MS is
Not the End of the World
The idea of writing this book
came to me when I heard, for the umpteenth time, an ad on television featuring a whiny,
“I feel sorry for myself,” voice. “One morning I woke up and couldn’t walk,” it
said, and a message followed, telling listeners they could get help from a group providing
support to those who have MS. My instant response was extreme annoyance and then I was
insulted. The implication was that MS always leaves the person with the condition in this
whiney, helpless state, which it doesn’t. I have MS and know it is a lot easier to live
with than many chronic conditions with which many people are afflicted. I don’t wish, by
having MS, to be identified as being like that whiney TV voice. Furthermore, I felt it
misleading for people to be given the impression that having MS must be the end of the
world, as the ad implied. There are many people in the world living happy and productive
lives though they happen to have MS.
So I decided to introduce the reader to people who have MS
but are not “down and out.” There are many who, though perhaps not living as
productive a life as they would like or previously did, have learned to live it
differently—positively and cheerfully, and even to count their blessings.
MS is not the end of the world! In fact, it can be made into
a positive influence for personal growth and development. What you can’t change can be
used to advantage.
All right, I admit it, I was forty years old when I was
diagnosed, so I’d had several years of a career and motherhood. I’d been a
professional musician for a number of years and enjoyed nearly twenty years of being a
vigorous and energetic teacher. Still, I could have been upset and resentful, I suppose,
if I’d taken the time to think about it. Many books I have read recently tell me people
go through anxiety and depression after diagnosis. I didn’t. And I’m not the only
person who didn’t.
We are likely all
acquainted with several people who have MS, and whose condition is not readily apparent.
They don’t whine about it, and most of us don’t talk about MS when we’re together,
there being other many more interesting and important subjects to discuss.
I began to interview MS “victims” who refused to be “victims.” My only
requirements for those I chose to include in this book were that they be diagnosed as
having MS (I know, that’s a given, but there it is) and for them to be dealing with it
in a positive way. At first I was going to call the book, “MS—No Whining Allowed.”
Then I decided that wasn’t being very positive, so I took my own advice, and made the
title more upbeat.
Welcome
to the official site of Canadian author 
