Scraps of Our Life: Merry Christmas to All

Living With Multiple Sclerosis

Three years ago, my 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Contessa first showed symptoms at age three and doctors told us that maybe someday she would be diagnosed with MS. MS is a disease that effects the central nervous system. For some reason her body is attacking the mylien sheath that protects the nerve. When the nerve is damaged it cause problems such as vision problems, short term memory loss, and coordination. There are two types of MS, Contessa is diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS. This means she will go periods of feeling and looking well. Factors such as heat and stress will cause a relapse. Currently there is no cure for MS. We are using a daily injection called Copaxone that is to slow the progression of MS. Please take a few minutes to view the following clip to see how people with MS are often preceived as looking so good that they could not have a dibilitating disease. The Show Must Go On

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Merry Christmas to All

Wow, December has been a busy month! I think I did everything I wanted to do this month.

Since we spent Christmas in PA with my family, we did not find that perfect Christmas tree and decorate it. Instead we decided to run electricity out to our Palemetto Tree and decorate it.

Here I am on TOP of the 6 foot ladder trying to get up enough nerve to venture up the extention ladder.

This is as far as I would go. When Marc comes home from work he can finish it up. With the outside of the house decorated, it is time for the next item on the list.

For two whole days I baked Christmas Cookies. I made all my old favorites. I did not try any new recipies this year though. I made so many trays for friends that I was only left with a dozen of each kind to take to PA. I have always wanted to have a cookie exchange and invite a few friends over. At the last minute I tried to pull it off but Only April and I bake so everyone else just enjoyed our cookies. It was a lot of fun. Maybe next year I can be organized enough to make it work the way it is meant to be.

At church, Contessa palyed the part of Mary in our Advent service.

Santa came early to our house and left this awesome 42 inch flat screen TV. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

We arrived in PA with a thin layer on ice covering the roads and side walks. Of course, the kids and I were dressed in our PJ's for the long trip. Marc like to leave at 9pm and drive through the night. We pulled in at 7:30am. We had fun "ice skatting" on the side walk. Winston di question why the rain was so hard. He has lived in the south so long he never heard of sleet. Unfortunately the weather never got cold enough to snow and the ice was gone in a few hours.