Patient Stories

Saturday I ripped the Band-Aid off and took my rollator, Gert, out for her maiden voyage. It was harder than I thought it would be and I cried for the first five minutes. I think you always hold out hope things will get better and we are not always honest with ourselves. MMN is progressive and even though I have not progressed over the last 11 years, I had managed to carefully craft my life to feel as normal as possible.  I would use tricks to try and hide what was obvious to probably everyone else, but me. I had convinced myself I was fine.

I am always so stressed when I am alone and must walk more than 100 or so feet, I end up staring at the floor making sure there is nothing I will trip over. There were so many times Gert would have made things easier for me! Like in DC on Hill Day, traveling, airports, malls, taking a walk with my husband, visiting my boys in Seattle and NY and hotels like at the symposium and the Gaylord for the conference a few years back. When I am flown to Boston to share my story or do other things, I never leave the hotel because I am terrified I can’t get back to the hotel, might fall, my confidence just evaporates. 

When my son called me out, it hit me hard to also realize how much stress I was also causing my family. They were always worried I was okay. My husband had mixed emotions, he kind of liked me prom walking with him all the time, but he knows it is different when I am on my own. When I said I should get the all-terrain one too he pushed back because he loves walking on the beach together. We walked the dogs last night and I kept up the pace for the entire time, super proud about that. I feel very speedy, like when I have a cart at Target….watch out! 

I am officially Making the Most of Now!