Women Living with Multiple Sclerosis: Walking May Be Difficult, but Together We Fly »

This is a unique guide for women dealing with the difficulties of multiple sclerosis. After she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1976, author Judith Lynn Nichols realized that people suffering from chronic illness fare better when they share experiences with people fighting the same disease. While researching MS on the Internet, she connected with a group of women fighting to live with MS. The group quickly became each woman's support network, and, in the daily emails compiled in this book, they offered each other wisdom and humor about everything this disorder affects: diagnosis, employment, spirituality, family reactions, sexuality, pain control, depression, and more.

Library Journal

The author, herself a victim of multiple sclerosis (MS) for over 30 years, uses a compilation of E-mail chats to relate 23 women's experiences with MS. The use of various electronic media has provided these women, who sometimes suffer isolation as a result of their disability, "a way to `leave' [their] everyday surroundings and seek out a safe place where [they] can talk about [their] ups and downs with others who are going through the same experiences." The author states that very little medical information is given and that "all the experiences are shared in a conversational context, and are not intended to be medical advice." Although trite at times, this approach to a discussion of life with MS is more open and appealing and less frightening than Ellen MacFarlane's Legwork: An Inspiring Journey Through Chronic Illness (LJ 9/15/94). Recommended for all general collections and caregivers and physicians involved with MS patients.--Mary J. Nickum, Bozeman, MT

Contents

Acknowledgements....................vii
Foreword by Robert L Reed, MD....................viii
Preface....................x
1 Meet the MonSter....................1
2 Cast of Characters....................7
3 The "Froup"....................17
4 If It Looks Like a Duck....................27
5 Sally's Fridge and Other Flutters....................48
6 Family Matters....................66
7 But You Look Too Good to Have MS!....................88
8 Yes, It Hurts....................101
9 Thank You, Mr. Fleet and Other Bathroom Stuff....................113
10 And Then There's Sex....!....................131
11 Sick of Being Sick....................146
12 Tired of Being Tired....................156
13 Working Solutions....................164
14 Earrings and Old Man's Cave....................186
15 The Spiritual Side....................200
16 Purple Legs and Dancing Faces....................215
17 October 20....................233
18 Parting Thoughts....................246
Resources....................258
Glossary....................262
Index....................265