Columns Fall Down, Get Up Again- a Column by John Connor Reflections from the front line: Things are looking up, eventually Reflections from the front line: Things are looking up, eventually Despite MS and severe illness, a columnist notices improvements in his movement by John Connor | April 28, 2023 Share this article: Share article via email Copy article link Ceilings. Oh yeah, Iāve become quite the expert on ceilings. If you spend much of your life prostrate, itās hard not to. The very first column I wrote for Multiple Sclerosis News Today opened with this very topic. As it was an unsolicited spec piece, I was pleasantly surprised to be offered a weekly column two days later. And six years on, I’m still going. Somehow. Iād actually written about trying to get back on the couch after a fall as a humorous story to amuse myself. Because I’d started pursuing journalism as a 19-year-old knows-nothing-knows-everything undergrad at my university paper in 1987, this was hardly onerous. A lifetime spent in comedy also means that I find writing the only tolerable way of filtering my life with multiple sclerosis (MS). And that, ye faithful reader, is as serious as Iām ever likely to get. Onward with this weekās tale. Recommended Reading April 20, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Multiple sclerosis requires a different kind of can-do motivation Signs of life My new room in the rehabilitation center at Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People was truly enormous. It was about half the size of the entire hospital ward Iād just spent two months in ā and that housed six of us! Even better, no one was shouting 24 hours a day, every day, down the hall. And the ceiling was tremendous. It was like having my own personal suspension railway above me. Thomas the Tank Engine had gone all inverted. This was a huge improvement on the depressing graying white of my hospital ceiling. The multifaceted hoist could take me nearly everywhere, even right into the wet room. The shower chair was also designed to fit directly over the toilet pan. Though, as anyone with MS knows, this is highly redundant in our case. We can sit for hours without anything happening. Unfortunately, I didnāt get many such trips to the wet room as I had diarrhea for an (un)solid three weeks. My various carers certainly didnāt want to have to clean up a daily Jackson Pollock. As I was on iron pills, this offering would at least have been of the deepest artistic black! The local doctor put it down to some sort of virus. She was undoubtedly right, but I wonder if it may have been the food. Iāve been fine since I finally got home two weeks ago. But back to the good news. Slowly and amazingly, my seemingly decrepit body began to show signs of life. Like Frankensteinās monster (though that is debatable), my right hand began to move. The next day, my arm followed. Then, my completely dormant right foot started to wiggle a bit. Nothing excessive ā just the big toe. Hey, that hasnāt moved for years! I was deeply confused. My rehab hadnāt even started yet, and the illness that had completely banjaxed me had somehow made me feel better than Iād felt in years. Synchronicity, by its very concept, works in mysterious ways. My phone rang, and it was my MS consultant. Presuming he was responding to one of my wifeās email missives, I was extremely grateful for his call. Hearing the very thankful tone in my voice, he asked matter-of-factly if I hadnāt been expecting his call. Turns out it was a scheduled phone consultation. I had no idea; months away from home had completely disorientated me. I told him of my newfound movement, which was so much better than before. I wondered if somehow my demyelination had improved? “No, no,” he replied, “that never gets better. Your persistent urinary tract infections were just making everything worse. Thatās why your right arm is working better.” No matter that the arm was moving considerably more than before; all the associated pain was gone. Hey, now, up and at ’em. However, I still had diarrhea and the pain of a permanent catheter, which I had to keep in place after the hospital because of the diarrhea. More on that next week, methinks. You lucky people. Note:Ā Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice,Ā diagnosis, orĀ treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice,Ā diagnosis, orĀ treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those ofĀ Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ or its parent company, BioNews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis. Print This Page About the Author John Connor In the ā80s, John Connor created the first regular column about the burgeoning London stand-up scene. In 1990 he wrote a book about its effect on the Edinburgh Festival: āComics: A Decade of Comedy at the Assembly Rooms.ā That year he also devised and ran a live topical stand-up team show at The London Comedy Store, The Edge (It was destroyed in 2020!). In 2009 John was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS, which cut short his main job as a TV casting director for āBlack Books,ā āMy Family,ā et al. Now, John writes āFall Down Get Up Again,ā an irreverent journey with MS. Tags movement Comments Wendy Roe Hovey Fully disoriented by your use of the non-word "disorientated". I trust your tongue was jammed in your cheek. If it will still go there! Ah, but then I thought better of it and Asked The Google. Found this: "Disorientated is a British English word, while disoriented is an American English word. disoriented and disorientated can be utilized instead of one another, yet it will bode well contingent upon where you are found." Since you and I are "found" on different sides of the pond, I yield! Reply John Connor Hi Wendy, Ah, u were good & proper, disorientated. JC x Reply Leave a comment Fill in the required fields to post. Your email address will not be published. Your Name Your Email Your Comment Post Comment
April 25, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Having MS may marginally increase likelihood of cervical cancer: Study
April 25, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS MS patients prefer Tysabri injection to intravenous infusion: Study
April 24, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Foralumab found to ease fatigue in SPMS patients in access program