All posts by Little M.S. Runner

Forty-something, married with two kids and two dogs. Trying hard to live every day to the fullest with multiple sclerosis, impaired vision, and deafness. Couldn't make it without my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Family, Friends, Memories, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos, Running

2016 Hot Cider Hustle 5k

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Oh boy. The days just keep moving along, don’t they? And I feel like I’m forgetting something, constantly. Sometimes I actually am. Usually I’m not, or I am but it’s inconsequential. But I do remember I said I was going to blog about something… the 5k I ran last weekend, perhaps?

Okay, yes. Last weekend I ran my second ever 5k, the Hot Cider Hustle. I signed up for this race back in August, with no other runners committed to running it with me. I had just decided that I needed to get it on the calendar, to give me something to work towards. And if anyone else ran it with me, even better. Then football schedules came out, and it turned out my husband and my son both would not be able to be there, as they had their respective football responsibilities. So it was just going to be me and my daughter. Now, I could get us there with the trusty Spec-Tran, but the problem would be that my daughter would be left alone while I ran the race. Not an option, as she is only 6. So a dear friend of mine offered to take us to the race and sit with my daughter while I ran. That is the first thing I had to be grateful for that day, but it gets better.

As we were driving to the park where the race was being held, I received a text from another dear friend, telling me that she was there, and had just signed up to run! She had run my first 5k with me, signing up at the last minute for that race as well. I love happy surprises. The first race I finished before she did, but only because she hadn’t even been training. This second race I was able to keep up with her new pace for most of the time, but towards the end as it got more crowded I wasn’t able to keep up with her and pass all the people safely. We plan to run more races together, and hopefully next time she won’t wait until the last minute to sign up!

And my most favorite part of this race? My big brother drove up to run it too. He told me 2016-10-15-08-12-30just a few weeks prior to the race that he was going to join me, and I was both shocked and thrilled. I hadn’t even asked him to run. Why would I? He lives an hour away, and he’s a serious runner. He’s run marathons, so these 5ks are small time for him. I’m still not entirely sure why he decided to do the race. Part of it maybe was him missing the thrill of it, but I believe a bigger part was his desire to support his little sister (at least that’s what I’m telling myself). Of course he was a huge support to me, big time, and I’ll never forget it. Since he finished the race long before I did, he was able to run right alongside me during my final mile, coaching me to the finish.

hotciderhustle2016

This was definitely a difficult run, especially after I lost my friend in the crowd. I had to be sure I was on the right course, because there was a 10 mile race going on as well, and signs directing the runners. I only lost my balance once, and fell into the runner I was trying to pass, but I apologized and kept moving on. No harm, no foul. My brother suggested I get a bib to wear on my back that tells people I’m disabled, so that they don’t assume I can hear them, or that I can maneuver the way the other runners can. I think it’s a great idea, and I’ll definitely be looking into it for future races.

After I crossed the finish line, my brother came around to help me walk, because I really am a mess during those minutes following, when I’ve stopped running. The race volunteers were concerned, but my brother and friend (who had joined in helping me walk) assured them I was fine, that I had MS and I just needed to rest awhile. It may seem silly, but it makes me feel proud for people to know I have MS, and am running in spite of it. I may not run fast, but I’m running, and I’ll keep running until I’m forced to stop.

So, at the end of the day, I ran a very satisfying 3.1 miles in 38 minutes, 34 seconds, and was able to celebrate and share in that achievement with my big brother and two very good friends. It was certainly a day I’ll never forget.

 

 

Daily Snippets, Friends, Kids, Running

My hands are cold

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Today I went to the YMCA and ran for a bit, lifted some weights, read the newspaper. It was nice. I’m trying to increase my running speed. I ran a 5k last weekend and set myself a new Personal Record – my total time was 38:34, which is an average time of 12:25 per mile. This was only slightly better than my last 5k, but it was a movement in the right direction, so I’m happy with it. I would like to cut my time down, see if I can get faster. At this point I’m not really interested in running longer races; I would just like to get those 3.1 miles done faster.

Today my daughter had a playdate at the park with a friend from the old school. They played and climbed while the moms talked. I was so glad they had that chance to see each other again, and I’m also happy that her mom and I can now say we are friends in real life (not just on Facebook). It was a lot of fun, but we’ve been home for over an hour now and my hands are still cold.

I have much to say about that race last weekend, but it’s too late in the day to collect all my thoughts properly and also, my fingers… ice cold. Seriously. Which makes typing kind of a challenge I would rather not suffer through. So I’ll leave you here and maybe revisit tomorrow or Sunday when my hands have had a chance to thaw out.

Daily Snippets, Food, Running

Chicken what?

