A Few of My Favorite Things

A little MS gratitude just in time for Thanksgiving

 

Hello friends-  this blog is a repeat as I am kind of out of town and thus, a little too out of my mind to come up with a new blog.  At least this repeat has some holiday relevancy.  Even if you don’t like reading repeats, please look to the bottom for a Dancing with the Stars update and a little reminder.

For some reason, I can’t get the above song out of my head even though I have usually found it slightly annoying. It is kind of a Christmas song, although not written as such. Since I love autumn so much that I cherish taking my cool weather holidays one at a time, I’m not sure why this song is hanging around my lesion filled brain.

Perhaps it is because next week is Thanksgiving and the above reminds everyone of what what’s her name from that movie is grateful for. Thus, why isn’t A Few of My Favorite Things thought of as a Thanksgiving song?

 

I have so many things for which to be grateful, that I couldn’t possible name them all or fit them into a song. And trust me, mittens and kittens are not at the top of the list.

Just thinking about Thanksgiving makes me grateful.

For example, if my small family winds up at my place on the holiday then I am super grateful that the local grocery store sells what I like to call ‘turkey in a box’; a complete holiday dinner you can just throw into the oven all prepared and no one is the wiser.

I am grateful for pumpkin pie- how could I have possibly left out pumpkin pie on my prior Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere post?

I am thankful that Thanksgiving is a day where it is perfectly appropriate to eat too much and veg out. It is actually un-American not to do so.

And I am thankful that even the fruits and veggies cooperate on this day and aren’t too obnoxious- think mashed potatoes, stuffing with celery, cranberry sauce, candied yams, pumpkin pie. I know, again with the pumpkin overkill.

 

I am grateful for the knowledge that Black Friday is just a scam of hype and deals that aren’t really deals, thus allowing smug people like me the luxury to stay home, eat too many leftovers and veg out for one more day.

But this is a multiple sclerosis blog and so if I am going to list things that I am grateful for, or a few of my favorite things, I should focus on MS. What could one possibly find to be grateful for about MS?

Nothing really.  Absolutely nothing.

But in thinking about my last few years living with this illness, I did miraculously come up with some things associated with MS to be grateful for.

For example, while I am not thankful to have to give myself shots, I AM very thankful that they seem to be working. And I am thankful for the extra fat cushion I have to soften the shot just a bit. I still HATE doing them though.

 

I am thankful to have a knowledgeable, kind, patient, young, handsome neurologist on my side as I battle MS. I am NOT thankful that he happens to be married but I guess you can’t have everything.

I am grateful that my primary doctor diagnosed my diagnosis quickly without having to do a spinal tap as I have heard they are just horrific. She just had me electrocuted and shot through a tube a couple of times and we were good to go.

These bits of MS gratitude did not seem grateful enough. I started looking over my blog posts for more help and realized that I started this blog over two years ago and it has since grown from a whenever I felt like it post, to a once a month post, to twice a month post and then to a once a week post. (Thank you to multiple sclerosis for continuing to give me enough material to keep this wacky blog going- oh wait- maybe not….)

In my past blogs there were other examples of MS things I had to be thankful for. In the post Stormy, Sleepy Sandy, I talk about my bladder alarm clock screaming at me to get up. I am thankful that the alarm clock part of my bladder is still working. It has been quite a long while since I have had ‘an accident’ and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

 

I am thankful that kale is considered an awesome veggie for MS’er’s as well as the world as a whole, and I can sneak its precious nutrients into my all time favorite comfort food, kale soup- see post Kale, the New Frontier.

I am thankful that due to cognitive difficulties that come from MS, when I do something stupid I have a disease I can totally blame it on (Stupid MS).

While fatigue and clumsiness are constant companions, and I am may not move so gracefully going about my day- No Moves Like Jagger but Smooth Like Montel and Chop Their Happy Little Heads Off posts- I am grateful that I am still moving. Being able to move about without any help is definitely something to be grateful for, even if you do move like a slug most days.

And while an eye exam discovered a new disgusting condition, Oily Tears and All, I am grateful it didn’t show any significant damage as yet to my optic nerve. I will be able to continue reading the numbers on my bedroom scale and the milligrams on my medications going up, up, up a while longer…

And on this sappy holiday of Thanksgiving, I must say I am thankful to God who is the real being responsible for the above. My health, my sense of humor or lack thereof depending on your opinion dear reader, my friends, my family and everything good comes from HIM. Fortunately for me, HE also enjoys a good joke or two. HE absolutely appreciates a rip roaring laugh. I think that may be why he created us in the first place!

 

DWTS Moment- It happened friends, it really happened!  Jack Osbourne made it into the finals of Dancing with the Stars!

It didn’t come easily as it was a difficult week for him.  In a very emotional letter on Facebook, and on the show, Jack discussed his tough week with MS relapses.  He described the many symptoms that attacked that week and how they affected not only him, but people who rely on him, like his dance partner Cheryl Burke.    Cheryl didn’t totally understand but she did her best to stand by her partner  and remind him that “it’s just a dance competition.”

I so admire Jack Osbourne and all that he has done on this reality dance show.  Not because he is famous.  And not because he has MS, but in spite of it.  Jack reminds us of the unexpected ugliness that can it rear it’s head on our fight to follow our dreams, and of the ways we can still succeed by adjusting.  He also reminds the rest of the world that while our world may look pretty, inside it ain’t always so.

And to top it all off, he is a kick butt dancer!  Way to go Jack!

 

I am not posting the voting methods today as I’m not sure if you can vote this week.  Yes, I have watched every season since the show started and so I should have this info down but hey, I have MS.

Friendly Reminder-Only one week left to enter my contest!  Please enter by sending me a message in the contact section of this website and/or by sending a private message to my Facebook page Yvonne desousa.com

 

Next week I will announce the winner/winners and include excerpts of the chapter from my soon to be released book, MS Madness: A “Giggle More, Cry Less” Story of Multiple Sclerosis the answer is based on. Please see my last blog on 11/15 for the contest rules.

Here is the question-

Chapter 19 (Hey MS, Hug This) is one of the more serious chapters of MS Madness and discusses one of the most frustrating aspects of living with multiple sclerosis.  What is that aspect?

Hint- it is not the MS Hug.

A Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving to all!