At our latitude, the seasons change earlier than in places we’ve lived before, the summer sun’s intensity is far greater than any thermometer would recognize, and there are as many shades of gray in the winter as there are of green during the longest days of the year. We’re a month into autumn here in Ireland now, and every day seems to bring notable changes — of one kind or another — to remind us that the days of woolen coats and boots of leather will not be long in coming. RELATED: The Many Varieties of MS Fatigue
Coats for All Temperatures, Walking Aids for Whatever Comes
Our own heavier coats will soon be making their way from the upstairs wardrobes down to the racks by the door. I don’t know where they’ll fit, as the climate here requires preparations for just about any type of weather on just about any day, and often within one day. We may not need the heaviest of heavy coats or the lightest of summer shirts, but that middle ground of the meteorological spectrum is played like a fiddle’s bridge at a céilí. Next to our rack for the outerwear, there is my collection of walking assistance. A selection of canes and walking sticks are there for different occasions, as well as forearm crutches for the more difficult days and, for the particularly bad days, a folded-up rolling Zimmer frame walker. They mirror my need to be prepared for whatever “weather” my multiple sclerosis (MS) may decide to present on a given day.
Sometimes It’s Best to Hunker Down
I suppose that I have moved on from the days when MS could swing from sweltering to freezing and from relative calm to a category 4 hurricane overnight. Just as our assortment of outerwear is geared toward the temperate, I don’t have the heavy-duty equipment to get me out of the house if MS rages a blizzard. Be it an actual snowstorm or a figurative whiteout of my disease, on those days, it’s just better to stay in under the duvet with the warmth of a wheaten terrier by my side.
Forecasts Help, but Only a Little
We keep an eye on forecasts to help us plan our days, just as I keep note of my symptom load and any precursors or warning signs that the morning will leave me differently abled than I am when I retire for the night. MS, however, is just like the ever-changeable clime on our peninsula: The only weather prediction I trust is upon opening the curtains in the morning. And even that can often change. A windbreaking jacket and walking stick may be all I need to walk the dog in the morning, but by midday, conditions both atmospheric and physical may have changed to blowing a veritable gale. Conversely, I may go to bed absolutely wrecked by the day that was in it and expect to wake two days later in hospital and hooked to IV lines only to have the morning find me chipper as a spring robin (all right, that’s probably pushing the metaphor a little bit far).
Practice and Planning Get Me Through the Unpredictability
But MS is an ever-changing and unpredictable disease, and we’d do well to gather the appropriate “attire” for all the weather it can throw at us. I mayn’t have the forecasting bit down, even after two decades living with the diagnosis. I do, however, have most of what I need to get out (if even only for a bit) on all but the worst of MS days. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis
