Like a lot of households at this time of year (January) mine has fallen victim to the dreaded lurgy. It started with my eldest returning home from nursery with a cough and a sniffle and from there we have each taken it in turn to topple like dominoes. The last 2 weeks at home have quite frankly been an absolute nightmare. As all MSers know, taking care of children is, at the best of times, knackering. When those children become ill and therefore extra demanding, extra whingey, extra clingy etc that knackeredness is cranked up to a whole new level of knackeration. I have since been struck down myself, but even before that happened I don’t mind admitting that I was struggling. My children are at the most demanding of ages anyway (4, 2 & 7 months) but my goodness has it been difficult. I haven’t been able to sit down, I’ve had summons and demands thrown at me from all corners of my decidedly too big (it now seems) house, with its stupid staircase that has more so than usual become the bane of my MS life! And we’ve had no sleep for what feels like weeks. My bedroom has, on a nightly basis, become like a scene from The Sound of Music, but without the thunderstorm and less of the singing. So, no nighttime sleep, no daytime rest, heightened stress from seeing your little ones suffer and a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis is a recipe for disaster.
Could anything else add to the overwhelming exhaustion I feel? Well, yes actually, I could get ill myself. As we all know having any kind of cold or virus plays havoc with MS. And so it is that I find myself today in a state of pathetic uselessness. Sure, I feel crumby and bunged up and headachy and tired but I also have to contend with the increased severity of my MS symptoms. I am walking at best like a robot and at worst like a slug. I truly haven’t felt this ‘MS-y’ in a long time, and as a consequence my husband has had to take time off work to look after the kids so that I can lie down and simply ‘be’. Anyway, I figured a lot of you will be able to relate to this and are probably going through similar traumas this winter.
Just remember, when life throws you lemons… make pancakes.
First published 18 January 2018
The Wibbly Dinosaur 