Life Turns Upside Down
Super Saturday – Some years ago, a closer than close friend was diagnosed with a disease called Multiple Sclerosis (M.S). She lives with her sister because the doctors said she could no longer work or drive. All of a sudden, her life was turned upside down. It devastated her to “not be able to do her job.” She took such pride in her work and was very good and respected in the work place. In a way, she got much of her self-worth from her job. After all, she spent at least 8 hours per day in the corporate setting and was paid “to do a good job.” Can you relate? Now, to be released from those responsibilities and told she was “incapable,” was like throwing ice cubes in her face. Though her mind was slowing, her heart was, and is, still in tact. We sadly watched the changes that took place. Her thinking and reasoning changed, her short-term memory is minimal, her confidence diminished, her attention span dissipated, and her physical and emotional balance went off-kilter. Her caregiver took her to a doctor who specializes in Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive thinking problems. After a long battery of testing and prodding, he concluded it was “inconclusive” as to whether or not she had M.S. As a matter of fact, the test results showed her B12 to be so deficient that it could have killed her. Furthermore, in a meeting with neurologists and specialists, it was discussed how a severe B12 deficiency mimics the same results as M.S. It eats away at the Myelin Sheath covering the nerves. The kicker is this – that a B12 deficiency could have been addressed. Could she have begun taking B vitamins? Perhaps most of her brain could have been preserved? No one knows. It makes you think though, doesn’t it? Could all or most of the distress she has gone through been avoided by taking a simple B vitamin? So, the effects are irreparable without a miracle. What were the options? Sue the doctors? Dive into self pity? What do you do when your life appears to be brought to ruin, and then realize you could have stopped the devastation? What do we do when life turns upside down.
Until soon and much love,
d