MS Magnifies Stressful Situation

Dr. Swank used to explain to us that a MS patient feels things more strongly than the average person. He said there would be times that my wife would feel things 10X stronger than me. This included emotional and physical things. MS seems to have a way to heighten the senses and my wife is no exception. Her MS has caused her to have cramps, stiffness, physical pain, emotional pain, mood swings, and a range of other feelings. Yesterday was the perfect example of this.

Working on a campus with kids all day can be stressful. We take care of all of their needs 24/7 and then have to deal with their parents, other staff, school etc. on any given day. We also have regular staff meetings with other personnel that are also responsible for children on our campus. In our weekly meeting, one of the houseparents was very frustrated about some issues on campus and proceeded to vent her frustration to one of our bosses. During this venting, I could visibly see my wife tense up. Her hands started to tighten into fists and I could see the stress start to work its way through her body. She was not involved in the venting or the problem, but just by sitting in the same room she became physically involved in the encounter.

At one point in the conversation she felt compelled to defend another staff on our campus without becoming personally involved in the issue. She explained herself well, but her hands were visibly shaking and I could see the stress in her eyes and body. The tension from being in the same room during this venting exhausted my wife. She was flush and physically hot during this time, and remained that way for some time after the meeting. I know that she "feels" things more strongly than I do, and this meeting left her physically and emotionally spent even though she was not the one in the conversation.

MS and stress do not go well together, and we are reminded of this often. Our Chiropractor pointed out that one way he knows where our body is out of whack is by the physical indicators. He pointed out that our skin temperature, skin blemishes and other factors can easily tell him where the problems are occurring. He was able to show me on my wife's back where she was out of alignment and then show me the blemishes right at the problem area. It really was very fascinating. Stress manifests itself in so many strange ways and MS seems to magnify it. Just being in the room with a stressful situation can wear out my wife, and this particular event went on for maybe twenty minutes. We hope that the next staff meeting isn't quite so "exciting".