#msin5words

There is a trend on Twitter at the moment called #msin5words, asking people to describe their MS in five words. There have been some interesting replies to this and just thought would put some of them on my blog to show how different people respond to having MS in their lives.

• A different view of life
• You're stronger than you think
• Pain in the rear end
• It's not a death sentence
• Did I take my meds?
• Make it go away please
• Easier to judge than understand
• Neurological puzzle that needs solving
• No one understands the fatigue
• Will not define me ever
• To Tired to do anything
• No two days the same
• You are looking really well

I have picked these ones as they are thoughts that I have had over the past year since diagnosis. It certainly gives you a different view of life and when I had my blurred and double vision it give me an insight into how people with no vision feel - needing to holding on to someones arm, having some cut your food up for you, not being able to read and generally just being frustrated. And it made me admire these people.

Yes sometimes MS can be a pain in the rear end and you want it to go away but it's not a death sentence and life can still go on - OK so maybe I can't work full time due to fatigue, maybe I can't do everything I used to do, but I CAN still manage to work part time and go out and do things, even if I need to rest later on.

In 2014 I let MS rule my mind and my life, but in 2015 I decided not to let it do that, it will not define my life, but some days it will say to me, Jo Anne you need to slow down, you need to rest, and other days I get out of bed, forget I have it but then at end need to rest.

My favourite one of these #msin5words is "Neurological puzzle that needs solving" and yes it does need solving, need to find out what causes it and the questions I want answered is, "Why do over 4,000 people in N,Ireland have MS and why are 3/4 of them in County Antrim  - what is it about County Antrim that gives people MS?