What is the sign all about...you ask? And my reply...Symptom Management. Yes, you can manage your ms symptoms, with the right knowledge of what your symptoms are, through discussion with your physician you will be able to determine which are really ms issues and which are not. Once this is clear, the next step is how to address the issue (s).
We are all on this ms journey however, we all face different aspects of the journey, and this is especially true when it concerns symptoms. For some cognition may be the worse of the lot, and for others fatigue or mobility. As for myself "Cognition," is the BEAR that I wrestle with daily, poor memory,a result of poor retention and recall, and let us not forget slow processing of information. All of which seem to be one great big circle of frustration-process it so slow that I forgot what I was trying not to forget. If you cannot retain it how can you recall it? Crazy or what?
So what do we do? I have set up lots of systems in hopes of helping myself find lost thoughts, some work for awhile,and some never worked at all. I'll share a few with you: sticky notes, plastered everywhere,on mirrors, and around my computer screen these are good if you are near them when you need to retrieve a lost thought, or until the stickiness dries up and they keep falling down, you get frustrated and trash them.
How about the voice activated tape recorder? Good idea heh? NOT! I kept forgetting what I did with the darn thing and of course unlike the lamps that you can clap on and off, or my being able to call it from my cell phone, as I sometimes have to do to find my home phone, I had to throw out that idea. Geeze...back to the drawing board again. I'll continue to go back and until I find a solution that I can remember? The only good solution is the one you can remember right? Lol.
The bottom line is this, we have to regroup and try again, and sometimes again and again, until we succeed. I have learned that multi-tasking is a sure way of my retention and recall to fail. I find that I remember best when I focus on one thing at a time, not to say that I don't still have issues because I do, but they are fewer and as a consequence they are less frustrating.
A really big thing for me is that I've learned that my attitude as I go through those less than favorable times has a lot to do with how frustrated I become. The frustration and stress from beating up on myself will not change the outcome. I shake it off and then I begin to re-strategize about what I can do differently. I simply know that I can and will find the perfect workable solution for me.
My next try will be some type of assistive technology, there is software out there that can be added to a smartphone that will not only ring or ding, but some will even talk to you, and remind you of what you have on your "To Do," list. However, finding a program that is not cost prohibitive can be a problem in and of itself. A smart phone is not in every budget and then you will still need to purchase the software.
The list of issues is a long one, and if any of you have tips that work for you and would care to share please do. I invite and encourage you to share your thoughts on any part of your journey, for what may very well seem small and/or insignificant to you could be a blessing to someone else.
I'll leave you with this quote:
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.
Wayne Dyer
Shirley
