Skippity Do Da

I've never shared this part before, but I usually write here when I'm feeling anxious. It helps me to keep a positive perspective on everything that's been going on over the past year with my health and reminds me to focus on the parts of my life I love so much. There are 1,000 daily joys of having a precious toddler, a loving and supportive husband, and a completely neurotic (yet highly entertaining) dog. Is there such a thing as blog therapy?? There should be.

I've had a string of medical appointments and procedures lately that I wouldn't recommend and it's hard for me not to feel angry about it all sometimes. Then today I received the Oregon MS Chapter newsletter in the mail and found a page where they highlighted teams around the state from the April Walk MS. There's Emily and I at the bottom of the page with a caption about being one of the top fundraisers! I don't mean to brag (yes, I do), but my team grew to an unbelievable 98 members and we raised nearly $12,500! That kind of support was wonderful and the fundraising gave me something positive to associate with my MS. The timing of receiving this newsletter was perfect -- I needed to be reminded that I'm certainly not the only one going through this and not all of it has been SNL Debbie Downer material.

I have another appointment next week to go over my latest MRI, so I'm trying to be optimistic. Wouldn't it be great if my neurologist said, "This is incredible... You no longer have MS!" Then we'd high five and skip down the hall of his office together. Or maybe I'd be the only one skipping, but I'd keep going until I got to the gelato shop a few blocks away because that seems like the perfect way to cap off good news. This is a Journey moment, don't you think? Cue "Don't Stop Believing!"

I realize this isn't exactly how all of this will play out. It helps me, though to go into the appointment with cheezy 80's songs in my head and plans for gelato immediately after the appointment. I might skip anyway. After reading the newsletter and seeing photos of others whose MS has affected their mobility, I'm thankful skipping is still an option for me.