Friends,
MS is tough, isnât it? I donât know if the MS is getting to me or if itâs missing being around people. For me, itâs probably both. So, what can we do about our MS? First, Iâd suggest we realize that MS is different for everyone, accept we have it and need to deal with it. Itâs also different for each person every hour. Once we accept we have it and accept itâs different for each us, we need to figure out what works best for us individually.
One thing that works for me is exercising consistently. When I say consistently, I mean every day, yes, seven days per week. Iâm not talking all day every day, just the amount of time that works for me every day. Some probably say well, how do I know whatâs right for me? We need to realize that itâs a very slow, gradual build up process and we need to be patient.
When I first started, all I could do was stretch to get beyond some of the neurological sensations and spasticity. As far as moving goes, I could only do an elliptical for 3 or 4 minutes and I would be wiped out. I kept stretching and doing the elliptical every single day and finally got to the point that I didnât have quite as much spasticity and I could walk, bike, even run again. Twenty years later, Iâm still moving pretty well considering all the surgeries Iâve been through and still living with MS.
Today, I end up starting over a lot and building back up. Surgeries always set me back to almost the beginning of only being able to do a few minutes at a time. Iâm still working back up from the foot surgery I had last October. It takes me a while. Again, the key for me is consistency (every single day). It takes me a long time to work back up to it, but when I get back up to being able to do an hour or an hour and a half of aerobic exercise every day, I usually feel pretty good and the MS behaves much better during the day. I almost always have MS issues at night. For me, thatâs just MS and I need to deal with it. Each night, I hope I can start all over again the next day.
Where should you start? Right where youâre at. Just stretch (we all need to stretch), do as much as you can and be thankful for what you can do. You can build up gradually or as quickly as your body will allow you to. Itâs scientifically proven that we canât make our MS itself worse but we can fire up our symptoms by doing too much. Donât worry, our bodies will talk to us and tell us when weâre done. When weâre done, weâre done. Rest, recover and then get back at it. Itâs important we listen to our bodies. Weâre not doing ourselves any favors when we try to push through fatigue. I know, itâs confusing. Be patient yet consistent and keep gradually building up.
So, as a person living with MS, what should we do for exercise? Something we like. It all helps. For me, biking has been the most MS friendly exercise I found. First, because I like it. Besides that, itâs something I can do for the hour to hours every day (consistency), which I need. Youâll need to figure out whatâs right for you, the important thing is that you do something (stretching for sure) every single day, be patient with yourself and gradually work yourself up until you feel good. Your recovery time should only be a couple hours max. If itâs longer than that, youâre not ready to do as much as you did and you need to back off and gradually, patiently and consistently work your way up.
Even while weâre not getting together on Wednesdayâs and Fridayâs during this pandemic, you still need to be doing something on your own. We can go outside during this pandemic, so go out, get some fresh air and keep moving. I guess I felt I needed to write that tonight because I need a little encouragement myself. When I proofread this, maybe Iâll get the message. The last two days were cold and windy. I was lazy and didnât go out. That wonât happen tomorrow morning though, Iâll get out there for an hour or twoâŚI need that.
What else can we do for our MS besides exercise? We can focus on our nutrition. Many of our MS symptoms are caused from inflammation in our body and we can somewhat control that with nutrition. We can also get our bodies to heal from the inside with nutrition. Iâm getting tired tonight though, so Iâm not going to write any more about that.
I miss you! I hope youâre doing the best you can during these challenging times. I feel like a huge part of my life is missing since we havenât been able to get together lately. It isâŚyou!
We had our 3rd virtual prayer group last week. It was awesome seeing so many of you there laughing, listening, sharing and praying with you! Weâre going to be doing it again tomorrow (Wednesday) @ 11:30am. Weâll get together either via phone or computer (your choice) and share, talk, listen, give thanks, and pray in however God leads us. Itâs a way for all of us to get together virtually to catch up and be there for each other and with each other. I hope youâll join us!
Hereâs link to our Zoom Meeting that Ashley provided for us. Thanks Ashley! Just click or call @ 11:30am Wednesday and youâll be connected. I hope to âseeâ you there! đ
Topic: MS-Just Keep Moving Prayer Group
Time: This is a recurring meeting
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Meeting ID: 786 859 505
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Last week, John Haupt sent me an e-mail about a high school friend of his thatâs donating materials to make masks along with instructions on how to make them. I sent an e-mail out last Friday to see if anyone would in our MS-Just Keep Moving family would volunteer to make some masks.
Laura offered to lead this initiativeâŚTHANKS LAURA! Amazingly, we had 12 of our family members volunteer to make these masks so Laura picked up 12 boxes of 700 mask kits today. WOW! Thatâs 8,400 masks our MS-Just Keep Moving families will be making.
Thank you all so much for volunteering to help! Youâre awesome! There are so many people in need of masks right now.
My heart goes out to all the people and families of the people that have been affected by COVID-19. This is really getting serious and close to home. Whether actually having it, being exposed to it, being affected by businesses being shut down, losing your job, working on the front line, etc. These are tough times and we really need to take it seriously and do our part of practicing social distancing and all other recommendations. I hope you and your family are safe. Letâs keep everyone affected in our prayers and pray we all get through this as safely as we can.
As we all go through this pandemic together, I encourage you to share a smile with someone. Perhaps you could give someone a call that you havenât talked with for a while just to see how theyâre doing. This pandemic is tough in many ways. We all could use a little extra love and encouragement during these times.
I hope we get to get out and ride together soon! Weâre going to have to wait until this pandemic settles down a bit before we get our big group together to ride on Friday mornings. I would encourage you to get out there riding with one or two other people for now.
Letâs be thankful for all the doctors, nurses and everyone in the health care that are putting themselves at risk every day and every night as they serve those with the Coronavirus. These are amazing, selfless, courageous people! Letâs also give thanks to all the people in the world that are working diligently to develop testing equipment and ways to treat this Coronavirus. Letâs also give thanks for all the people that are working diligently to produce protective gear, respirators, and any other medical equipment to help us get through this pandemic.
We may be inconvenienced in many ways but others have it much worse. Letâs be thankful we have each other. I know Iâm thankful for you!
We will not be getting back together at the gym yet. Weâre going to get through this COVID-19 pandemic before we do. I love you too much to put you at risk.
I hope youâre doing your part to âkeep movingâ and stay healthy during these unprecedented times weâre going through. Iâm hoping and praying that none of us get this virus and have to deal with it.
Letâs stay calm, focused, healthy, flexible, have faith and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day and make good choices. Hopefully weâll be back at the gym together soon.
I love and miss you all!
Dan
P.S. Please share how youâre doing and what youâre doing to keep movingâŚpictures and smiles please đ