Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hello, I'm Joseph Pinter

Hello.  I'm Joe Pinter and this is my new blog.  I want everyone to know that MS sucks - but it doesn't have to.   This blog will follow me and my experience with the MS Recovery Diet.  Hopefully it'll be a short blog, because that will mean I'll have recovered fast and don't have much to say. 

A bit of background:  I was diagnosed with relapsing/remitting MS about 8 years ago.  MS is a crappy disease that slowly sucks life away from you.  The term relapsing/remitting means that the MS symptoms come and go - sometimes lingering forever, sometimes going away completely.   If you are the sort that likes to know more, then I encourage you to visit webmd or another resource for more detailed medical/science info.

So anyway, I was diagnosed with MS.  My neurologist and I had been managing my MS pretty well until the beginning of 2011.  That very first week of 2011 changed my life forever - and for good.  And I mean GOOD.

My MS had been getting steadily worse over the fall months.  My eyesight became affected, the feeling in my left leg was totally gone, my right leg was beginning to go numb (not to mention the bajillion other symptoms - but my legs are the big ones for purposes of this post). 

Right after New Year's, my daughter and I both came down with the flu.  The flu exacerbated the MS symptoms to the point that I could no longer walk. 

I will never, never forget the night that my daughter called to me from her room - I barely made it down the hall, leaning on the walls and stairway railings.  I stood in her room, dizzy and weak and knowing something really bad was happening to me. 

I had to get out of her room - I couldn't let her see me fall to the floor.  I have no idea how I made it back down the hall, but when I got to my room I literally collapsed.  I couldn't walk another step.

I couldn't walk. 

I could not walk.

I'm a single Dad. 

I am self-employed.

I could not walk.

I have an awesome support team, and I made it though the flu and built up enough strength that I was able to lurch myself around the house.  But I knew it was just a matter of time before it happened again.  I knew that unless something drastically changed, it was just a matter of time before I'd be sitting my ass in a wheelchair.

So I finally picked up a book my sister-in-law bought me a few years ago, The MS Recovery Diet, and started reading.  The book lays out a simple lifestyle plan centered on healthy eating.  Both of the authors have MS - one has fully recovered and the other is out of her wheelchair and on her way to full recovery.  I called my girlfriend and asked if she'd be willing to try the MS Recovery Diet with me.  She said yes.  So we did.

We started the MS Recovery Diet on 1/11/11.  I'll save the details of the plan for another post (it's not a 'diet' - it's a way of eating) but will tell you this:

Holy Shit.  I can walk.  I even have a spring in my step (or maybe I'm just not lurching as much.  Whatever.)  Don't get me wrong - I am nowhere near complete recovery.  I'd say I'm at about 5% improvement.  My toes were completely numb and I couldn't move them at all - and now I can not only feel my toes but I can wiggle them too.  I'm sleeping better.  The fatigue isn't nearly as bad.  I'm told my skin glows and my eyes are brighter.

I know I have a long way to go.   But on an almost daily basis, my MS symptoms are abating.   I know that just by following the MS Recovery Diet, I am getting better.

I want to share my recovery journey with anyone and everyone who has been or is currently affected by MS.  MS just sucks and it doesn't have to. 

Making better food choices, knowing what to eat more of and what to avoid - that's all it takes to make your life with MS better.  Well, that plus exercise (I'm not there yet, but I hope that within a week or two I'm strong enough to make my first visit to the gym and meet with a personal trainer who is knowledgeable about MS) and a positive attitude and your doctor and your meds and yadda yadda yadda. 

****I'm not saying that anyone should go off their meds - I'm certainly not.  But I am saying that life with MS can be good.****

Please share my blog with anyone you know who is managing MS in their lives or the lives of people they love.  There is hope.  There is recovery. 

Life is Good.

6 comments:

  1. Joe!
    I'm so sorry you've gone through such a rough patch. Glad to hear the diet is helping. And I'm glad to see that you've got this blog now. We miss you!
    Lots of love,
    Christine (and Michael, and Cormac, too)

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  2. Diet can be very powerful. Glad you're finding a diet that helps. I've talked to people who have found diets that have sent their own chronic disease into remission. "Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet" was recommended to me for Crohn's. Certainly not the same thing you're going through but the person who recommended this diet was off his medication for years at the time I spoke to him.

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  3. Joe, hang in there!! Very inspirational and you are not alone. I'm glad you are strong in spirit and am pulling for you. Best wishes for 2011!!! alex koslow

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  4. Joe - you deserve a lot of credit for taking such an active role in managing your MS. Keep the posts coming, it is inspirational and maybe will help someone else

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  5. Joe, we are so sorry to hear of this downturn but thrilled that you have found something that helps. Best of luck to you!! Donna and Pat

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  6. Scary! Very very scary! Crying! Motivational! You never cease to amaze me! You are truly an awesome man! My heart is filled with love for you!
    xoxo
    d

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