Category Archives: Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Wax On, Wax Off

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

I pieced table toppers for my friend Becky in Utah in December 2010.  If you remember, I was diagnosed with MS the last week of December 2010 – and our ‘normal’ world changed to a ‘new normal’ at that time.  Nothing has ever ‘leveled out’ for me since then, as the MS symptoms have progressively gotten worse.  I am currently between MS therapies and will start a new one soon.

Anyway, the table toppers were promised to Becky for her spring tables where she sells her goat’s milk soap.  She has some wonderful displays at various venues for her lovely products.  I believe I had made some autumn table toppers the year (2009) before, for her fall display tables.

Once I was diagnosed, I had a couple of years to try to deal with not only having MS but also to figure out my ‘place’ in our family.  My husband and I had made a pretty good bargain when we had kids – he would handle all mornings and I would handle the evenings.  In the past year, he has had to take on more and more of my evening responsibilities because I was either in the bed and in pain or I was on medication that meant I couldn’t drive.  He is definitely burning his candle at both ends and I haven’t been able to stick to my end of the bargain.

While my foster mother wintered with us earlier this year, we were looking through my stash piles for blocks for her to practice quilting on and I ran across the three table toppers I had made for Becky.  I was terribly ashamed that I hadn’t been able to get them done before but made it my new mission, to get those things done as they aren’t just spring colors but summer colors, too – and although my MS was not under any kind of control, finishing these up was my new ASAP WIP.

So, I set my mind to getting them finished!  I started preparing my MS body by relaxing as much as possible after my nap.  If I could get my legs and feet to stop spazzing and burning, through various relaxation techniques – I was one step closer to being able to get them done.  After a week, I believed I had conquered the relaxation.  Next was my reaction to stress, which usually shows itself in all sorts of painful MS symptoms.  Again, relaxation techniques helped that symptom immensely.  Finally I had to work on the daily dizziness.  My doctor told me to get some motion sickness pills to see if that helped.  Of course, it didn’t help, but it did give me some other ideas on how to try to stop the dizziness such as not getting overheated, resting well in the right temps, etc.

FINALLY, I did it!  I went a week with very few breakthrough symptoms!  Now it was time to tackle Becky’s table toppers.

During my week of dealing with the new me, I found out a very dear and precious (local) friend was having a medical crisis of her own – and needed a whole lot of prayers, praise and thanksgiving to fight her medical battle.  Every time I saw or heard her name, I sent up yet another prayer.  But, I felt I needed to envelope her in prayer more than I was doing.  Hence, the two projects (table toppers for Becky and prayers for my friend), morphed into one project.  And that original Karate Kid movie was my driving force in handling both projects.

Wax on, Wax off, Wax on, Wax off.

Stitch in and pray, stitch out and pray, stitch in and pray, stitch out and pray.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I’ll make it easy on you – I was whip-stitching the binding to the table toppers and with each stitch in that I made, I prayed for my friend.  Each time the needle from my hand went through the fabric, I prayed for my friend.

Stitch in and pray, stitch out and pray.

Here are the three table toppers that I’ve finished – definitely made with love and stitched with prayer:

Becky1-450

 

Becky2-450

Becky3-450

The fabric was gifted to me by Linda at AbbiMays.com and it is fabric that was designed for spring release in 2011 by Sandy Gervais.

And now, I will just have to find another project to keep my hands busy and my prayers joined with many others for my dear friend!

This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

Once again, I interrupt my normally scheduled blogs about quilts and quilting to talk about a few issues that are of interest to my immediate family, our community and (hopefully) those of you who have high school-aged child.

First, our hearts and prayers are filled with compassion for those people affected by the bombs in Boston.  Unthinkable acts are just that – unthinkable.  Sometimes, unless you’ve been in that situation, you cannot fathom the carnage, the pain and the losses of those who were directly affected by such an act of cowardice.  And yes, bombs are a coward’s way to kill people.  And, let’s face it.  Ten years after we memorialized those who lost their lives in the Twin Towers, our country has already relaxed many of the rules that were brought about by those buildings coming down – mostly because of complaints by the citizens that those rules were an inconvenience!

In our little community, we have had a couple of bomb threats at the school in the last four days.  One last Friday and another yesterday (Monday) morning.  The one on Friday was written on a bathroom wall and was taken very seriously – the one yesterday was much more juvenile and definitely a copycat; and when the child was found who wrote the threat, they said they just wanted a day off of school.  In both instances, the entire school was evacuated and the students taken care of as best as they could be by the administration and teachers.  Doesn’t mean their master disaster plan was flawless as there is definitely room for improvement – but, it was a good move in the right direction.

I am giving away my age, but I remember when we were in elementary school and we had to have drills in the areas of bombs, fires and tornadoes, in the midwest.  Remember those, anyone?  I know my kids have had fire drills but the other drills have gone by the wayside.  Unfortunately, in this day and age, it’s time to re-institute those drills because when and if the actual events occur – our children will be much better prepared and perhaps not as upset and anxious.  It’s also a time for our kids to come together – solidarity in numbers.  I have no doubt the culprits would be found that much quicker if you plant a teenage girl to roam around the cliques to get information!  Oh yeah, I may have solved the problem right there with that sentence!  Those teenage girls LIVE for drama!!!

