George Jelinek Interview Life and MS
George Jelinek recently gave a radio interview covering his life and MS issues. It is an interesting interview which gives you a positive insight into the man himself. I really enjoyed it.
Here is a link to the radio program:
http://www.radiooutthere.com/blog/audio/ROT0910.mp3
Helen.
Disclaimer please read!
Disclaimer please read!
Please Note: Any advice given on OzMS must not be taken as medical advice, it's merely advice given by members from their own experiences of living with Multiple Sclerosis. Always check with your GP or Neurologist or other medical professionals, it's the smart thing to do and only logical! If you have something to contribute please do so, everybody has something to offer.
Comments
Thanks Helen
Thanks Helen, what a wonderful and enlightening man. It was refreshing to hear a doctor speak honestly of biases,kick-backs and financial incenitives doctors enjoy from Big Pharma that influence the decisions they make re: a patient's medication. As a Doctor Jelinek, must surely be at the forefront of efforts to treat MS holistically (that is the whole person, body, soul and spirit). I seem to still have trouble equating suffering from MS to being a blessing in some respects as Jelinek suggests??? Certainly I have learned much from being ill and am now a more loving, forgiving, less independant person, not despite having MS but because of it. However to put MS in my bag of good things and blessings I am still loathe to do, but that's just me. Steve
"...(I) will run and not be weary, walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28
Me too
I'm with Steve in that it's difficult to find positives about MS but I do find George Jelenik's stuff inspiring even if it's not all relevant to my particular MS. But I usually go to the neuro with print outs of his stuff. So thanks for that.
Cheers,
Shaz
I WISH I WAS A GLOW WORM. A GLOW WORM'S NEVER GLUM. COS HOW CAN YOU BE GRUMPY WHEN THE SUN SHINES OUT YOUR BUM.
'blessings'
I can understand when the word' blessings' is used in relation to MS and why it makes people feel uncomfortable. I look at it differently, there are things that I now understand better, and that is because of the illness. These things are to be grateful for what I now have, appreciate life and the people I love more, and am much more demonstrative in letting the people I care about know that I care. I think it often takes a 'wakeup call' in what ever way it may come to realise how precious life is and the people we love.
with kindness,
Helen.
Couldnt agree more Helen!
I found that after these past 12 months ,I realised just how important my family and friends are, and my work that was previously my number 1 is now not even in my top 5!
This Illness has brought me back to real life and its funny, as much as I could do without the symptoms at times, I can truly say that Ms for me is a blessing!
Love and Respect to you all!
Reeceo
"That there is Cundalini......
and Cundalini.....wants his hand back!"
(The Toecutter)
Yeah, I see that
Hi everyone,
While I don't see MS itself as a "blessing", I do understand that there are some "blessings" that have come into my life because of the MS.
I would never have developed the empathy, understanding; patience (still working on this
) and compassion that I do now without the MS. I also would never have had some of the wonderful opportunities to broaden my horizons without the MS. Because of it, I have met politicians in lobbying for the society; written a professional article on disability; met wonderful, compassionate people; met a loving, compassionate and understanding partner; participated fully in my favourite past-time, singing; and developed the additional skill of training others in a speech recognition application (Dragon NaturallySpeaking). I could have done all of these without the MS but didn't have the courage to do them without the push that MS gave me in my life.
So yeah, Helen my friend, I fully get you.
Lotsa Love,
Jodi.
"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant" Robert Louis Stevenson.
my best mate
And of course, JJ my darling, without MS I would never have met you!! So you see - a beautiful goddess was delivered to my life to teach me and to be my friend. We are both so lucky!!
Helen.
I can see everyone barfing!
Ha ha
The mutual admiration society rules!
Cheers,
Jodi.
"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant" Robert Louis Stevenson.
blessing?
I do not see this thing as a blessing, more of a curse. It has given me money worries and taken away my ability to sing on stage in musicals which I loved. It has made me overly emotional,totally fatigued and not the person I really am. My husband is stressed, my daughter too, and I hate being a burden. I am dreading going back to the UK for my 50th to see the family and being an object of pity, or having to be told how brave I am. I am not brave, but have to put on a happy positive face to help others. And my MS is not that bad. I know others are far worse than me, and that makes me feel awfully selfish too.
I'm miserable at the moment.
