Author & Founder Lorna Moorhead

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MS LIVING

(So it's not Martha Stewart's Living®, but it's a living!) 

This is where we get together and share those little secrets on how we live with our MonSter. (No, not the kids, the MS.) Most of these tips are also useful for those with various disabilities AND those who just need some great ideas on making life a bit easier to handle.

To find some great books on living with MS and general life organizing, check out the bookstore.

Featured

Get and use a JOURNAL!!!  I get a $3.00 blank book with a pretty cover at the local Target.  I have one that I use as my to-do list, saves loosing slips of paper and/or post-it notes.  I have another that I use at the end of each day to write down how my day went, what spot I did my shot (I have forgotten by the next night and used this as a guide) and any other pertinent information.  I also take this one with me to my neuro appts.  The trick with a journal is to buy one and then to use it!!!  These are working very well for me. ~Tami, Vancouver WA

(Click on any hyperlink below to take you to that section of the page)

Planning

Energy Savers 

Pills

Memory

Planning

I always make two plans for the next day.
One plan for if I'm feeling good and have the energy I'm counting on.
The second plan for if I wake up and not feeling so good. That way, I still have a plan. I don't feel as if my day is wasted. I don't feel as if I have no direction to my day and I can't say, my whole day was ruined, or my plans were ruined. It may not be the "A" plan, but I still get things done.

I've learned how to re-prioritize things and found what is truly important in my life. Phone calls can take the place of a personal visit a lot of the time. My banker, the pharmacy, and other important individuals I do business with know that MS is a part of my life. I can phone then and make arrangements to do things that may not work for others, but do for me. Saving me time and energy that I can direct to my family. ~Submitted by Cindi, Canton OH

Energy savers:

For those of us who experience fatigue, I got some tips from my OT, and they actually work!
-Use a bathrobe for drying after showering, putting it on right after, when wet, instead of drying yourself with towels.

-Wash your hair in the shower; do not bend over the sink/bathtub.

-Keep the shower-needs on a rack, handy, to avoid bending and stretching. Use a liquid soap pump instead of soap-bars.

-Put on your pants while sitting.

-Bring your foot up, resting it on the opposite knee, to put on socks or shoes, instead of bending forward.

-Wear slip-on shoes.

-Use Velcro or zippers to fasten coats, instead of buttons.

-For a better grip, hang a toy key-chain on the zipper of your purse/back-pack.

-Wear a layer less of clothes. It will help keeping your body cool and functioning.

-Wear loose clothes in the summer. Avoid darker colors.

Some of these things might sound obvious, still we don't apply them all the time. Remember that the more you try to do on your own, the more independent you'll be, thus, the better you'll feel about yourself, boosting up your self respect. ~Submitted by Mihmar

Pills

1. When sorting my pills into my weekly medicine container, I dump the pills, one type at a time, into my left hand and then use a teaspoon in my right hand to pick up the correct number of pills for each day to transfer into the individual compartments.

All of the pills are hard to handle with numb fingers and  some of the pills are very small.  This method works well for all of them.

2.  Elastic waist pants and slightly oversized pullover shirts are the easiest clothing for me to handle since buttons, snaps and zippers are close to impossible to manage.

3.  Exercise equipment where I can sit, like a stationary bike, have proven to be much better fitness tools than walking.  I can exercise longer and more vigorously if my weight is off my legs.
~Submitted by Sunny

Memory

I write everything on my calendar. What is going on, who I talked to. I sometimes forget I talked to someone the day before and that causes a lot of problems when you tell them you have not heard from them. My calendar looks like a diary but it helps.~ Submitted by Laura

Post-It Notes, lots of them! I carry around a pack in my pocket everywhere I go.  When a thought happens to, finally, come around I jot it down.  If it's an appointment date, jot it down and stick it right on my calendar. ~Submitted by Cheryl, Astoria NY

Send us your tips!

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