http://www.nctimes.com/news/2001/20010817/64817.html
August 17, 2001
I had a long, informative talk this
past week with Sally Van Ormer, an instrumental force in the local multiple
sclerosis support group for people with the disease and their families
and friends.
"MS is strange," Sally told me. "It
has to do with the 'sheaths' at the endings of nerves --- sort of like
the coverings on electrical wires. For some reason, these sheaths deteriorate
in people who have MS, causing different reactions in different people."
Many have obvious symptoms like losing
the ability to walk or control other muscles. One of the group's members,
for example, has lost the function of his legs and uses an electric scooter
to get around. Another is a retired World War II and Korean War veteran
who discovered he had MS when he lost his equilibrium and fell off a ship
he was working on in a Navy yard years ago. Others MS sufferers have more
subtle symptoms.
"Take me, for example," says Sally
without blinking an eye. "I'm 60 now and have had MS since I was a young
woman. In me, MS makes my speech thick. Some people have assumed I'm drunk
when they heard me talk."
One thing that's pretty constant
about people with MS is an unusual sensitivity to heat, Sally says. "That's
why we try to schedule our meetings as early in the day as possible."
"Almost everyone gets extremely depressed
when they learn they have MS," she added. "One young woman I've been talking
to a lot lately has taken it pretty hard.
"That's why going to these meetings
are so important. People can look around them and see that there are other
people going through what they've been experiencing ---- many of them in
even worse shape than they are and still doing fine."
Sometimes tough love, rather than
TLC, is the indicated prescription.
"One member of our group was wallowing
in too much self-pity. One day we all just told him to 'quit bitching and
get on with it!,' she smiles, remembering. "It helped."
Not all the pain group members feel
is directly related to the disease.
"One woman's husband up and left
her. He said he couldn't deal with her having MS anymore. So much for 'in
sickness and in health,' I guess," Sally laughs. "We'd also like people
to know that we don't just have meetings. We also take trips together from
time to time. We must make for quit a sight!"
I asked Sally what motivates her
to do what she does.
"You've got to help people in this
world. I worked for 35 years as a medical professional. I always tried
to treat each person as an individual human being, not as a meaningless
name on a chart."
The Ramona chapter of the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society meets every other Tuesday at Denny's restaurant
(1910 Main St.), right here in town.
They'll even come get you if you
need a ride. Give Sally a call at (760) 789-8256 for exact dates and times.
There's another, larger, meeting every Wednesday at the Escondido Joslyn
Center (760-839-4688).
"They get a bigger turnout," Sally
says. "Some people like that, others like the cozy little group we have
here in Ramona."
That's all he wrote. See you around.
Charles Carr is a free-lance columnist
for the North County Times. He can be reached at chascarr@aol.com or (760)
749-0409 with your comments or column items.
CHARLES CARR