My mother in law was diagnosed with a disease called Multiple System Atrophy or (MSA) in 2014. It’s often called a cross between Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Some doctors just say it’s Parkinson’s on steroids and that is what they first said she had in 2013 until the symptoms changed and sped up drastically.
She lives with us in a basement apartment that is suited to her needs and we as a family take care of her now. She’s had more falls than I can count and it’s a miracle that she hasn’t broken a bone so far. We don’t talk about it a lot with our friends and many people in our small community don’t have a clue to the struggles she faces on a daily basis.
See MSA is really hard. It’s rare so many doctors and nurses don’t even know what you are talking about when you say she has MSA. It has no cure and nothing that will slow the progression of the disease. There are no stages and so they say people typically go from cane, to walker, to wheelchair, to bed. So you take each day as it comes as you lose more of your independence, physical abilities, and eventually all the things the rest of us take for granted, like eating, moving, and breathing.
Sounds rough when I put it like that but watching someone you care about go downhill so quickly will take all the tip toeing around the facts right out of a person.
My MIL used to be one of the most active people I knew. She liked mowing the yard all by herself, could chop firewood and build craft furniture. She crocheted beautifully, had a pretty handwriting, and was an excellent cook. She thought nothing of hopping in her truck and driving wherever she liked. MSA has taken all that away from her.
As of today we are taking care of her full-time. She needs help with every aspect of her day beginning at 7:00 am for medicine, breakfast, help getting out of bed till 10:00 pm when she goes to back to bed with more meds, television remote, and her oxygen on at night. We take care of her two dogs, her meals, shopping, errands, dr. appointments, cleaning, and daily living. I would be the biggest of liars if I said any of it is easy. We’ve sacrificed our freedom of going out as a family because someone has to be at home at all times with her. She is a fall risk and we’ve all picked her up off the floor at one point or another. My kids help put their grandmother’s socks on and I brush my mother in laws hair. My husband lifts his mom into her hospital bed and tucks her in. He always says do you need anything else Mom? and I love you to her each night.
She’s taken a turn for the worse in the last few weeks as she is battling another UTI which throws her balance off making using the walker impossible. So we help her into the wheelchair which she hates and can’t wheel by herself. Her motor skills are shot and swallowing is difficult so even eating takes her a very long time these days.
Sounds like a horrible disease doesn’t it? Well it is and there isn’t anything to do about it now but pray for comfort and more good days than bad.