MS Madness!

MS is a whimsical disease in that each person's experience of it is different. Even so fellow suffers will find much that is familiar in deSousa's chronicle of her first year after she was diagnosed with MS. I know I did.

I've read several books by folks with MS but none can hold a candle to this one. You know it all: the frustrations of the disease, the baffling symptoms, the efforts to cope and be normal, the confusing ways of insurance and the medical community.

It won't be the medical book folks who have MS will want to buy. But it is the book you should read and will love once you do. ASs I read I kept saying to myself "I know that feeling." or "That happened to me." or "Yep, you're right. That sucks."

MS is a disease where the diagnosis often throws people for a loop. You might have an explanation for what's been happening, but it is something that will accompany you for life. That often is depressing.

The author has been through it all and several of her symptoms are likely to be worse than yours. But she has come through it with determination, laughter, a fantastic attitude, and a completely new life.

I love this book, I think everyone with MS should read it. I"m so glad I did.

Not having really known anyone with MS I was surprised at the number and vareity if thats the word of the symptoms . The authors sister already had the illness and she was dealing with different although a bit similar things. The author deals with her problems in a very up beat fashion most of the time, there are times when things get too much but she soon bounces back . Little things become major things, each dealt with in their own way . Not a bad book .

The first part of the book is a little forced, a bit contrived, but it gets more natural and better as you go on. To learn you have MS is never a pleasure, and yes, the disease sucks. I was very surprised though by some of the observations and comments made by the author. I know, there are lots of MS, from the minor form to the frightening progressive one.. I have known very well three persons with MS. One with probably a elapsing-emitting form, like the author, one with the deadly progressive form, one with the benign form..
The one with relapsing-remitting had problems with a leg. It was in the eighties and no meds were known then. The guy with progressive MS tuned legally blind, was in a wheelchair, could hardly speak anymore, and was diagnosed at the end of the nineties. He was given shots of interferon, which seems, according to the symptoms, to be the kind of medication the author is on.. But the interferon was not used anymore in the 21st century, because it made people have flu like symptoms and did not help a lot. The third person's MS was asserted around 2010 (as you need two episodes to be sure), so very close to the author's dates. She has been taking Copaxone since, without side effects and without another crisis. And for more severe forms, you have stronger medications, but with risks of side effects, as all the products used are immuno-modulators -meaning the change (usually lower) the immune system. I was surprised to hear he sister has t too, as it is not hereditary.
A lot of symptoms she describes, though, are unknown to me, like the hug, or the bladder problems, or the brain fog. Of course, I know about the energy drainage, the depressed moods, limb pains, dizziness, nausea etc. I know of eyes problems, too, very frequent, And I'm sue every MS is different. But the book made me wonder if the problems described were linked more to MS or to the treatment she is getting. It would be worth checking!
The book flows more easily as it goes on, gets to be funny when the author describes her cell phone problems and mysterious when she writes about the 15 minutes lost. Of course, you would like to be able to help her, but only her insurance company can, because the biggest problem is money. All the treatments are awfully expensive and only affordable for insured people. I did appreciate the book, and feel strongly it would be time for her to learn more about MS and its treatments.
A ray of hope: searchers are on the verge of finding the cure, as soon as they know a little more about our immune systems. It has been promised in the next ten years. It won't heal the lesions engraved in the brain at first, but maybe in a while...

I loved this book. As a fellow MSer I related to this book so much it was like looking in the mirror when Yvonne was talking about things like how she hated K-Mart because of how the lighting bothered her and her meltdown at the cell phone store I could totally relate too. Been there done that. The book was also so refreshing with the humor that was in it. I am not sure if I will ever be able to look at those shots the same again without thinking about Chinese hamster ovaries but luckily for me I am on an oral medication and will not break out laughing every time I take my medication.
As an MS patient I can honestly say that we need books like this on the market so people can read about what someone else is going through and see how they are able to look at the positive side of MS and laugh in it's face. So many of us who are newly diagnosed are so scared we get too depressed too look at the other side of MS that it is not that bad unless you let it beat you and that is the message I got out of this book and that is a message I wish I would have had 10 years ago when I was first told I had MS. I think I would have avoided some bad years if I had book like this or a positive person like Yvonne telling me to try to laugh along with my tears. This is a great book for the MS community to give them hope and to remind them laughter is the best medicine. I thank you for this book.