WHAT IS MS AWARENESS?
Friends FIRST . . . patient and support, second!
March is MS Awareness Month
Awareness…. How do we stay aware of something we want so desperately to forget? When every day is a struggle, WHY would I want to remember MS? When I can’t see? When I can’t walk straight? When I hurt? When I can’t remember? When I feel so alone? When I seemingly constantly have to ask for help, or ask for understanding, or ask for forgiveness, why the HECK would I want to keep this forsaken disease in my thoughts?
Because we love you!
MS Cure Fund LOVES YOU! You are important. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! We UNDERSTAND! It’s not that these feelings are not real. They are SO real. BUT – THE FEELINGS ARE NOT YOU! You are beautiful. You are a wonderful person who has an affliction. That affliction does not fight fair. When you are fighting something that fights dirty, you need help. MS Cure Fund is that help.
For just a moment, STOP – take a deep breath, right now! B R E A T H Now feel a hug. A great big hug that says WE GET IT. We care.
For we at MS Cure Fund want you to be AWARE that you are loved. We want you to KNOW that YOU are a PERSON first, not a patient. We want you to be AWARE that MS is a disease, it is NOT you. It does NOT define you.
Be AWARE of your blessings. Thank whatever you have faith in that you are reading this. That we take a breath together. That we have someone who cares deeply for us. Be AWARE that MS Cure Fund is here every day fighting for you. Every day we are looking for the next opportunity to provide support. Every day searching for the glimmer of hope in research or therapy development that will make tomorrow brighter. Every day doing all we can to find a way to make each day a little better.
So, together, let’s be AWARE that understanding is love. That compassion is a hug. That patience is love, just spread out a little. Let’s all be AWARE that WE have each other.
For those that are receiving this who are a caregiver, spouse, sibling, parent, child, and friend of someone living with MS, KNOW you are LOVED equally. YOU live with MS too. You live with all the symptoms and issues and accidents too. Yet nobody is asking if you are okay, if you are stressed, if you are tired or having a bad day. You are always expected to be “on”. It is tough, frustrating, tiring, and at times depressing. WE GET IT! At times, for the person you care so deeply for to thank you for all the things you do is to admit that they are sick. That’s just a reminder that MS is all too present in their lives. They feel guilty that their MS affects you too, and there is nothing they can do about it. Know that every lash out, every “you don’t understand” cry is really an “I’m so sorry this affects you too”. Because it is. If there is one universal truth, it is that every MS patient HATES the affect that MS has on the people they love. The reality is: WE ALL LIVE WITH MS!
Be AWARE that there is HOPE! At MS Boston 2014, over 9000 MS researchers and industry people converged from 91 countries to share research and advances that were thought impossible just a decade ago. This largest gathering of MS focus in history witnessed extraordinary developments in restorative surgery, re-myelination, stem cell therapy and much, much more. Pharmaceutical and biotech firms are aggressively pursuing new therapies. And to some, even more exciting, is the growing understanding that simple improvements in patient diet and exercise can have a greater effect on disease outcome and quality of life than any drug ever developed.
So, while awareness can mean different things, please know we are AWARE of YOU. We CARE about YOU. MS Cure Fund strives to give you: