Welcome to Multiple Stupidness

 

This blog is for anyone whose life is affected by (grr!) that horrible disease Multiple Sclerosis. That includes people that have it, that love someone who has it, and those that just want to know a little more about it.

It's also for me - I can't deny it! I became ill in April 2010 and was subsequently diagnosed with MS, and this is my chance to write about it and what it's been like, something I feel I'll be able to do much better in writing than I can in person.

"Ed ... I'm so sorry to have heard! How have you been?"

It's a common, kind and reasonable question, but my mind goes blank whenever I'm confronted with it. How can I summarise (in a reasonable time) what the past year or so has been like? I often can't express it adequately in my own head, let alone verbalise it on the spot.

So, this will be my chance, for anyone that cares to read it. I will also have the opportunity to share resources, articles of interest and other information that may be of use to anyone affected by MS.

Oh ... the blog name, right? Multiple Stupidness.

Just after I was diagnosed, my nephew came to visit, and we decided to entertain ourselves by having a 'rap battle' - for those that have never seen the film 8 Mile, it's basically taking it in turns to insult each other through the medium of rap! I was ambling along with the usual fare: rhyming about his acne, his braces, the fact that his girlfriend left the country shortly after they started going out.

And this was his rhyme:

So Ed

I hear you've just been diagnosed with MS

What does that stand for

Multiple Stupidness?

Me and my hard-rhyming git of a nephew

I have to tell you now: this moment was a shining light during a pretty miserable period of my life! The truth is that there's nothing remotely funny about MS - it's a pitiful disease that gatecrashes into your life and threatens to consume everything you know and love. So MS itself isn't funny. But life is funny, and we create our own humour in life. I laughed like I hadn't laughed in months when he recited that rhyme. It was a brilliant lyric, but it was also a reminder to me: not to lose the ability to laugh in the face of this trial, to attack MS for what it is (a miserly, nasty and utterly stoooopid disease!) and to not let MS take away the things that I value most in life.

My name is Eddie, by the way. I will write a proper 'My Story' section soon. In the meantime, welcome again to Multiple Stupidness! Keep reading, keep fighting and keep smiling.

Eddie
Email: multiplestupidness@gmail.com