web
page, etc., I was able to look forward to getting up each day once
again.
When and how did you discover Jooly's Joint?
I found it a few years ago using
Yahoo.
What keeps you coming back to Jooly's Joint?
The camaraderie of people who understand, and the
opportunity to lift up those who are struggling.
What are your ambitions?
To be an inspiration and a help to my family and
friends.
What message would you give to newly diagnosed
people?
Don't lose hope. Keep on trying to function at
the best of your ability in the different stages you may go through, always
looking for purpose in this all this.
Remember, you are unique. Only you can reach
certain people in this world and it may be that you can reach them because you
are in this situation.
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