It was a raw, blustery March day and I was leading four classmates to my house to hash out the remaining details of our current English presentation. When I opened the door, however, I received a surprise. I had not anticipated my mother still being home and neither had my group members. Their faces turned slightly blank, as if they were trying to hide their confusion and surprise. The previously relaxed atmosphere had become very formal and quiet. I had seen this before.
My group members had only observed my mom for a few seconds, but it was long enough to ignite their curiosity. I casually explained that the woman in the wheelchair they had just seen was my mother and that she has M.S.—multiple sclerosis. This is a fact I have relayed dozens
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But the moment my group members left I was alone with my thoughts, alone with the “I’m sorry” clause.
Our family’s life is completely different than others due to my mom’s disease, but I have known no other way of living. My mother has had M.S. since she was in college, so I was born into a world with motorized scooters and walkers and extra precautions. This is my norm. And while other people may pity my mother and our family, I see no reason to be down. I could spend all my time harping on the drawbacks and my ”missed opportunities,“ but what fun would that be? I will always find the silver lining.
This seemingly insignificant March day actually made quite a difference for me. I finally realized that you need to appreciate not just what you have had, but what you have not. Because of my mother I had learned independence and responsibility while most kids were still watching Saturday morning cartoons. I could balance a checkbook by fifth grade, thought more consciously about keeping our house clean than most kids ever will, and was always willing to lend a hand. These lessons have stuck with me. I understand that you have to make the best out of what you are given; take what life gives you and run with
Nancy Mairs in her passage introduces the American society while including her life struggle with multiple sclerosis. Mairs demonstrates confidence of the condition with which she lives in and her calling herself a “cripple”. Her tolerance of this cruel reality guides her essay through a series of arguments as she utilizes pathos and others to communicate her opinion and feelings.
In the essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs shows us a class of two subcultures: being a parent and being disabled. Looking at the intersection between these culture and identities will show us important facets of disability that all people should understand. Throughout the essay Mairs explains the effects Multiple sclerosis and how it negatively and positively affects her life and the lives of her gracious family.
Often, young children find an element of fun in injuries that otherwise present no positives. They jump at the idea of choosing the color of their cast and getting signatures or seeing how fast they can go in a wheelchair. When these ailments become chronic, they lose that charm. Some individuals live their lives in a constant state of injury due to various diseases and disabilities, and often, it becomes a part of their identity. One of these individuals, Nancy Mairs, writes about her identity as someone with multiple sclerosis by implementing various rhetorical devices in order to present herself as a strong, capable equal despite her illness.
The central nervous system (CNS) comprises grey matter, which contains neuron cell bodies and white matter, which contains the nerve axons. Most of the nerve axons are concentrically wrapped around by lipid-rich biological membrane, known as the myelin sheath. In the CNS, myelin is produced by oligodendrocyte. a type of glial cell. (Pfeiffer et al., 1993). These electrical insulating, multilamellar membranes significantly increase the electrical resistance, in which to prevent leakage of electrical currents from the axons, as well as decrease electrical capacitance to reduce the ability of the axons to store electrical energy (Shivane &
“Steve, my oldest son, was born with cerebral palsy, which in his case meant both mental retardation and muscular spasticity. Although he has a tough time doing things that others find easy, he can manage most everyday things. When his mother reprimands him for bad manners, such as not using a knife to cut his food, he gets angry and says, “I can’t help it. I was born that way.” Whenever he says that, my heart goes out to him.