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Did I mention a new restaurant opened near our house? It’s this Lebanese restaurant and they serve the best everything, but especially the chicken shawarma. I ate there Monday and Tuesday and then just finished off my leftovers today and ohmagersh I could eat this every day EVERY DAY. It’s so yummy and my tummy is happy, but since it was just a small portion (leftovers) I’m wanting more. If it were earlier in the day I would ride my trike and go get some, but it’s already after 3:00 so I guess I have to suffer until next time. 

I will survive, of course. 

Now off to shower cuz I just ran 3 miles outside and I’m kinda stinky. 5k race Saturday, wish me luck!

Daily Snippets, Food, Kids, Memories

The Trike

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My husband’s employer loaned us a trike for me to try, and perhaps keep if I like. I guess they had purchased it for a single purpose and no longer needed it, so lucky me! It definitely makes riding feel a lot safer for me.

So Monday the kids did not have school (something about Columbus) so we decided to ride bikes up to the store to get donuts and hot cocoa. All was going well until I hit a rough patch of pavement, throwing the trike off course, and eventually me with it. It felt like slow motion but was really only a matter of seconds. I found myself pinned to the edge of the road, this enormous tricycle and basket on top of me. The kids looked back and immediately ran to help me. Thank goodness for them, really. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been alone. It was a pretty scary fall, and I shredded my elbow, so I was bleeding quite a bit for the rest of the trip. Thankfully we were able to snag some band-aids from the donut shop. 

The rest of the trip was lovely, with the donuts and cocoa, and then some shopping, and then lunch at a new restaurant that had just opened that day. Best chicken shawarma ever!

But then today. Have you ever been in a car accident, and you hurt worse the following day? It’s a ridiculously delayed reaction from the impact. That’s what’s going on here. I underestimated the impact of that fall. My entire upper body is in excruciating pain and I am finding myself to be the biggest wuss about it! I am such a big whiner baby right now, and so I’m just gonna try to sleep. Last night I kept rolling over on my elbow and it would wake me up and that was just annoying, so hopefully it leaves me alone tonight and let’s me sleep. 

I am always telling you all to be thankful for the day and enjoy every moment so now I’ve gotta remind myself to take that advice. Come on now Mindy, it’s just a little aches and pains, be thankful you’re alive. You could’ve been run over by a car, after all! Get some rest now people… get some rest.

Cochlear implant, Hearing Loss, Multiple Sclerosis

My very first reader question!

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An interesting question was raised here on the blog earlier this week, and it’s one I felt important to answer. The question? What is a cochlear implant, is it for MS, and does it help?

Well, first off – a cochlear implant is a device implanted into the skull near the ear in order to replace a malfunctioning inner ear. I can’t speak much for the inner workings of the ear, and all the moving pieces natural hearing involves, so I won’t. But the cochlear implant takes the place of the cochlea, which is the auditory portion of the inner ear (Thanks Wikipedia). Basically, the cochlear implant restores hearing.

It’s not a terribly invasive surgery, and most people are able to go home the same afternoon. After one is healed from the surgery, the device is activated with the use of a processor that sits on the ear and is connected via cord and magnet to the implant. It’s kind of fascinating, if you ask me. When the magnet and processor is not attached, I hear nothing. Actually, that’s not accurate. It’s only when the magnet is unattached that I hear nothing. Complete and total silence. But when it’s connected, I’m back in business and hearing again. The processors that hang on my ears look like your typical hearing aid, but they work in a totally different way. Hearing aids amplify sound, but cochlear implants take sound and process it for you, communicating that sound to your brain.

Cochlear implants are only used with people who are permanently profoundly deaf, and who are not helped by hearing aids. It’s nothing like natural hearing, and everyone responds differently to the implants, but in general it’s been a very good thing for me and pretty much every cochlear implant recipient I’ve spoken with. I was a late-deafened adult, meaning I lost my hearing in adulthood. I didn’t grow up in the Deaf community, so it was a severe loss, losing my hearing. I had almost no way to communicate. I was profoundly deaf. I didn’t just lose some hearing, I lost it all. So the cochlear implants have been a huge help for me. I’m able to have conversations with my children, make phone calls (with the help of a captioned phone, usually), listen to music, follow along with church worship services, etc. It’s been a wonderful gift.

I do have MS, and while some people with MS experience hearing loss, my hearing loss was not caused by MS. When someone with MS loses hearing, it’s usually in only one ear, and is not always permanent. I think I saw a statistic that said only 6% of MS patients reported symptoms of hearing loss. My diagnosis was Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease, which affects less than 1% of people with hearing loss (including Rush Limbaugh, who is also a bilateral cochlear implant recipient). How’s that for odds? Maybe I ought to buy a lottery ticket.

I hope that answers your questions, MSersgettingfit! I’m sorry if I went more in depth than necessary, but it’s a big topic for me. Hard to scale it down. I still feel like I left so much out, so if I only raised more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Actually, this goes out to all my readers: I absolutely love answering questions, so please feel free to ask away. I am at your service!

