Watch more horror movies!

"Multiple Sclerosis sucks... but zombies don't want to eat my brain!" -alchemie (est. 2008)

I worked for Foster Care for a little over 5 years. I'm currently working part-time at our Foster Parent Resource Center, where we help foster parents with clothes, diapers, toys and whatever else that we can. We just recently got water park passes for them, so that they can go for free and take the foster kids with them! It took almost 4 years to get the water park to do it for us! Anyhow, I was diagnosed with MS in 2006 before the inception of this center (July 2010!), when I was working for Family Support with the Heating Assistance Program, by helping needy persons with their heating bills. But that is not what this is about, even though I live my life helping out not only foster parents but the foster kids mostly! Especially teenagers who are in custody and are in the subcultures: Punk, Gothic, Emo, etc. I tell my co-workers to not throw certain stuff away, like clothes that were donated that aren't preppy or in style because I know exactly what these 'other' kids will want to wear because I was part of that 'scene' once upon a time...

So yeah, diagnosis - I had been having some really weird symptoms and before the officialness of it happened, I knew that it was either MS or MD (Muscular Dystrophy). I think that I do my research quite well, and have been told more than once that I should have been a doctor. I even diagnosed my husband with Gastroparesis before a doctor did.

Although I had periods of facial tingling for years, the first big relapse occurred and it started when my right foot went to sleep, then my left. After 2 hours of it not going away, and reading online that it was a bad thing, I called my doctor. I got scheduled for MRIs because she thought that it might have something do with a previous brain hemorrhage that I had suffered in 2004. Crazy, huh? Anyway, before the MRIs, I had blood work done, and surprisingly a 2nd symptom occurred - the worst constipation ever! Anyhow, MRIs were positive with the notorious white spots. And I got told that it was consistent with MS, I was sent home with Copaxone, after asking what kinda medicine do you take for it. Shots?! Geesh.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the last time the Neuro would see me for the next 6 months with more complaints. More tests followed, more blood work, spinal taps (3 in fact; 1 was a mess up because that doctor sucks), and evoked potentials.

One month later, after the dreaded constipation started, wham - Lhermitte's anyone? That was number 3 symptom. A month after that, Optic Neuritis. Finally, hospitalization and the "super woman" steroids for 3 days. Side effect of steroids for me = bad acne for months. I love you steroids but I hate you too. Since then, I've switched to Rebif (and now Tecfidera starter pack soon!), and I've only had 3 relapses, with the one in October 2011 being the worst one since 2006-2007. I was in the hospital twice in a 2 week time period, with the 2nd time for a week but got out on my favorite holiday, Halloween!

Okay, finally! So I love horror movies. I mean, I love, love, love them! I'm an extreme lover of horror movies. If you ever step into my residence, you'll know that I'm not kidding. I was able to get a dream of mine to come true - I got the chance to become a publish horror author before the diagnosis. Which I kinda gave up on because everyone wants to be a writer, and there really isn't any money in it anymore unless you're lucky.

So then I just started donating to independent filmmakers, so they could get their movies out there. Cause well, I want to see them! I'm also a horror movie memorabilia collector, with over 500 horror movies, and lots of action figures, posters, etc. In 2008, I came up with the idea for a fundraiser to spread the word about MS related to the love of horror movies, and later started a FB group to go along with it, called Horror Movie Fans Fighting Multiple Sclerosis.

Watching horror movies inadvertently allowed me to be prepared for just about anything. Sure being diagnosed with MS was scary but not as scary to me as it probably has been for a lot of other people out there. I think in a lot of ways, that participating in horror movie viewing challenges, like something on Internet Movie Database (IMDb) that was created on the horror message board, called the "Turkey Challenge", where you watch as many cheesy, bad horror movies you can in the month of November, which can cause you to become desensitized to not only them (not scary anymore!), but life challenges as well. Besides, they are so bad sometimes they are hilarious. And what they say is true, sometimes laughter is the best medicine :)

Anyway, the moral of the story is: watch more horror movies! It just might help you through your next relapse, or if you don't have MS but think that you might, or in general. You never know what life will throw at you! And by the way - the country is always in need of more foster parents, so please contact your local state agency if you are willing to help open your hearts and homes to these poor innocent kids! MS doesn't necessary bar you from becoming a foster parent. We have one here where I live who can do it, so can you :) Thanks for reading.