{"id":384,"date":"2021-07-01T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/07\/01\/dear-cat\/"},"modified":"2021-07-01T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:00:00","slug":"dear-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/07\/01\/dear-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Cat\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 1, 2013
\u00a0
Dear Cat,
\u00a0
Look at you sitting there, tapping your feet and fidgeting with your hands in that cold, grey exam room. You\u2019re moments away from receiving medical confirmation of that little monster that has been haunting you over the last few months, probably years:
\u00a0
You have multiple sclerosis.
\u00a0
But you already know that. Even so, hearing the diagnosis you feared being stated so casually aloud will cause your tough guy fa\u00e7ade to short circuit and you\u2019ll paw frantically at the tissue box offered to you by your new doctor\u2019s assistant.
\u00a0
Oh, why didn\u2019t you ask Mom to come with you into the exam room, instead of asking her to wait in the lobby? You need her now.
\u00a0
You\u2019re going to get a spinal tap and spend a week on bedrest where you\u2019ll have your first experience with adverse reactions from, what will become over the next few years, a gauntlet of treatment options\u2014most of which will fail you. You\u2019ll bounce between different types of doctors and specialists, all with varying opinions and plans. You\u2019re going to spend countless hours on the phone with specialty pharmacies and insurance companies.
\u00a0
Despite your otherwise blemish-free medical history, you\u2019ll never ask, \u201cWhy me?\u201d (Smart girl! Why NOT you??), but you\u00a0will<\/strong>\u00a0have dark days. You will get discouraged. You will suffer from depression. You will watch your body slowly change.
\u00a0
You\u2019ll also watch your relationships change. You will have to turn down invitations. One day, those invitations will likely come along less frequently and, eventually, stop.
\u00a0
Your future is bleak.
\u00a0
That is, if you allow it to be.
\u00a0
Because you see, Cat, you\u2019re going to be humbled by the outpouring of support you will receive\u2014once you decide to accept it. You are going to notice and appreciate the most minute movements your body is able to complete\u2014ones so small and previously unnoticed, you\u2019ve only ever taken them for granted before (like that foot-tapping and hand fidgeting you\u2019re still doing as you wait for your diagnosis).
\u00a0
You will learn to listen to your body. You\u00a0will<\/strong>\u00a0learn to trust it again.
\u00a0
You\u2019re scared, even petrified right now of what may lie ahead and that\u2019s okay. Take a day. Eat some ice cream. Build a pillow fort and be a couch burrito. Wallow. And tomorrow, start kicking this thing\u2019s butt.
\u00a0
No, you won\u2019t cure your disease\u2014not even with all of the miracle diets and supplements people will inevitably shower you with\u2014but you will cure yourself<\/strong>.<\/em>\u00a0You\u2019re afraid you will be defined, labeled by multiple sclerosis. But you won\u2019t be. No, instead you will stare this thing in its face, grab this disease by its balls and dance with it. You will not allow it to define you. You will\u00a0re<\/em>define what it means to overcome.
\u00a0
You will educate people. You will raise thousands of dollars each year to help push research and treatment options forward. You will be an advocate\u2014for yourself and for others. You will form a network and build connections with people all over the world. Yes! It\u2019s true, Cat! You are going to help people!
\u00a0
You are strong. You are resilient. Utilize your resources and you will become great.
\u00a0
Dry your eyes, kid. You\u2019ve got this.
\u00a0
You amazing, fierce warrior, you.
\u00a0
Love,
\u00a0
Cat (Three Years Later)<\/p>\n

This article was authored by Cat Stappas and originally published on the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s blog, MSConnection.org, on May 16, 2016.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Source: itsonlyabruise.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 1, 2013\u00a0Dear Cat,\u00a0Look at you sitting there, tapping your feet and fidgeting with your hands in that cold, grey exam room. You\u2019re moments away from receiving medical confirmation of that little monster that has been haunting you over the last few months, probably years:\u00a0You have multiple sclerosis.\u00a0But you already know that. Even so, hearing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11,15,9,8,13,14,12,10],"class_list":["post-384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-multiple-sclerosis-research","tag-brain-repair","tag-marburg-type-ms","tag-ms","tag-multiple-sclerosis","tag-myelin","tag-neuroregeneration","tag-oligodendrocyte","tag-remyelination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wickedsister.evit.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}