Erm…..it seems that my initial post has touched a nerve. When I drafted it, I didn’t know that it would be taken notice of at all – there are lots of blogs on the internet and social media sites are full of people highlighting weighty causes of their own. I thought mine would be lost in the ether. I have lots of people to thank from Twitter for passing my message on including (but not limited to) @HLNdevon , @TwistedJamie , @ThePaulDaniels and @charltonbrooker to name a few. If you’ve read this, re-blogged it, re-tweeted it, commented on it, or anything-ed it, thank you very much indeed. It means a lot that you’ve taken notice. People have said some very kind things to me or about me. I am truly touched ( and a bit embarrassed – I blush easily! ) . I wanted to write this post to clarify/expand on a few things.
1. My wife and I have had some intense ( i.e. tearful ) discussions about the subject of assisted suicide since I showed her what I’d written. She assures me that she has no thoughts of ending her own life and nor will she. She says she has people around her that she doesn’t want to leave and things in life that she looks forward to. I’m happy to accept this because it suits me to hear it. Despite this, I can’t help but have the issue nagging away in a small corner of the back of my mind because neither of us knows what the future holds, good or bad. Which brings me to…
2. I’ve spoken to a couple of people who have re-tweeted or re-blogged my post. They have MS in their families and the subject of my first post is largely theoretical for them but they have some concerns for the future. My golden rule for dealing with my wife’s MS has always been to trust her neurologist. This is the person who will have the best idea of how an MS sufferer’s condition will progress ( apologies to specialist MS nurses ). I can understand that people will want to know with some certainty how their particular MS will develop. I do feel a little sorry for neurologists where MS is concerned because it’s notoriously difficult to diagnose with 100% accuracy and each individual’s MS will be different. As much as they might want to give the information that a sufferer looks for, they can only be reactive to MS and its symptoms, not proactive. You can’t look at one person’s MS and think that another’s will be the same. We deal with my wife’s symptoms as they arise and get on with life as best we can.
3. Some other people have expressed an interest in reading more about how life is for us. I once considered doing a daily or weekly blog as a form of catharsis but I’m not diligent enough to do it. Plus I suspect it would get very dull, very quickly. I will post when something pops into my head.
4. Lastly, I want to give you a little more information about me. My name is Simon. Although I care for my wife and love her dearly, I am by no means a saint – my history is as chequered as that of any footballer. I self-analyse far too much and can be as neurotic and as shallow as the next person. I guess I’m just scared of being judged now that I’ve put my head above the parapet. Welcome to my little part of the world.
A Husband For A Carer 