Tomorrow, Six (6) years later...............

Tomorrow will be my 6th year anniversary of learning that I have MS and it is important that my attitude towards life is important. One of my many main issues is sex. Lower sex hormones, such as testosterone, is proabably partly responsible for lack of sex drive for men. According to studies I have been reading, the men's average blood testosterone level was on the low side of normal. Anyway, I am not looking forward for this summer because my MS experience can result a temporary worsening of my MS symptoms when the weather is very hot or humid or both. An elevated temperature can impairs the ability of a demyelinated nerve to conduct electrical impulses because myelin is the protective sheath that surrounds and protects nerve fibers. The destruction of myelin causes the formation of plaques of the abnormal areas (around the body) on the nerves that slow nerve impulses and produce the symptoms of MS. MS is a disease that immune system attacks and destroys nerve cells, nerve fibers, and myelin, which is the fatty covering that surrounds nerve fibers and cells in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin is like a electric wire cover which electrical signals to and from your brain along wire-like extensions of the cells called axons, or nerve fibers. Myelin is the fatty substance that coats and protects these fibers, similar to the way insulation shields electrical wires. Like electric that the myelin separates nerve pathways from each other, allowing nerve impulses to travel from one location to another throughout the nervous system. One of the basic explanation for MS that I can clearly understand was this: “Multiple” refers to the multiple sites where nerve loss, or demyelination, occurs. “Sclerosis” refers to scar tissue, or “sclera” which can block or obstruct the flow of messages between nerves and muscles

I have to stay cool in an air-conditioned environment during periods of extreme heat and humidity. Therefore, my electric bill be higher and I am not looking forward to seeing the bills this summer.

When being outdoors or in a warm place, I need to invest (which I do not have the funds at the moment) get cooling products for me to wear such as vests, neck wraps, bandanas, etc. At this point, I will have to make sure I wear lightweight, loose and “breathe-able” clothing that is loose, well ventilated, lightweight, light-colored loose fitting clothing constructed of breathable fabrics. Roomier garments allow air to pass over my body, which aids sweat evaporation and cooling. Items made of polypropylene wick moisture away from my skin.

Anyway, I am learning to be content as much as I can even though there's a "human flesh" in me that wants more in order to be comfortable. I am going to repeat what I wrote in my journal:

“Okay, I have hearing loss (deaf) and multiple sclerosis, and those are the ways of life for me. I take silence and pain as come and I have learned master them in my life. My disabilities do not have me. I have the disabilities and I accept them because I know who I am from the inside. Everything has its wonders, even silence and pain, and I learn whatever disabilities and difficulties I may be in, I am happily content.”