Penelope Conway 🇺🇸

I have a wooden back scratcher that I use to help alleviate itches on my back. Bad thing though, I have scratched my back raw with it but it still itches. Ugh!

Multiple Sclerosis - The Wobbly Bunch - Amnesia Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

I'm not sick, I'm twisted. Sick makes it sound like there's a cure.

Multiple Sclerosis - The Wobbly Bunch - An Unknown Universe Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB Sometimes it feels like my head is stuck in a shaken snow globe that’s waiting for the flakes to settle…only the flakes never do. That’s the dizziness and vertigo I’m experiencing right now. Most days it seems I am fighting a never-ending battle. There are times I wake up thinking all is good and that the spinning is gone, but as soon as I get up and start going about my day…boom, it’s back. It never seems to go away for long. I think it just takes periodic bathroom breaks or trips to the refrigerator for a snack. I’ve tried to talk it into moving to Kalamazoo, but for now it has no plans on leaving. Living with the vertigo, or any MS symptom for that matter, is not an easy thing to deal with day in and day out. It can cause you to feel like an outcast and all alone. For many, that’s the very reason they give up and withdraw from life. I was tested for BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo). It’s when small crystals of calcium carbonate within one of the organs of the inner ear becomes detached and moves into another part of the inner ear causing dizziness. I didn’t have that. So it’s more of a mystery for now. The pressure of trying to explain yourself all the time can be tiring, especially when those explanations are met with blank stares or unsympathetic responses. No one wants to be told to suck it up every time they are having a difficult moment. No one wants to feel like they are losing it because the people around them just don’t get it or care to want to understand. Know that you are not delirious. What you are experiencing is real, and although it can be difficult to make it through your day, or even to get through the next 5 minutes, you have to keep going. I believe in you. Take it one step at a time… one breath at a time if needed.

The Day I Ended My Career positivelivingwithms.com/the… One of the most difficult days of my life was the day I handed my boss the resignation letter that ended my career. I had been raised to take pride in my work and to work hard to make something of myself. Quitting didn’t fit that mindset. It went against everything I knew. I loved my work, but as each day passed I could see the drastic decline in my abilities. I was continually missing deadlines and would forget how to do even the simplest tasks. What I had enjoyed so much had become a struggle. I tried for months to make it work, covering up my mistakes with quick-witted replies and longer hours, but deep down I knew it was time to make a change. I also knew my decline was pulling the people around me down, and they deserved better than what I was able to give. The thought of no longer working ripped me apart inside. I knew my work did not define me, but I could feel life changing so fast that it scared me. Life wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. MS wasn’t supposed to happen. The worst part for me was when my last day finally came—the day I shut down my computer and turned the light off for the last time in my office. There were no farewells or goodbyes, no cakes or cards, nothing to even suggest that my entire life was about to change. That day ended just like every other day. I remember walking to my car doing everything I could to hold back the tears. My thoughts were screaming, “Doesn’t anybody care? My life is over. I’m scared and don’t know what I’m going to do,” but no one could hear the screams. No one saw the tears. READ MORE

Multiple Sclerosis - The Wobbly Bunch - Bigfoot Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

Autocorrect is really starting to irrigate me!

We need to live like the grass. Even if it's stepped on, crushed, burned, and cut; it always persists and grows back even greener and stronger.

Multiple Sclerosis - The Wobbly Bunch - Pain Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

The Wobbly Bunch - Housework Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

The Wobbly Bunch - Shower Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

My best childhood memory was falling asleep on the couch and waking up in bed…I miss teleporting. It never happens to me anymore.

I just sneezed on my phone and it made little rainbow sparkles all over the screen... I'm pretty sure that makes me magical.

The Wobbly Bunch - Colored Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

The Wobbly Bunch - Battle Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

The Wobbly Bunch - Myelin Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB

I noticed something today. It is amazing how quickly kids learn to drive a car, yet are unable to understand the lawnmower or vacuum cleaner.

Living stress free... is that even possible? positivelivingwithms.com/liv… Stress is not a good combination with multiple sclerosis. I hear all the time how stress needs to be limited to keep from triggering an exacerbation, but how do you do that in a world full of “I want it now” people and “it can’t wait” situations? There are hundreds of lists on the internet explaining what you can do to avoid stress, but listing things out and doing them are two different things. Then if you add MS into the mix of things, it seems an impossibility. Maybe your day starts something like this… READ MORE

The Wobbly Bunch - Hang over Book available at amazon.com/dp/B0HLSHHFNB