Multiple Sclerosis is a disease with many faces; It affects each of us differently. We struggle with the difficult aspects of this disease but there are always moments that make us laugh in spite of ourselves. This post; is dedicated to those moments. All who enjoy the laughter, are encouraged to comment and share your stories; whether they are MS related or not, because we all know that laughter is the best medicine.
One of the symptoms of MS that many patients experience is vibration in various parts of their bodies. My most notable spot is my right hip; which by some strange coincidence is the same place where my cell phone resides about 90% of my life. I’m sure you see where this is going. I keep my phone on vibrate most of the time because I spend so much time in meetings for work and I receive so many work related calls that the ring tone becomes an annoyance. The vibration is exactly the same intensity as my phone and comes and goes regularly. I’ve quite often picked up my cell phone and answered it (without looking at the screen) only to find there was no one there. The first few times I became quite annoyed and was ready to call the carrier and ask why I kept dropping calls. Fortunately I realized that it is my MS chiming in to remind me that I need to take care of myself. I now place my hand on my phone whenever I feel it to make sure it is a call and not the MS before answering!
Another symptom of MS is issue with memory and cognition. Now this is a frustrating symptom and can be very scary at times, but sometimes I can look back and laugh at a few of the things I’ve forgotten or confused and how it played out.
The first time I let the horse water trough overflow I was dead certain that wasn’t the case and it wasn’t my fault. I turned the water on with the hose in the trough and walked to the barn to throw the girls a hay bale. In that brief period of time, I forgot I had turned on the water and proceeded to tend to other things. When I came back there was water all over the ground and at that time I remembered I had filled the trough but not that I had left the water running. I spent about 5 minutes searching for the source of the leak before the light bulb went off and I realized what happened.
One of my favorites is when I call someone all fired up about something and I am ready to “give them hell” and when they answer, I forget why I am calling or who I wanted to speak to. The stumbling over words is classic but when the other person patiently waits for me to figure things out, by the time I do, the situation is usually diffused with some laughter and a statement like “oh don’t worry, I do that all the time…” and I think to myself “buddy, you have no idea!”.
I’ve made coffee without adding the coffee to the coffee machine. I forget peoples names right after they are introduced (that really scores big with clients).
So come one…confession is good for the soul, and laughter will lighten your load…what are some of the more forgettable moments you’ve experienced with this disease?
livingms 
You described my symptoms to a T. I will be talking to my son and the next minute forget what I am talking about and I know it was important. that is the worst thing because he used to feel I wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying. Now he knows the reason why. I could be writing an e mail and then I forget what I was going to write the second after I write it.
I write myself little notes now — and I ALWAYS put the keys in the same place. There are notes all over my computer.
Such is life with MS I guess