Its not easy,but
Carrieanne
I went through the same issues as you not to long ago after I lost my job and had the stress of bills, morgage and other debts.
I couldnt find any work and was worried that being an Ms sufferer that was not helping my job hunting prospects.
I was in a really shallow place in my mind where I thought that Im just this helpless fool that would never get a break.
This also didnt help with my health and the less activity I did, the worse my mental and psyical heath became.
After being diagnosed with depression and seeing a very good councilor, my life began to turn around and these negetive thoughts I was having became irrelevent.
I realised that my life is not bad at all, even though I have Ms, Its not my maker and ive made it my mission to lead a fantastic life with my family,work and most importantly myself.
I do wish you well
"That there is Cundalini......
and Cundalini.....wants his hand back!"
(The Toecutter)
The Blessings Come with Time
My whole hearted belief with the journey I am on with my MS is first I need to feel the lows and grieve the loss of my life that was and the person I was, before I can truely open my heart to the blessings I have and will have in my life regardless of MS. I am also the first to admit the grieving is taking a toll on me, though I know I will get through it, like every other time.
To me I have lost something, someone, and that person is me. Though I can see the other side of the coin where I look and observe the small things so differently than before. I take longer moments to watch my son, and take that extra 5 minutes to stop and hold my husband. It has given me a clarity on the world around me that I didn't have before, I am grateful for that, and I am thankful.
Smile, It Confuses People.....
My thoughts on the MS
My thoughts on the MS blessing/curse issue is a bit mixed up. My only concerns are further relapses, as at the moment, I can still function to my full capacity, just with a bit of balance issues that makes it a bit of a challenge some days.
On one hand, I find I appreciate things more, if I wake up in the morning, and everything still works, thats a positive. If I am rostered on at the hospital a week in advance, and I dont have to ring up and cancel due to a relapse, then I have really achieved something. Or if the kids have sports day, and no relapse pops up to ruin my plans, then I am over the moon! All the little things that used to drive me nuts, like getting kids to ballet/netball, while they still drive me nuts, I am SO happy that I can still take them there.
The MS curse for me is that it has "robbed" me of having another baby, which I dearly wanted. After my last one, my balance took a hammering, so I cant risk another port-pregnancy issue! This I am finding really hard to deal with
But I am lucky and happy with the ones I do have. The other curse for me is thoughts of the future, I worry that my MS will get bad and prevent me from finishing my degree and becoming a midwife. I have tried to deal with this in advance, as I need to prepare myself for the possibility.... but I am also the eternal optimist and hope a cure comes our way in the not so distant future!
Kristy
Life is like a box of chocolates.... never know what your going to get
Blessing or curse
I guess it does bring its blessings in that you value what you can do more. You also value the friends who stay with you as they are the true friends, take more time to appreciate the small & nature but I was always one who loved beaches & bush etc.
It has taken away to much not to be a curse & made me make changes. I cant work full time, I had to give up the degree I was doing as I was doing it at night & couldnt cope at all. I cant walk on the beach or go for bush walks unless they have paved/stones track that I can manoevour on. There are a lot of things that I cant do that I used to. When I can I try to find different ways to do them & some I can. I still go away in our caravan when we can.
Financially it is ruining us as I am only working limited hours when I can. I used to like what I was doing & took pride in it as it was a very demanding job. Now I have been gradually changed roles to be doing a very basic admin job, dont get me wrong I am grateful I can still work & that my employer has made adjustments for me.
Health wise, it hasnt stopped throwing more challenges at me in so many ways & i have unfortunately averaged a flare every 3 months. I managed 6 months between my jan one & prev but think I am probably fighting another one now.
I do appreciate the good days when things are working & I am able to function good, esp if it is a day off & we can do something together with me having some energy/feeling good.
I most appreciate my hubby who supports me & does so much of the home stuff & only complains sometimes. His favourite saying at the moment is "I am your slave" & that really p's me off no matter if he says he is joking, he says it often. He does adapt with with scooter/chair/walker, home renovations etc & encourages me a lot.
Guess this has caught me at a down time too as I am strugllling with so many different health issues at once & nothing is getting fixed in a hurry. Eyes are a bit misty so there are probably typos but it has taken me ages to type this.
One thing I do make sure I do is find at least 1 positive or something nice every day to be thankful for.
Breathing in, breathing out, I return to my own blessed center.
I am ready to receive miracles!