IT is what IT is.

IT is what IT is...a simple statement. A statement that has gotten Kim and I through more than many thought we could handle.

Our latest drama involves my wife Kim. About two years ago, my wife came down with something called OpticNeuritis. It caused temporary blindness in her right eye. It cleared up on its own, but through the course of Dr. appts, we learned that this is a common symptom of MS or Multiple Sclerosis. Now at the time, we chose not to do an MRI, because our Neurologist at the time said it would be inconclusive. Well a few weeks ago, Kim had the MRI done and her local Neurologist found a number of lesions on her brain and diagnosed it as MS.

We have known this for a couple weeks. The reason I have not blogged about it earlier was our fear of how people react when they hear "MS". MS is a very misunderstood disease. You probably know someone that has MS and don't even know it. It is a very common disease, and its a disease you CAN live with. Kim is starting a therapy called ReBiff that is a maintenance injection 3 days per week (kind of like an insulin shot). The purpose is to manage the symptoms in the short term and restrict the growth of the lesions in the brain, thus keeping the disease at bay as long as possible. As her Neurologist explains it...we are treating the disease now to help 20 years from now.

So, IT is what IT is. People have asked us both..."How can you handle all of this...from your Brain Tumor, to Kim's MS" Well, what else are we supposed to do? Sit around and Cry alot? Hell No that isn't going to happen...neither one of us are very good cryers.

The fact is We are alive, we love each other, we love our family and friends, we love what we do and we are choosing to LIVE! To us, there is no other choice. At least not one that is logical. :)

Life comes at you at a pretty fast clip. If you are not careful, the good stuff flys right by, and the bad stuff seems to hang out. Its like that optical illusion of the OLD WOMAN AND THE YOUNG WOMAN...depending on what angle you focus, the image changes.



You want to know how Kim and I do it? We keep changing our angle of perception. We are looking for the goodstuff and let the bad stuff fly right on by! This is a picture of us hanging on to the goodstuff!! :)

I am constantly inspired by my wife. This exercise reinforces that. It was a tough choice for her to disclose her MS diagnosis, but she is committed to show people that MS is something she has, not WHO she is!

She has MS, she is not defined by MS. She will not allow it to define her.

I have Brain Cancer, I am not defined by Brain Cancer. I will not allow it to define me.

If you were wondering where I get my inspiration, just look at the person in the picture next to me.

To put it in Kim's words... "That is just how we ROLL!"

If anyone would like to join us in our latest Journey, we will be walking together in the MS Walk 2008 in Rockford this Sunday, May 4th. Each and every one of you are welcome to join us! Send me a note or post a comment for more info.

PEACE OUT!