MS Has Changed My Vision – a patient’s story

Thursday July 09 2015 

Sometimes we don’t see things as clearly, some things we see more sharply.  One thing that is for certain, MS has changed the way I see things… 

Multiple Sclerosis – the insidious thief of a disease that it is – can and has taken much from me.  It has taken functions, it has robbed me of strength, and it has stolen stamina.  MS has replaced feeling with numbness, abilities with disability, and self-reliance with dependence.

Multiple sclerosis has also changed my vision.

More than just the nystagmus – which can have my eyes shaking in their sockets – or the double vision when I’m overtired or overheated; MS has changed the way I see things.

I no longer see a lot of the ‘big picture’ issues of the world as one image; rather as a mosaic of individual lives and stories. The tapestry of compromise politics I now see as individual threads woven for the good of one person or group over another. I see the underdog not as superhero but rather as the humble shoeshine boy simply trying to get on with life the best he can.

Sometimes I see the journey from bedroom to bathroom as my marathon. Other times I see the simple task of writing a cheque as complex calculus. And always, just outside of my peripheral vision’s ability to focus I see the possibility of my next MS attack.