I think most of have heard the expression "don't poke the bear". It simply means don't disrupt something if you don't have to. For this post the "bear" is MS. Sometimes it's better to leave things the way they are.
A friend of mine I went to high school was diagnosed with MS at the age of 29. I witnessed the whole process. He was the pitcher on my men's softball team. He was always very good at sports and had outstanding hand-eye coordination. Then odd things started happening to him during games. He would get a hit and running to first base and would just trip over nothing and fall. On a few occasions when he was pitching after he released the ball he would just fall down. This was so not like him. He laughed it off and so did the rest of the team. We had a little fun imitating him falling down and he would laugh right along with us. I was talking to him in the dugout one game and he told me his right arm and leg where getting numb and that it was getting worse. He thought it was a pinched nerve in his back or neck even though he no pain in either place.
This was before I had met Jenn and I didn't know what MS was. But I did know that whatever was going on with him he needed to see a doctor and get it figured out. This kind of stuff doesn't happen to a 29 year old guy who at the time was in pretty good shape. That game was the last time he stepped onto a softball field as a player.
After a few months of tests they gave him the official word that he has MS. Once we all heard the news we all looked at each other in disbelief and mainly because we had no idea what MS was. His MS was aggressive. Each time I saw him he was worse. Slower moving, slower speaking and couldn't walk too far before he was exhausted. He started using Avonex. He noticed a marked improvement after he started using it.
A couple months later I went to visit him. He tells me that he is quitting the Avonex and going to battle MS without any prescription drugs. I looked at him and said "you're out of your mind. What you are doing is working. Why mess with success?". He then tells me that he is going to defeat his MS with his mind and willpower. Really? That would be great if you could do such things. I said to him "if that was possible people could cure their own cancer or whatever ails them". He said "maybe, but most people don't have my determination and willpower". I have always been an optimistic glass is half full guy. But, in this case all I saw was disaster.
I had known him for many years and he was always known for his fierce competitive nature and determination. He is the guy who dives in to rocks in the "friendly" family volleyball game. Win at all costs. He poked the bear. It took a about 6 weeks but his health started going down hill quickly. This coupled with his Taco Bell diet and late night video game playing the "bear" was giving him a beating.
If I remember right it took him 6 months before he went back to using Avonex. Shortly after he started Avonex again I saw him and asked him how the "willpower" cure was going. He chuckled briefly and said "I don't know what I was thinking. That didn't work at all and I am back using Avonex". He learned the hard way that as tempting as it may be sometimes to change your MS treatment it is truly better to not poke the bear.
Next post: Are you trying to fool people about your MS?
Thanks for reading.
-Brent
Reject Defeat
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