RRMSmobile

I brought my car to my most trusted mechanic (who also happens to be my stepfather) because it has been leaking oil at an alarming rate. Like... 3-quarts-in-a-week alarming. It turned out I needed a new $20 rubber o-ring on my oil pump. The oil pump, of course, is driven by my timing belt so it took 4 hours of labor to replace it. I figured, while they were taking it apart anyway, they might as well replace my timing belt and any other gaskets/o-rings in the area since the labor is the expensive part. $511 later, my leak is fixed, my timing belt is replaced, and a couple other cheap parts were swapped out for new ones before they had a chance to fail.

I love my Celica :)

Why the hell am I talking about this on my blog?

It occurred to me that my life is very similar to my car's. Most of the time, my car is just fine. I don't owe any money on it and, apart from filling it with fuel and the routine check-up for oil changes and tires, it doesn't cause me any problems. Every once in a while, though, something goes wrong without warning. Not enough to permanently destroy it, but enough that I need to have it looked at by a professional.

After a long diagnostic process, some small fixes and adjustments, and a good chunk of cash, it's back to normal again and all is well for a long time... until something else goes wrong.

My car is slowly but constantly wearing out and, every time something like this goes wrong, I can tell it's not exactly like it used to be... but it's pretty close. Doing little things to keep it healthy will help keep things from going wrong. Using high-end oils, not pushing it too hard, etc will all help my car last me as long as possible. Eventually, it will fail and there will be no way to fix it but, until that day, I will do everything I can to take it as far is it will go.

I hope my analogy didn't get away from me on this one.

Stay Healthy
Stay Moving
NickWithMS -->

Rant

Most of my posts are positive in demeanor.

It is hard to stay positive when I am surrounded by negative (and generally stupid) people. A few of my coworkers are just constantly looking at the bad side of everything.

We have a contest at work. The winner gets a $100 Visa Debit Card. These people complain that they have to pay $10 worth of taxes for winning. Seriously. Even so, that's $90 that you didn't have to work for. I don't understand how that's a bad thing.

This is just one of many examples of the kind of bullshit I see around me every day.

My job is not difficult but some of the people I work with can't handle simple tasks. They won't be fired because, unless they are stealing, this company won't fire anyone.

I don't know how long I can handle it before I snap.

I've done it before and I'll do it again.

I don't mind telling someone that they are an ignorant, negative, worthless piece of shit who does nothing to benefit the world and their constant gloom is a poison to soceity. That the world would be a better place if they took a nap on a train track. 

Sorry for the rant. I needed to scream at someone and you were the closest person around.

</rant>
NickWithMS -->

We're not struggling, we're learning.

I've heard it said that one of the most difficult things in the world is to be good at something and watch someone who isn't try to do it. I don't know how the actual quote goes or who said it. I couldn't seem to find it on google. I suppose that doesn't matter. I can solve that problem.

"The most difficult thing in the world is to be good at something and watch someone who isn't try to do it." -NickWithMS

There. Now I've said it. Exactly like that.

I am guilty of this and I'm sure many of my readers are as well. As a piano player, I forget how difficult it was for me to begin 20 years ago. I forget how much I struggled with every note I played; how much I struggled to teach my fingers to remember where they keys are so I could form chords without having to think; how much I struggled to be able to transform from making noise to making music.

Any time we encounter something new, we struggle with it. Humans are blessed with arguably the most evolved and adaptive brains on the planet. I say 'arugably' because some people might argue that Dolphins are smarter than humans. That line of thinking turns out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy because anyone who believes it to be true is less intelligent than a dolphin.

but they're just so damn cute, aren't they?

Sorry. I got side tracked.

It can be very difficult as an adult to remember what life was like when we were seven years old. Especially since most people reading this blog have Multiple Sclerosis so memory isn't really our strong suit. When something is new to us, it frustrates us. This feeling of frustration is only made worse by adulthood because we believe we are already so good at everything. We aren't used to trying something for the first time.

I have tried to teach @CassyWithoutMS to play piano with me and it is incredibly frustrating. Not because she's a slow learner - because she's incredibly fast and incredibly smart - but because what seems like second nature to me is something that she struggles with. I, again, forget that I struggled with it too at one point.

