A Positive Rant
Wednesday, November 22nd was an eventful day. After an ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder and some other testing, the Urologist told me I had a “neurogenic bladder”. My response was, “What the heck is that?” She said it is a condition that is common in people with Multiple Sclerosis. It means that you can’t completely empty your bladder. I responded with a big smile on my face and said, “Yay me!” and then I laughed. She told me I had a great attitude and she enjoyed my positivity. I told her, “I would rather laugh than cry. It’s all good.” When I left her office, I started thinking of all of the things that ail me and how I could utilize this information to write a really funny blog.
As I was driving to work, I thought to myself, “I have cerebellum tremors that make my hands shake, I have spasticity in my legs which slows me down and sometimes makes me trip over my own two feet, and now I have a neurogenic bladder which is going to make road trips even more challenging. Life only gets more interesting.” I couldn’t wait to share this information with a few of my friends at work because I knew if I presented it the right way, they would laugh. When I got to work, I called a few of my friends over and said with a big smile on my face in an animated tone, “You’ll never guess what I was just diagnosed with. I have a neurogenic bladder!” They looked at me with puzzled faces and one of them asked, “What does that mean?” I told them the situation and explained that this was in addition to the shaky hands and the weak legs. Then, I said, “My mom was right. I am special” and we all laughed.
Little did I know how lucky I was to only have these few issues. It never fails that when you think your situation is bleak and the worst thing ever, there is always someone out there who is suffering more than you. Whenever I get caught up in myself and my own challenging story, I always seem to run into someone else who blows my mind with their story.
Later that day, I ran into another friend of mine who had been through a very challenging situation and was grateful to be alive. He said, “You’re never going to believe this. A few weeks ago, I felt something strange going on in my body. I kept dropping things and my arms and hands kept going limp. Before I knew it, I had fallen down and must have had a full blown seizure because I woke up a day and a half later in the hospital. I was just released the other day.” As I shook my head in disbelief and asked him if he was OK, he said with a huge smile on his face, “This was a wake-up call for me and going forward, I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m going to enjoy every moment of every day. I’m thankful to still be here.” I couldn’t agree more with his comment. We need to make the most of the situations we’re dealt and continue to live life to the fullest.