Multiple Sclerosis: Information and Support Resources

I have only met two women with MS. One I barely met, and didn't understand anything about what was going on. I just knew she was in a wheelchair. Although I have educated myself since that time many years ago, my ignorance brings to mind one of my favorite quotes :

Information and Knowledge are the most powerful allies we have against any chronic illness.

For this particular post I am including some good resource sites for you to check out about MS, and hopefully you will learn something new. I think it's unfortunate that so many of us with chronic illness can't coordinate with each other on a local and national level, for support, advocacy, better care - which for me is often a matter of the doctors being educated on all aspects of having a chronic illness.* I will provide some good resource links, and talk about each one. Please use the comment option to give feedback, or just to comment. ;)
REFERENCES ON MS

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Allsup: Disability for MS

If you have recently been diagnosed with MS (or any illness that leaves you unable to work), this is an excellent resource. It has been many years, but I received my SSDI approval a mere 6 weeks after completing the phone interview with this company. They require a percentage of your retro-active pay/benefit, but I have never come across anyone who was approved as quickly as I was. Keep in mind, however, that various Physicians, Psychiatrist, etc., documentation is critical. The more specific, the more they are willing to share, the better.

Multiple Sclerosis Foundation

This is an excellent site! Great resource for basic information, advocacy, latest research – whatever you are looking for is probably here! Not to say that the other sites listed aren’t worthwhile, of course.

NIH on Multiple Sclerosis

A wealth of information is available from the National Institutes of Health(NIH), a government funded agency conducting research on all sorts of health concerns, is involved in the dissemination of valuable and current information.

Multiple Sclerosis Association of America

The MSAA is fantastic. Recent updates on current research, support, advocacy, information, printable pamphlets – if it isn’t here, they will probably have a link to it.

Resources - MS from About.com

I find About.com to be a useful resource on a wide variety of subjects. This is a good resource, and they, like NIH, are usually current.
I hope you find this useful. Please feel free to use the comment feature to let me know if you would like more information, or different info on any subject I post.

Have a great day!

Kathie




*e.g., why appointments are frequently cancelled due to flares; not knowing when a flare will strike; the overwhelming depression some feel with chronic illness-isolation, lack of family support, particularly if a physician cannot be found who knows how to treat the condition, and do so with compassion.