How MS changed the Holidays

The holidays can be stressful for everyone and especially on those of us with multiple sclerosis. Though you can’t control everything that happens, planning, communication, and awareness go a long way to a wonderful holiday season.

For 16 ½ years, my husband and I have lived on the West coast while our families live in the Midwest. This meant traveling for Christmas. It was worth it to see everyone even though this meant extra stress on our part We would fly into Minneapolis and spend a few days with my husband’s family and then we would drive three hours to Wausau, Wisconsin to visit my family. We have always enjoyed time with our families and felt the time away from “real life“ was worth it.

After my diagnosis in 2011, travel became harder on me. In 2013, we visited the Midwest twice before Christmas and decided to stay in Oakland for the actual holiday. It was tough not seeing everyone but I had to admit cutting out the holiday travel was nice. As my disease progressed, and I found myself in a power wheelchair, travel became even harder. The airports were hard to navigate and communicating with the airline personnel was complicated. I could no longer walk and felt uncomfortable being strapped into the small aisle wheelchair. Not to mention dealing with the tiny airplane bathrooms!

Now we stay here for the holidays. Cutting out the stress of travel, the worry about the weather, and the unpredictability of both have helped me. We’re still figuring out our new Christmas traditions. We have gone out for dinner on Christmas Eve with friends, stayed in and put together puzzles and played games, watched Christmas movies, Skyped with family, and prepared special meals. 

But that’s life, not only with MS, we change and adapt. And we raise our glasses to a healthy, bright, and happy new year!