Category: Checking in with Michele’s Life and Status
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An MS Apprenticeship for Locals
Most people understand what an apprenticeship is: a system of training in which a person called the apprentice learns a trade or profession through hands-on experience under the guidance of a skilled professional mentor or master. Apprenticeships typically combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction. No Apprenticeship or local mentoring network set up to help people…
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My Final Words to a Dear Friend
Today I went to visit a life long friend who is 93 and very ill. She just wants to go to sleep and not wake up. She has lived a very full life, and she is ready to go. I knew I was one of two people who knew where she was, and that her…
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Celebrate Those Close to Us
I think a lot about those close to me — those who care about me. These people search my face, tap into my voice, review my body position, check my energy level, seeking to see “how I am”. These are the actions of love and care; I understand this all too well. There actions are…
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An Inconvenience
An “inconvenience” is the word I have landed on to describe my daily encounters with MS. That means it is present, but there are work arounds. Because my hands are numb and tingling, I can not use them for fine motor skills. My husband can help with my hair, and he does. He can help…
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Nerves and Getting on One’s Nerves
I have been thinking about nerves and their value to our everyday lives that we don’t often think about. Nerves come in bundles, and not like a baby either. They send and receive messages between the body and the brain making up our nervous systems. Nerve fibers are covered in tissue called the myelin sheath,…
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Musings on Work and Life
I have taught in one form or another since 1977. This has granted me a rich landscape of topics and curriculum. Of recent artifical intelligence(AI) and its tools have been a key aspect of my work and faculty professional development. I originally thought that I would work through age 70, then retire. However, after much…
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I am often asked: “What are your symptoms?”
Where do I begin? How are my symptoms today different from yestersday? As I was reading Multiple Sclerosis News Today this morning, I ventured upon a list of collective nouns for the everchanging symptoms that are unique for each person. I often read the colum of Benjamin Hofmeister, and today I was nodding along with…
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So Thankful in the Face of Change
Despite my best effort, I have been unmotivated to write or post. Just keeping up with my work and life has seemed a lot. Bedtime hits at 7 p.m. I have been thinking a lot about perspective. Let me explain: From my students’ perspective: Michele is full of energy commanding her classroom and pushing the…
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Life is “Purring” Along
Okay, I am back and posting after a few months off. My goal is a weekly post. My MS is still living inside my body and sapping me of my strength at the end of the day. I just hop or crawl into bed and read. I have read over 80 books on my Kindle…
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Bumpy Glasses Are the Bomb!
Dropping glasses happens very easily when your hands have no feelings, or they do not grip. Slick wet glasses are a liability in our house, and many of them have gone by the wayside. My husband no longer asks, “Why did you do that?” Today, I found some bumpy glasses that are the best solution.…
MS Fortunate 