When we say we can't do something because we don't feel well, put
yourself in our shoes by using the examples of our symptoms below...
Painful Heavy Legs: Apply Tightly 20 LB ankle weights and 15 LB thigh
weights then take a 1 mile walk, clean the house, go shopping and then
sit down - how ya' feeling now?
Painful Feet: Put equal or unequal amounts of small pebbles in each shoe
then take a walk, if we are mad at you we would prefer needles to
pebbles.
Loss of Feeling in Hands and/or Arms: Put on extra thick gloves and a
heavy coat then try and pick up a pencil, if successful stab yourself in
the arm.
Loss of Feeling in Feet and/or Legs: Ask a doc for a shot of Novocain
in both of your legs and then try and stand up and walk without looking
like the town drunk. Hopefully you won't fall down.TN (Trigeminal Neuralgia): Take an ice pick and jam it into your ear or
cheek whenever the wind blows on it, or a stray hair touches it. If you
want something easier to do, get someone to punch you in the jaw
preferably daily.
Uncontrollable Itching: Glue or sew small steel wool pads to the inside
of your shirt, pants and undergarments wear them for an entire day.
Tingling: Stick your finger in an electrical socket - preferably wet.
Tight Banded Feeling: Put 12 inch wide belt around you and make is as
tight as you can and leave it there for the entire day. How ya'
breathing?
Shots: Fill one of our spare needles with saline solution, saline won't
hurt you, we would love something worse but don't want to end up in
jail. Give yourself a shot every time we do our shot.
Side Effects From the Shot: Bang you head against a wall, wrap yourself
in a heating pad, wrap your entire body with an ace bandage tightly then
finally treat yourself to some spoiled food or drink.
Trouble Lifting Arms: Apply 20 LB wrist weights and try and reach for
something on the highest shelf in your house.
Spasticity: Hook bungee cords to your rear belt loops and rear pant leg
cuffs then for your arms hook bungee cords to your shirt collar and
cuffs on shirt sleeves then go dancing.
Poor Hearing/Buzzing in Ears: Put a bee in each ear and then put a plug
in each one... Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Balance and Walking Problems: Drink 100 proof grain alcohol and then sit
and spin in an office chair for 30 minutes, now get up and see what
happens.
Urgently Needing to Pee: We put a .5 litre remote controlled water bag
and drip tube in your pants, we point out 2 restrooms in a crowded mall,
then we tell you that you have 30 seconds before we activate the water
bag (by remote control) to get to a restroom. Just for spite we may make
that 20 seconds without telling you.
Bizarre and Inexplicable Sensations: Place tiny spiders on your legs or
arms and allow them to periodically crawl around throughout the day,
heck all day would be good too.
Pins and Needles: Stab yourself repeatedly with needles all over your
body or better yet... Get a very large tattoo in your most sensitive
area.
Dizziness (Vertigo): Get on a gently rocking boat all day and all night
and take several walks around the deck with your eyes closed.
Fatigue: Stay awake for two full days to induce incredible fatigue and
then cook dinner, clean the house, walk the dog and see how you feel.
Please do not compare MS fatigue to you being tired from only a few
hours of sleep - it's not the same at all.
Cognitive Function (Brain Fog): Take a liberal dose of sleeping pills
but stay awake. Try and function properly and think clearly. To make it
even more real without killing yourself of course, take the sleeping
pills with a small sip of wine.
Bowel Problems: Take a 4 day dose of an anti-diarrhea medicine followed
directly by a 3 day dose of stool softeners for a minimum of 3 weeks, at
the end of 3 weeks sit down on a hard uncushioned chair and stay there
till tears appear.
Burning Feeling: Make a full pot of boiling water and then have someone
fill a squirt gun with the boiling water and shoot it at yourself all
day long. However, you can give us the pleasure of shooting you
instead... optional of course.
Intention Tremor: Hook your body to some type of vibrating machine try
and move your legs and arms..... hmmm are you feeling a little shaky?
You are not allowed to use anything fun for this lesson.
Buzzing Feeling When Bending Our Heads to Our Chest (L'Hermitte's):
Place an electrical wire on your back and run it all the way down to
your feet, then pour water on it and plug it in.
Vision Problems (Optic Neuritis): Smear Vaseline on glasses and then
wear them to read the newspaper.
Memory Issues: Have someone make a list of items to shop for and when
you come back that person adds two things to the list and then they ask
why you didn't get them. When you come back from shopping again they
take the list and erase three things and ask why you bought those
things.
Foot Drop: Wear one swim fin and take about a 1/2 mile walk, nothing
else needs to be said for this one, you'll get it.
Depression: Take a trip to the animal shelter everyday and see all the
lonely animals with no home. You get attached to one or more of the
animals and when you come back the next day you come in while they are
putting her/him asleep.
Fear: Dream that you have lost complete feeling in your feet and when
you wake up wiggle your feet, just so happens they don't move. Think
about this every night wondering whether something on your body won't
work the next day when you wake up.
Swallowing: Try swallowing the hottest chili pepper you can find.
Heat Intolerance or Feeling Hot When it's Really Not: You are on a nice
vacation to Alaska. It's 35° outside and 65° inside. Light a fire for
the fireplace and then get into it. Once you have reached about 110°
tell me how you feel, even a person without MS would feel bad, now add
all of the above symptoms - welcome to our world.
Then Finally...
After subjecting yourself to the items above, let everyone tell you that
you are just under a lot of stress, it's all in your head and that some
exercise and counseling is the answer.
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