Me. Not actual size.
Summer is here in all its glory. And like you, I’m stuck inside, chomping at the bit to get out to enjoy summer’s splendor. The Heatmeister’s “hot & humid” conditions make it impossible for those of us with multiple sclerosis to “doe-see-doe” outside the confines of our air conditioners. (We can relate to the Bubble-boy in a way.)
I know I’m preaching to the choir here as much of the country has suffered with extreme temps this summer.
I can handle winter’s chill. but when the mercury is pushing the top of the thermometer, I begin to melt like Frosty the Snowman.
Let’s just say I move in sssllllooooww mmmoottiiiooonn. (Not that I was breaking any land speed records before!)
That's how I feel!
My legs feel like they weight a ton. I’m walking in a viscous world of wallpaper paste.
My feet lumber along as though I’m wearing a pair of the Mafia’s cement shoes. I must be walking on a sidewalk made of rodent glue traps. Godzilla trudged through Japanese cities with greater freedom of movement.
And my legs and feet aren’t the only extremities that dread summer’s “h & h.”
Gloves & wrist weights.
My hands go on an extended coffee break in the heat.
All 10 digits look at me with disgust and say “You want US to do WHAT?”
Good thing I’m not a surgeon as I struggle with a knife & fork.
I can’t even pick my nose with some semblance of dexterity!
My Odd Sock taking a break from the heat.
Sometimes the very best I can do is collapse in front of a register………and chill (Bad pun).
My only solution is venturing outside when the sun goes down. Yeah, I’m like a gimpy wolfman (Hairy like one anyway).
Problem is, at night, when you move slower than a glacieral land mass, the skeeters pounce on you quicker than one of Michael Vick’s Rottweilers.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining as things could be worse. I just wanted to let off a little steam (Sorry, I couldn’t resist) about how the heat affects my MS.
How do you cope with the summer’s “hot & bother?”
Wipe the sweat from your brow and share your story with the rest of the class.
Otherwise, stay cool and enjoy every waking moment as it’s getting hot in here.
August 22nd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
This post really struck a chord with me. Nearly half a dozen times following summer weekends at “camp” (a Maine term for what the rest of the country knows as a cottage), I found myself just about immobilized by fatigue. I assumed I had overdone it by having company, having too much fun, or that the week that preceeded the weekend was much tougher than I had thought. The fact that those circumstances were accompanied by 90+ degree heat was simply not a fact for consideration. It wasn’t until I was in my neurologist’s office and she mentioned how difficult the heat had been for her MS patients that I put it together: I had been felled by heat and humidity. It just hadn’t occurred to me until then that being so weary was connected to the weather. We don’t normally have summers of such suffocating heat here in Maine, so I hadn’t experienced the effects before. I know heat can be a problem, but I never thought through how it would manifest itself.
The timing of this realization is good. In the 12 years since my diagnosis, I’ve convinced myself that MS doesn’t impact my life much beyond the three shots I take a week. Combined with some cognitive changes, I am just now starting to cope with having multiple sclerosis. “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” is going to be interesting this year!
I don’t often read Momentum, but the article on your blog caught my attention. This is my first visit – but I enjoyed your writing and your perspective. I’ll be back!
August 16th, 2010 at 2:41 am
Absolutely!!!!! OMG, people look at like you’re a three day drunk because you can’t walk straight no matter what you do. I get slower with the heat. Then I want to get out of it so I can get cool again. I worry sometimes because I can still drive, but if I had to do any tests I’d be in jail for aweek.
August 10th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
How about ure speech? Once the humiity hits I sound like Sylvester from Looney tunes- I thawt I saw a puddy tat! Or I speak in opposites, like a Dr. Seuss character- boy it’s so cold! THen the person I’m talking to thinks Im being sarcastic and says yeah I better get my jacket? THen I’m confused, why would they need jacket. its a heat wave, then oh I must have made the mistake, oh ha ha like I meant to say that…. !!
August 9th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
I love your humor! I discovered your site after reading this month’s Momentum. I, too, have to poke fun at myself. After all,isn’t it FUNNY as hell when you poke the oustide of your face with your fork because you’re having a flare-up and your coordination suddenly goes defunct?
And what about the “drunk driving?” I can see it now…. “Ma’am, I need you to walk in a straight line”. Yeah, right. Then he asks me to go down to the station for a urine test. I can also see THAT now… “Well officer, I can’t pee in a cup because I have bladder hesitancy”. Yeah, MS is actually quite funny, as long as the other people are laughing WITH you! :>))
August 8th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
It is above 100 heat index today and I am feeling just as you described. I saw your article in Momentum magazine. Thanks for giving us a some humor to help us cope.
July 15th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
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July 15th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Stunning! 2 thumbs up. I will love to retire and just read post like this.