With MS, anything can be a struggle at any point. It is important to remind yourself that this isn't a weakness, it's a learning process. While it can be very frustrating and often times overwhelming, we all have to remind ourselves that we aren't struggling, we're learning. We're learning to to live our lives with the new challenges we face. Our brains are very good at adapting to any situation. Let your brain do what it loves to do.

"You have to make noise before you can make music."-NickWithMS

That one is actually a quote from me. Keep at it folks.
Life doesn't get harder, it just gets different.
NickWithMS
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Trip to the Neuro

I went to see my Neurologist today for our Semi-Annual meeting. Victoria's Secret really made that term have more exciting connotations than it deserves.

My neurologist doesn't look like either of those girls... but you can imagine that she does if it makes my blog more interesting.

I was under the impression that I was going to - as I do every winter - go up early in the morning, get an MRI, and then meet with her about it so she can explain how my disease is progressing, all the new sclerosisisises'sesz in my brain, and how the rest of my life is going to continue to get more difficult. You know: Fun Stuff!

As it would turn out, she forgot to schedule me for an MRI this time around... so we talked about my life, my goals, my erections... usual conversations. 

This woman is more interested in my erections than CassyWithoutMS

I told her about my music, my surfing, my upcoming wedding... She suggested that I contact a woman here in Maine who works with Pharm Companies to book MS Community Events. Booking with her could mean money for me!

Are you shitting me? I can profit off this disease? Not just front-of-the-line passes at Disney World but actual financial gain? Just for having MS and being able to write music? I'm all over that!

I digress...

I talked to her about my recent issues with anxiety and she suggested that I change from 1000IU of Vitamin D to 3000IU. I would rather try that than get on a prescription anxiety medication full time. I have a hard enough time convincing myself to take Lorazepam. I just don't like drugging myself if I don't need to. We're gonna try that out and see what happens.

Oh. Speaking of bands. If you haven't already, check mine out.

5kEveryDay

So today was my first day back at the gym in quite a while. I lifted some weights and ran a mile. It felt good to be working out again. Going to the gym also motivates me to eat healthier which is good. Now, don't get me wrong... It wasn't a great day at the gym. I had to set myself back 10lbs from what I used to lift and my mile was in 12:07... but a mile is a mile, right?

So this is what I've decided:

I'm gonna challenge myself to do a 5k every day that I go to the gym (which should be Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) but I may miss a day here and there depending on what comes up. I'm not planning on "running" a 5k every day; that would be impossible at this point. I simply plan on traveling 3.1 miles through a combination of Running/Jogging/Walking every time I go to the gym and keep track of how my time improves as I go. I'll be tracking this on my RunKeeper app and posting it all on my twitter.

Who wants to join me?

Post your 5k times on twitter and use #5kEveryDay to tag it so we can all motivate each other!

It should be fun and healthy! 

REMEMBER: YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN IT!
Walk, Run, Jog, Elliptical, Bike, Row, anything you want. Just travel 5k (3.1 Miles)

Sound good?
GO!
NickWithMS

Keep Creating

I caught a bit of a conversation on Twitter today about how difficult it can be to maintain a regular blog. It can be incredibly difficult to be coming up with meaningful content on a daily basis. My past few posts, from what I've heard, have been informative and insightful. I can't promise that I will always have useful information about the world of Multiple Sclerosis but I am actively trying to post something worth reading every day.

They say "Use it or lose it." There is so much we don't understand about the human brain. We do know that Multiple Sclerosis constantly threatens it and that those of us living with MS would do just about anything to stop that.

I always try to be creating something. Whether it's writing in my blog, writing music, or making movies; I try to keep my brain as active as possible. I don't know if exercising my brain will make me more able to fight this disease but it certainly can't hurt.

My advice to my followers: Go out and create. Every picture you draw, blog you write, person you meet, or recipe you discover creates new pathways of information in your brain. Don't ever let your brain stop doing what it loves to do: Learn.

NickWithMS
@nickwithms
fb.me/nickwithms