| MS PERSPECTIVES
By Ed Lash
The last chapter in my book, Multiple Sclerosis – A Patient’s View, is entitled “Bits and Pieces.” This chapter included a number of interesting short subjects. This column for Action will include a few odds and ends as well.
For example, I recently wrote an article entitled “The Value of a Smile” which appeared in the May-June issue of Action. However, I did not mention this quotation:
“Life is a mirror. If you frown on it, it frowns back.
If you smile at it, it returns the greeting”
–Herbert Samuel
Try it! Try smiling at yourself whenever you are in front of a mirror. A big, happy smile will make you cheerful if you’re sad, will increase your energy if you’re tired, will help you get started on something you’ve been meaning to do, and will encourage you to be a nice person. Try it every time you are in front of a mirror and you will also learn what is the best medically approved method of improving your looks – SMILE! And smiling in front of mirrors regularly will get you into the habit of smiling at other people, also, which will give them a good impression of you.
Man’s Best Friend and Teacher
Regardless of whether or not you have Multiple sclerosis (MS), you can learn many important lifestyle lessons from your (or your neighbor’s) dog. Robert Benchley once said that a dog teaches us fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. But a dog teaches us many other lifestyle lessons as well:
• When relaxing, breathe slowly.
• Get into a playful mood regularly.
• Walk frequently and drink plenty of water.
• Make those you love feel welcomed with a cheerful greeting.
• Stop and smell the roses; look at and enjoy everything around you.
• Make friends with all your neighbors, even the grumps and grouches.
• Perk up your ears and listen to the muffled silence and smell the air.
• Exercise your body and soul by smiling, playing, and laughing frequently.
Get A Good Night’s Sleep
Many people think that drinking and driving are the most cause of automobile accidents, and they are right. But another thing to consider is drowsy driving, primarily due to insufficient sleep. In 2006, the National Sleep foundation and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute uncovered this information: 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some sort of drowsy driving. ‘
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, sleep-related car accidents number 200,000 and kill 1,500 people each year. The National Sleep Foundation calls “drowsy driving” a “silent killer”. It impairs response time and judgment, and decreases awareness. Unlike alcohol, no tests can determine whether a person drifted off into what’s called a “micro-sleep.”
So be sure to get regular sleep. It will be good for your MS and make your driving safer. And if you do get regular good night’s sleep, but feel a little tired when driving at any time of the day or night, do what I read about: chew gum! The physical chewing, not too slowly, will keep you more alert.
A Good MS Story
This husband’s wife has MS and he was suspecting that it was affecting her hearing. One day he came home from work and his wife was in the living room looking out towards their backyard with her back towards the door where he was about to enter the room. He thought this was a wonderful opportunity to test her hearing. Just inside the door, in a normal voice, he said, “Sweetheart, can you hear me?” Silence. He took a large step toward her, and again repeated in a normal voice, “Sweetheart, can you hear me?” Again, no response. He took a third and fourth step forward and again, no answers.
After the fifth step forward he was almost able to touch her, and again said in a normal voice, “Sweetheart, can you hear me?” This time he heard her say, “For the fifth time, I hear you fine!”
Note: Self-help is not intended to replace medical treatment, but should be used together with the help of all appropriate professionals in a team effort.
Ed Lash is a United Spinal member who lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. For more information, or to order his book “Multiple Sclerosis – A Patient’s View” ($13.95), call 203-4450118 or by e-mail at edlash.ms.selfhelp@juno.com.
