Making a Bad Day One of the Best Days Ever

Well, the batteries for my electric wheelchair are basically on life support - whenever I pull the plug I only have a few "quality" moments to share with them. Since I kept getting stranded on campus when my battery died, I decided to be clever yesterday and use my manual wheelchair instead. I just tried to mentally prep for that.

BTW, I am a believer of mind over matter, so I get REALLY frustrated when that doesn't work with the MS. I was preparing for a first date a few weeks ago and jokingly asked my physical therapist Janice if she thought I would be able to walk normally in a 9 days. We laughed, but then I did lament that the "mind over matter" philosophy just didn't work here and I was having trouble accepting that. She reminded me that I'm an [almost] neurobiologist and I should know why it just didn't work in this situation. Still, one really likes to believe in miracles.

So, back to the wheelchair... I wasn't even able to wheel myself more than a few yards. (My arms have weakened almost as much as my legs). While this could have made for a horrible, frustrating day; it ended up being one of the best days I've had in a long time. I was so moved by how many people went out of their way to help. I had at least four complete strangers take the initiative to help (one of these was a woman that helped push me across the railroad tracks as I hurried to catch my train.) But there was one special person that really touched my heart.

I travel from Dallas to Denton on a commuter bus, and every morning I have the same driver (Ron). Our usual stop on campus leaves me with an approximately 1/4 mile trek left to my lab. However, yesterday Ron accessed the situation and after making his main stop, broke his route and drove me right to the front door of my building. Not only that, but knowing that I would have to catch another commuter bus that afternoon and that I would need another push across campus, volunteered (more like insisted!) to come back - on his own time, in his own car and push me to the bus stop!

I was so moved by that gesture. Then yesterday Ron informed me that he had talked to his supervisors about breaking the route and his plan for the afternoon, and they told him that if he had trouble obtaining a parking permit or parking spot (the norm for our school), that he should call them and they would get a supervisor to drive him over in one of their DCTA cars that have permission to park anywhere on campus. I was so touched by all of these people who were trying to help me. This morning I drove my electric wheelchair because Ron offered to drop me off at my door again this morning and since he's driving the afternoon bus today too, he's coming around to pick me up again later today. What a guy!

Let me be clear here though, especially for any MS patients that may be reading this and were looking for validation and not sugar-coated reality. MS sucks. A lot. It can be very painful, and it can affect your mobility, your vision, ability to swallow, ability to breathe, among many other things; but there is one silver lining - you get to see the goodness and light in people that many people don't get the opportunity to see.

It is unfortunate that most people are not offered these grand gestures of kindness (they should be). When I was first diagnosed with MS my mother was very angry because she felt that I had already had an extremely difficult life. She felt that it just wasn't fair (and there were many times I agreed!), but you know sometimes it almost seems that getting MS was my "reward" for these hard times. Hmmm... that sounded a bit crazy. It's just that despite the physical pain and limitations I truly feel more loved and blessed now than at any other time in my life.