out of breath; computers; whew; dates;

[Guest guest]

It takes doing very little some days to become breathless. Talking

will do it and I can only drink in sips or I become winded. My

circulation suck. I do best if I keep moving but not to the point

of exertion. I'm always being asked why I'm out of breath when I answer

the phone, no-one seems to be able to understand that just reaching for

the phone too quickly will do it. Physically I'm quite fit and trim

so it's hard for them to wrap their heads around it. I've known

nothing but this for years now, you do just get used to it. More

oxygen I don't see as helpful, it is the delivery system that needs help

and the only way I know how to deal with that is stay hydrated and I take

ASA everyday, thinner blood is easier to pump. And keep moving,

even if you don't want to. Feet and hands especially.

My first computer experience was in 1974 at university. Without the

requisite high school maths they made me take statistics. Punched a

lot of cards, but ended up really liking it. My husband bought me a

Sinclair with all of 16K, which led to the 808, 286, 386, 486 and now

this AMD. Seems odd maybe to do the dancing the artwork yet also

systems analysis. My father was a chemist and university prof

(absorption spectroscopy) and his labs were my playground, and my mother

was an opera singer, so it was the lab or the rehearsal hall. I

feel for you , it was the greatest slap in the face when I was let go

because I was performing not as well as I thought and they thought I was

drunk, harder than my marriage breaking up. I valued myself (and

still do) based on performance, hard to accept that sheer will cannot

make valuable in the workplace. Not a day goes by I'm not running

possibilities through 'what iffing' because I NEED to work and be valued,

not for compensation but because without I feel as though I'm being

erased out of the world. Thank God, for kids/friends at that point,

there I have value. Take the time to notice that value continues

beyond your last workday, the things we set in motion will survive and

hopefully thrive.

Visit with my son at the new hospital. He's still angry at being

confined (lapse of insight). Personally it was a heck of a lot more

pleasant than the 'care' group home they wanted me in a few months

back. Take over an hour by bus, but just one bus. The grounds

of the hospital are gorgeous (if you like trees and flowers and

birds). This time I hope that keep him long enough to get him back

on track. The reduced stress at home has had a good effect on

me. I'm sleeping longer (bitch to wake up), but the brain is less

squirrily.

First symptoms: mid thirties (diagnosed as arrythmias, IBS, depression,

sleep disturbances) 1988

stopped being able to work at 45 diagnosis then was possible MS plus the

above

DX (working diagnosis) MSA age 47 I'm now 48

aletta mes, vancouver, bc canada

http://www.aletta.0catch.com