Memories, Multiple Sclerosis

Facebook is reminding me

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Does anyone else on Facebook get those daily reminders of things you posted “On This Day” in prior years? I’ve been getting them for some time now, and lately it’s been a heavy feed of reminders of the days leading up to my MS diagnosis 7 years ago. Today was no different. My status posted on 9/29/09 was this:

“Mindy has been having new symptoms creep up and is kind of freaked out about it.”

One of my comments on this post was this – “I don’t know, they didn’t SPECIFICALLY rule out larvae. I’ll have to ask 😉 But in all seriousness, I’m really just praying it’s not MS.” (This was in part a reply to a coworker friend who had been joking that this was all being caused by larvae in my brain. It wasn’t.)

I think on a deep level I knew it was MS before I was given the diagnosis, even though I was praying against it. In fact, I vividly remember sitting at my desk during a lunch break, scouring the internet for explanations to my symptoms. I landed on a page at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website that described the many possible symptoms of MS. They listed common symptoms and less common symptoms. When I saw “itching” described among the uncommon symptoms, tears welled up in my eyes and I had to catch my breath.

From the National MS Society: “Pruritis (itching) is one of the family of abnormal sensations — such as “pins and needles” and burning, stabbing or tearing pains — which may be experienced by people with MS.”

This was exactly what I had been experiencing around that time, in my upper arm, and it was by far the most painful of the symptoms I had been having. It was the word – stabbing – that caught my attention. I hadn’t thought to use that word to describe it, but that was it, that was it exactly. So to see it described that way… well, I guess I just knew. At that moment, I knew.

The rest is history, I guess you could say. I’m not certain of the exact date I was diagnosed, but I’m curious to see if it comes up on my Facebook feed. I know it’s coming soon, the anniversary, but I’m not sure if I posted it publicly at that time. I guess we’ll see.

I think the most interesting thing to me as I reflect on those days is that I remember the absolute dread I felt, and the fear and uncertainty of it all. I knew nothing of MS at that time, and I really believed it would be a death sentence. I thought it guaranteed a miserable life spent home bound and dependent on others for everything. I was so scared… so, so scared.

I was also very wrong; I look at where we are now, and I am so grateful for my life. MS is just one of the many challenges our family has faced, and through prayer and patience we are coming out of each one stronger and stronger. It’s just like that saying, that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. MS can certainly be scary, all unknowns it brings with it, but it doesn’t have to be. No one is promised another day on this earth. No one is promised health and wellness. We must be grateful for what we have today, and really learn to appreciate and embrace each moment. I am learning step by step to do this, and I encourage you to do the same. Carpe diem, folks, carpe diem.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Exercise, Food, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos

Monday, you are so good to me

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Happy Monday!! I was feeling pretty grumpy yesterday but I’m feeling a little better today. I went to the YMCA first thing this morning, after the kids were on the bus. I really, really love the elliptical machine. It’s able to work so many muscles in my legs in a much shorter time than walking or running does. So I’m getting a better workout, and I’m not overheating or getting fatigued. Well, I do get a little fatigued, and I have to be very careful getting off the machine and walking back to the locker rooms (next time I’ll bring my cane). I feel weird having to literally pick up my leg to remove it from the machine, and then hobbling across the room. It just seems backwards, that I would be able to exercise fine, but then have trouble simply walking to the locker rooms. But I see lots of people walking around with canes there, so I don’t feel self-conscious about it. Granted, those people with canes are much older than I am, but that’s ok. MS has only taken bits and pieces, so I’m happy to keep working with what’s left.

And now This. This is why I’m straightening my hair. The longer it gets, the less curl it can hold. My hair is thick and heavy, and those curls, while I do love them, just can’t stand up to the weight. Not that I tried to help it along today, as I tend to do with mousse, but even with that the curl seems to fall quicker and quicker. Now that I have the hair at my  implant sites shaved short, I’m able to wear my hair down without it knocking the magnets off. So it’s nice, but it was funny to see what my hair was doing when I walked past a mirror. And that is why I snapped a photo, so you all could share in the laughter! I suppose it’s not super crazy, just different I guess. I’m not used to seeing myself with my hair down. Ever since my cochlear implant surgeries, I’ve been wearing it in the same half-ponytail: every day, basically, for the past two years. It gets SOOO boring. Bleh.

Y’all, I’ve got barbecue ribs in the crockpot for dinner! They are gonna be so yummy and I just can’t wait. What are you having for dinner?