When my older sister, Molly, was ten years old, she was a temporary cripple. Molly went through a pretty big surgery that would stop her from tripping over her pigeon toed legs. While living a couple months in her wheelchair, an uncle of ours came to visit. His warm welcome to my sister was pushing her into a corner, locking her wheelchair, and calling her a windowlicker. Thankfully, my sister has tough skin. She took what others would find scarring, all as a joke. It is hard not to be reminded of the unexpected response my sister gave while reading the essay “I AM a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs. Within this essay, the author describes her life as a cripple suffering with MS. While sharing her thoughts and emotions (gerund) from
b. Support: In 2007, it was reported that approximately 2.5 million people in the world have MS.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, progressive neurological disease affecting all aspects of life: physical, cognitive, emotional, and social (Abma). It is known as an autoimmune disease, Where the body’s immune system turns against the body and destroys the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. This damage to the nerve cells causes many problems for the patient including weakness, muscle stiffness, poor coordination and balance, tingling, numbness, tremors, blurred vision, slurred speech, and memory and concentration problems (Bren)
Multiple Sclerosis, commonly known as MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Scientists have been studying MS since the 19th century. In MS, the body’s immune system produces cells and antibodies that attack myelin in your brain which is essential for the nerves in your brain and spinal cord to conduct electricity to perform its function. The attack on myelin results in vison loss, paralysis, numbness, muscle weakness, difficulty walking, stiffness, spasms, and bladder and bowel problems. MS has varying degrees of severity and affects people between the ages of 20-50, mostly women. Although there are treatments, there is no cause and cure yet.
Based on the fact that there is an intricate system of sensory nerves within the inside of the ears there is a possibility of a correlation between Kathy’s hearing loss and Multiple Sclerosis but it is exceedingly rare. Approximately 6% of MS patients complain about impaired hearing. Out of this select few, patients that obtain deafness due to MS are extremely unusual. While the occurrence of hearing loss is uncommon, it is possible. Multiple Sclerosis ultimately affects the central nervous system which includes the brain and spinal cord. There are a few different ways MS can contribute to hearing loss; scarring or inflammation around the eighth cranial nerve, plaques along the auditory pathway, MS relapse, or by other causes that suggest damage
As a child, I thought my parents were invincible. I grew up believing they were superheroes who had the ability to whisk away all my problems. Unfortunately, when I was 15-years-old, my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The hardest part about his diagnosis was that his sister had been diagnosed with MS a couple years before and we had seen her health deteriorate so quickly that she was already wheelchair bound. During this time my family was scared. The little information we knew about MS did not seem hopefully and we were worried about what the future would hold for our family. Lucky, we were blessed with a great neurologist who eased the insecurity we felt and gave my father the strength to be optimistic about his diagnosis.
It is estimated that near 400,000 individuals in the United States are affected by multiple sclerosis (Dilokthornsakul P., et al, 2016). Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that can be debilitating. MS is not entirely understood by the medical community with the present availability of information on the direct cause for the inflammation. Unraveling the mystery of the cause of inflammation of the CNS in MS patients could lead to more directly targeted treatments. The reason for the inflammation of the CNS in MS patients may very well shed light on other inflammatory diseases involving the CNS.
Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder where the myelin sheath within the Central Nervous System is attacked (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2017). The myelin sheath protects the axon of the nerve cell. When the myelin sheath is intact, the axon is able to carry impulses away from the neuron’s cell body, and the message carried is clear. With Multiple Sclerosis, the myelin sheath becomes scarred, hence the word “sclerosis”, and distorts the nerve impulses traveling over the CNS (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2017). This may cause the message to be changed or stopped altogether.
While it is true that all of the human body’s organ systems are essential to the well being of the human, the nervous system is the system that transmits signals and relays a reaction so that all of the other body systems can carry out their function. Without a control center the human body would not be able to coordinate to do all of the miracles that it does. Unfortunately, when somebody is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, this disease prevents normal functioning because the myelin that is wrapped around nerves is damaged. Myelin serves as protection for nerve signals, and when it is destroyed, signals are lost and not able to travel throughout the body. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS), the control center
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease of the central nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. Both have nerve fibers that are wrapped in a myelin sheath. In MS, the myelin sheath becomes inflamed and gradually is destroyed. With the destruction of the myelin sheath comes an array of symptoms that may include numbness or tingling, balance problems, weakness, muscle spasms, and blurred vision.