Big news across the blogosphere today, and relevant to my interests: Jack Osbourne, 26 year-old son of Ozzy, has been diagnosed with MS. Aw, hell. He and his fiancee just had a shiny new daughter, too. Parenting a newborn is already hard enough, but parenting a newborn and learning to deal with your freshly diagnosed auto-immune disorder at the same time? REALLY SUCKS.
MS, of course, doesn't care who it's slapping around. Here's a whole list of famous people who have struggled with MS. William Hartnell, the First Doctor? Geez!
And then there are people like Wendy Booker, who manage to give MS the finger and do what they want to do anyway. Wendy has scaled six of the Seven Summits, runs marathons, skydives, and intends to mush in the 2014 Iditarod!
[I am going to point out here that if I catch any of y'all using Wendy as a cudgel on other people with disabilities, I will walk to your house and whup your ass mydamnedself. Just because one person with a chronic illness can successfully pretend she's not really sick doesn't mean that everyone can, and no one has any business expecting them to, in any case. Don't make me come over there.]
Anyway, my point here is that MS can strike literally ANYONE. There's no way to predict who will be plucked up and smacked around. It's a mean, crappy illness that exacts a significant physical, mental, and financial toll on those it decides to invade. Tomorrow, it might be you. Or me. Or the cute young Mom down the street with the infant and the ridiculous dog. Or your own Mom. That's why I'm saddling up on Saturday to start a 100 mile tour. Every little improvement - from better therapies to better medications, tests that help pin down a diagnosis earlier, community support groups and educational outreach - makes a huge difference in the lives of people struggling with the day to day reality of living with MS.
The hard training is done. For the rest of the week, it's just 5 and 10 mile rides to keep my ass from getting too comfy in a state of rest. There's other work to do, though - I'm seeking sponsors through August 31st! I'm just $25 from my fundraising minimum of $250, but I'd love to get closer to my goal of $1000.
Please share the fundraising link far and wide, and if you've got just a dollar to spare, please consider throwing it at the MS Society. They do good, important work to help people who need every bit of help they can get.
--Missy, the Fat Bottomed Girl
No comments:
Post a Comment