Multiple sclerosis is not my mission. Living my best life is

I’m sure the same thing happens in a lot of professions, but combat medics, which I was, often zoom in on the job at hand and lose sight of everything else. I know that when I was treating a casualty, I’d sometimes get in the zone and lose track of everything around me, including the time. Even if I was checking my watch and recording the times when vital signs were taken, I was in a state of tunnel vision and unaware of how much time had actually passed.

I know I wasn’t the only medic to do that because one of the surgeons grading our trauma training loved to shout at team leaders who asked their medic how much time he needed. The surgeon would let them know that the medic was preoccupied and to tell him how much time he had, rather than ask him how much he needed. His point was that it was normal for the medic to be completely focused on the casualty. He went on to say that a medic would stay long enough to build a field hospital if you let him, but the mission had to come first.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is easy to focus on, to the point where the person who has it, as well as family members and caregivers, tend to get tunnel vision. Just like the days when I was a medic taking care of a casualty, I often zoom in on my disease. When that happens, I need to remind myself, or have someone else remind me, that the mission takes priority. My mission these days is living my best life, and it should absolutely come first.

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I’ve been known to say that MS has my undivided attention, but is that true? There’s no disputing that it demands a certain amount of my attention, but should it get all of it, all of the time? I’m not implying that anyone should ignore their MS, try to pretend it doesn’t exist, or trivialize its effects on life. Instead, I’m saying that I should try to put MS in its proper place, and that place shouldn’t be ahead of what really matters.

Multiple sclerosis demands attention, and sometimes it demands it quite loudly. My family and friends, on the other hand, gently request it, but deserve it far more. As with treating casualties, it’s easy to focus on the loudest one, but that’s not necessarily who needs the most attention. MS doesn’t give up and go away if you make it last on your list of priorities. Friends and family might, and I don’t want to see where that leads.

I have a tendency to blame MS for anything that goes awry with my health. It’s is the most noticeable issue that I have, after all. But that’s no reason to overlook any of the others. There’s no doubt it affects everything related to my health — even going to the dentist — and is often at the forefront of my concerns, but it isn’t my only concern. If I’m serious that living my best life should be my mission, I can’t afford to get MS tunnel vision to the point that I neglect the rest of my health.

There’s more to me than multiple sclerosis. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like there’s much more, but I think that feeling comes when I’m too focused on it at the expense of the rest of my life. One of my regrets is telling myself that I’d do something or other as soon as I got better. In a lot of ways, that sort of thinking was putting the disease ahead of the mission.

If living your best life despite multiple sclerosis is your mission, then spite it by not neglecting the rest of the things that make your life the best it can be. I listed a few examples. What are some aspects of your life that are more important to you than MS?

Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or 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 of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.