turning setbacks into strength
As a distance runner, I would say I am a “seasoned injury experiencer”, if that’s a thing. Something I’ve taken away from the countless times I have been on the sidelines due to my health is the ability to turn my setbacks into strength. This lesson goes far beyond running for me, and it is a quality in myself that I take pride in, as it will serve me well for the rest of my life.
I owe my ability to do this to my mom, who learned to do it first.
My mom has always lived a life where she puts way too much on her plate, but carries it with ease. As I grew up, she took care of herself while managing a full time retail job, two insanely busy kids, and still made it home to cook dinner every single night. I never really conceptualized that she was commuting to and from New York City every day, because in my eyes was focused on me one hundred percent of the time. That’s my mom.
In 2011, everything changed. My mom was suddenly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a disease of the brain and spinal cord in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves.
A disease in which the body attacks, and slowly destroys itself, with no cure.
I was too young to understand then, that a ticking timer had just been placed on my mom’s quality of life. She now had to live with a storm cloud looming over her head, knowing that for the remainder of her life she would potentially lose feeling in her limbs, the ability to walk, to speak, to see. She would gradually deal with more migraines, numbness, and unexplained pain. Every night she would now need to do an injection on herself, with a treatment that “might” improve her symptoms just a little.
This diagnosis was a shock. Again, I was too young to truly understand what this meant for my mom and for my parents in general. They shielded me from the pain, confusion and emotional turmoil that the early months must have had on them. What I saw during this time period, as I now can understand it, was strength.
My mom took a sudden leap of faith shortly after her diagnosis. She told us one night at dinner, that the following day would be her last at her current job. She was going to quit working in retail after almost 20 years, so that she could start a new path. During this time, she changed her life drastically, pouring her energy into her health, with the goal of setting back the timer as much as possible.
She attended an online nutrition program and became a certified Health Coach, learning how to prolong the onset of her MS symptoms through nutrition. Her passion for wellness grew, as did her drive to inspire others. She began her own nutrition counseling practice, Healthy on Hudson, and eventually began working for Cole Health, where she works one on one with clients who also suffer from autoimmune diseases, helping them change their lives like she has. While getting diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease was life-altering for my mom, watching her do what she can to manage her symptoms and nurture her body is inspiring.
When you google “Multiple Sclerosis” on the internet, many of the articles express the physically debilitating symptoms that MS sufferers are likely to experience as they enter their 50s. At 51 years old, my mom has seen minimal developments in her MS symptoms over the last twelve years. From attending pilates classes 4 times a week, going for runs and walks often, being heavily involved in the village PTSA as a member of the Wellness Committee, to driving all the way to Hamilton multiple times a year to watch me race at every track meet she can, my mom is still the Renaissance woman who can somehow do it all. In a war against the clock, right now she is winning.
This is not a story of how my mom overcame her illness, or found the good in it. Because she didn’t. Multiple Sclerosis will continue to affect her life, and worsen as she ages. This is a story of how underneath the pain, sadness and unknown, my mom saw opportunity. Opportunity to learn, opportunity to change her life, and opportunity to inspire others.
It isn’t about staying positive, or finding a silver lining. I believe there doesn’t always have to be one. It is about finding opportunity within the setbacks, and using it.
SF
