To the Editor:
Well it turns out the odds are about 1 in 400 here in Maine. I am talking about MS. You are 10,625 times more likely to be diagnosed with MS then you are to win the Megabucks.
About 15 months ago I got the diagnosis. I have relapsing remitting MS. I remember the date not only because it is one of those extreme events in life that you just cannot forget. I remember it clearly because it was just about one month before my little boy Quin was born. Talk about terrible timing huh? I held onto the news until one month after baby Quin’s arrival and then shared it with my wife Andrea (after I was sure she had no signs of postpartum depression).
It was the toughest conversation I have had in my 43 years of life: very nasty news for a new mom to have to deal with. I have just shared the news with my family. Others I have spoken to with the same condition had similar delays in sharing.
Oddly enough, it appears I have been experiencing MS symptoms for over six years and not known it. I had unexplainable and significant abdominal, head or arm pain on a sporadic basis. I looked at it as independent events (a virus, stress of general strain). It appears they were part of the larger picture. It has been a challenging year for this segment of the Ford family. Emotionally draining to say the least.
So what am I going to do? I guess I could take the poor me route, which is where I started. No, instead I am going to dig in and try to pull a bit of good out of this situation.
First, I am going to be the best husband and dad humanly possible. Things like this make you focus on what is important.
Second, MS you have a new opponent. I am going to focus my education, experience and determination to find a workable, effective treatment through fundraising. I am going to start by organizing the first annual MS Katahdin Climb. I am thinking late August, 2012. Additionally, I am planning a stroll up Mount Battie in Camden earlier in the season for those who cannot make the Katahdin trip. I will be putting a link on our Cabin Pottery website in the next two to three weeks. I am currently building the climb website but this is our busy season so it may take a bit.
Good luck to all in life and I hope to see some of you on top of the rock. Lord willing I will be there. Don’t forget the MS First Annual Katahdin Climb…Do it because you can! Stay tuned.
Joe Ford, Edgecomb
P.S. Take your vitamin D: 400 IU for kids, 2000 IU for adults. There is a definite correlation between MS and a lack of vitamin D. The sun is only high enough to allow vitamin D production in Maine five months out of the year at best.