Disability, Multiple Sclerosis, Running, Visually Impaired

No excuses left

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I went to that MS lunch program yesterday and had a wonderful time talking with others about staying healthy and coping with every day MS symptoms like fatigue and poor balance. Just as I suspected, it was refreshing to chat with others in similar situations to mine. No need to explain much; there was a strong sense of mutual understanding. I’m so glad I went and I am already planning to be at the next one.

But let me tell you, the most fantastic thing I learned yesterday had nothing to do with the program. I was chatting with another lady while we were both waiting for our rides, and I learned that our public transit system offers another sort of ride, similar to the Spec-Tran. I have been using the Spec-Tran for I think two years now (I can’t believe it’s been that long), and while it’s a wonderful service, it does get a little expensive. Especially when I am looking at using them to get me to the YMCA to exercise 2 or 3 times per week. It’s $2.50 each way, so every day I go to the Y, it’s $5. Which is kind of the opposite of motivational. So I’m paying for the Y membership, and $5 a day on top of that, and that really adds up. It’s almost as painful as paying for the dentist. Almost.

But this other service, the Redi-Ride, will come to my house, same as Spec-Tran, and will take me anywhere in my township – including the YMCA – for $0.60 per ride. Sixty cents, people! AND, they only need 4 hours notice, as opposed to the 24 hours Spec-Tran requires. I am beyond giddy about this. That may seem silly, to be giddy, but this is a big deal in my world. MS stripped me of my independence three years ago by taking my vision, but by golly I am getting a lot of it back (the independence, not the vision). The Spec-Tran service plays a big part in that, but this Redi-Ride will do the same, and with a lot less pain (financially speaking, of course).

So that is my excitement for the week. I’m very excited about this Y membership, because I believe it will remove any excuses I may have about running, and now with the Redi-Ride I can’t even complain that it’s too expensive to get there. No matter the weather, I can still keep moving. Is my knee giving me trouble? Use the elliptical. Hip acting up? Swim in the pool. Feeling lonely? Join a class! Yes, this was a good decision. I’m making an investment in my health. This body I’m working with is flawed. MS is a serious setback, but by getting stronger and staying healthy, I am fighting back. I want the odds to be in MY favor, not the disease’s.

I signed up for another 5k race, and it’s less than a month away. I hadn’t been sure if I would be ready for it, but now I feel like there’s a good chance I will be. One day at a time, right?

Daily Snippets, Friends, Multiple Sclerosis, Running

Free lunch and learning

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I just registered for a lunch seminar-event-type deal, and it’s way out of my comfort zone. The MS drug manufacturers sponsor these events all over the place, and I see my neurologist is often the keynote speaker. However, she is not the speaker at the event I signed up for (oh, well). The one I signed up for is truly just a topic I’m interested in, “healthy living with MS”, and I thought it couldn’t hurt to go. Several reasons: it gets me out of the house, I may learn something new and helpful, and it will be nice to be surrounded by others who can relate to the struggles we all face with MS. Also, it’s free!

It’s Friday, and this completes the second week the kids are back in school. I’m just now starting to settle back into my “normal” state. I did some outdoor running this week, as the weather is cooling off a bit (we’re coming into my favorite seasons, fall and winter). Also, I was able to spend a lot of quality time with friends this week, and I know that did my heart some good. I have some pretty incredible friends. All in all, it’s been a good week.

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Photos

Changes to my hair

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So today I went to the salon for my usual trim. During my haircut, I sent this photo to my husband, and told him I was getting my head shaved:

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That is, indeed, a razor in my hairdresser’s hand. My husband texted back and said I should ask her if she had a couch I could sleep on. Because he’s a funny guy.

Of course, I wasn’t pulling a Sinead O’Connor and shaving all of it. We were just shaving the small spots where my cochlear implants are, so that the magnets would have a stronger hold. I have thick, curly hair, and the longer it was getting, the more difficulty I was having keeping the magnets connected. Every time they fall off it wears on the cord, not to mention the sudden loss of sound I experience. It’s super annoying, y’all. Anyhoo, my hairdresser has another client with a cochlear implant, and when she moved to town and started seeing my stylist, she already had the implant site shaved, and just has it trimmed back up. When my stylist told me about this, it was the first I had heard of doing such a thing, and I was skeptical at first. But after several more months of frustration with the dang things, I decided to go for it. And let me tell you, I am so glad I did! It is amazing how much stronger the connection is. I could feel the difference right away. I mean, these things won’t budge. I’m loving it.

My next plan is to go back in a month and perm my hair straight. I’ve enjoyed my natural curl as my hair has grown longer (it’s a real pain in the rear-end when it’s short, with all my cowlicks), but I think I’m ready for a change. My husband and my son both like my hair when it’s straight, but when I told my daughter my plans for permanency, she took it pretty hard. She says she loves my curls, and it just wouldn’t be the same without them. Somehow I think she will get over it. We’ll see. She has four weeks to say her goodbyes, I guess.