I'm Not Drunk...I Have MS!

Well according to the lovely people at Shepherd Spinal Center I am having a "relapse". We did the MRI (will probably get results next week) and started me on a 3 day course of IV Solu-Medrol. Not fun, but necessary if I want to end this relapse as quickly as possible.

So after my IV yesterday I was dying to get out the house. I covered my tubes up with this cool Michael-Jackson-circa-1985 sleeve thing (if only it were silver!) and our friends Steven & Tiffany picked us up to go grab a sandwich and see a movie.

My vertigo and numbness in my feet had gotten significantly worse yesterday so I was being extra careful to hold on to people, walls, etc so as not to take a nasty fall and add to my medical drama! So we are walking into the movie theater, Chris is holding popcorn & twizzlers, Steven is holding drinks and Tiffany is holding me. I was leaning pretty heavily on her and stumbled a few times as we walked towards our seats. We passed this older gentlemen on his way back out for popcorn or something...and then we all heard this quite audible, "Hmmmph". Not only was it loud enough for us to hear, it was quite disapproving. We all quickly came to the same conclusion:

This man thinks I am conpletely drunk.
He thinks I am so drunk I cannot even stand up on my own and my friends are dragging me to the movies in hopes of sobering me up with some popcorn.
And frankly, if I had seen me stumbling to my seat, hanging onto Tiffany for dear life, I probably would have thought I was drunk, too!

So it was this huge realization for me...when in the middle of an ass-kicking relapse where I look fairly intoxicated, I have 3 choices:
1. Rely on my family and friends and literally lean on them to get around places and inevitably have strangers and small children think I am the Town Drunk.
2. Use some sort of mobility assistance device; a cane or walking stick and have strangers and small children realize I am...Disabled.
3. Wear my "I'm not Drunk...I Have MS" tshirt (yes I do own one!) and share the fact the I am disability and sick sense of humor with everyone I meet.

While 3 is possibly my favorite, you have to be in the right mood to pull it off. I wore it to my appt at Shepherd and people went nuts for it, laughing and nodding with approval.
In all honesty I dont particularly care if people think I am drunk...though there were a gaggle of tween girls there last night and I felt as if I was setting a poor example for them.
So if I decide to use a cane or walking stick during these bad days, I will have to do a bit of pride swallowing, but i also am showing the world that it is ok to be "disabled" and need help and I am still every bit just as fabulous and Not drunk!

It will take some experimenting for sure. And hopefully I will be back to my non-vertigo self soon and able to walk straight on my own!
In the meantime, Happy Easter to everyone!
If you have adorable children, I expect pictures to be emailed of easter egg hunts, and kids all dressed up looking precious!
XOXO