Right now, despite both of these awful instances of cowardice and the loss of life – there is still a light that is shining on our oldest daughter.  She received a letter yesterday, saying she was awarded a $1000 scholarship from the National MS Society!  I remember the heartbreak I felt when I edited the essay she had to submit with her scholarship application – it was about how MS had affected her life.  None of the content was new to me as we had talked many times about my MS and the challenges we (as a family) faced now and in the years to come – but, it was heartbreaking to see all of those words that screamed from the computer of her emotional pain brought about by my physical pain.  And as the firstborn, she shoulders a lot of the family’s pain and strife on her heavy shoulders – whether it’s warrented or not, whether we ask her to or not.  My pain is her pain and there’s not a darned thing I can do about it!

With so many charities and family’s in need these days, I respectfully ask that you remember the National MS Society in your prayers and in your financial gifts.  Not just for their research to try to combat this disease, but for the kids whose lives are affected by MS every single day, for themselves or a parent or a relative.  My kids deserve a better path than mine – and I am so very thankful the National MS Society is helping to lay those seeds of faith in our daughter’s continued education.

My pain has helped her get a foot in the door to my daughter’s gain – which means this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!

Another Satisfied Baby

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

I guess I went on a baby quilt piecing binge last year because it seems I had four or five baby quilts to gift away this year!  Not that there is anything wrong with that, I am pretty sure it happened because I finally learned to handle my MS symptoms to the point that I was capable to sew again.

This past weekend, my daughter got to be the one to enjoy that oh-so-special feeling of giving away a quilt to a special person.  She had asked me last year, when a friend of hers had a baby, if I would make a special quilt for the new little man.  I said no, but I would make one WITH her – to which she readily agreed.  Using one of my “Six Fat Quarters” quilt patterns, we chose the fabric, cut the pieces per the pattern and I sewed while she used the iron to press my seams and then we both put it all together.  Mrs. Kathryn Rister quilted it for me and then my foster mother whip-stitched the back binding and blind-stitched the label on.  It was definitely a family affair plus Ms. Kathryn!

Here is my oldest daughter with her special little man:

IMG_9632-450

And here is the quilt she and I made for him:

NicoleBabyBuildingBlockQuilt

This photo is a close-up of the quilt pattern Kathryn Rister quilted the quilt with:

155

And finally, the happy mom and still-uncertain-about-me baby, along with my daughter, with his new little baby quilt:

IMG_9637-450

BONUS!  BABY FEET!!!  🙂

IMG_9633-450

More Prayer & Comfort Shawls

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

Last year, a (then) virtual friend I’d met on Facebook (FB) lost a cousin unexpectedly.  Another virtual friend and I said we’d make prayer shawls for the widow, her aunt and uncle and a quilt for the little boy he left behind.

Unfortunately, my MS has been difficult for me to deal with for the past year – hence, I’m a year late (blush) in getting these prayer shawls completed.  I actually made them while I was in Iowa with my FM last summer but could NOT get the motivation to quilt them!  I got to meet Kim and take the shawl tops to her but said I’d get them back to her once they were quilted and ready to go.

When my FM came in January, she warned me that she was not bringing any of her own projects down and that I had better have enough things for her to do to keep her busy.  Of course, once I gave her my to-do list, my husband piped up that I was obviously setting up a sweat shop.  🙂

My FM hand-quilted the two shawls, then I put the binding on them and she whip-stitched the back of the binding – then I made the tags and she blind-stitched them to the backs of the shawls!

Because of the religious preference of the recipients, we called these comfort shawls instead of prayer shawls.  They were designed using three Jacob’s Ladder quilt blocks and two Garden of Eden quilt blocks, though the blocks on my shawls are a larger size than the blocks from the website indicated.

IMG_9549

KimPrayerShawls

It looks like I’d better get a few more of them ready so the next intended recipient doesn’t have to wait a year on me getting more made!

My Gift Built from Love

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

My (third) foster mother (FM) is spending a couple of months with us, to escape the Iowa winters.  I don’t blame her, I lived through the harsh winters in Iowa, Nebraska and Utah and could care less whether I ever saw snow again in this lifetime!  My kids are enjoying her being with us, and she has already gifted them with a quick three-day weekend to the coast during their spring break and that is a memory they will always have – especially how big my FM’s heart is.

But, she started asking me last year if I was interested in having a sewing/quilting studio.  Of course I am, who in their right quilting mind wouldn’t??!!  And what a gift!  I only lived in their home for two summers and then left to live with an aunt and uncle who finished raising me.  I didn’t realize I left that much of a positive impression on anyone.  When I went and spent two weeks with her last August, she got more involved in the planning of this dream studio….showing me ads in home building projects and planning out the size and space I would need, etc.  To me, it was a pipe dream.  No one had ever spent their money on me in that way.  Oh sure, I get gifts of money for birthdays and at the holidays – and one lovely neighbor gifted me with enough money to cover my initial MS infusion.  I’ve received gifts of airfare from folks who wanted me to come to come see them.  ALL of the gifts I have received have been received with love.

One day, while my foster mother was here this winter, I took her by a place that made pre-built metal buildings.  We stopped and she got some information and pricing for such.  Originally, she wanted my husband and her to build the studio – but, once she saw how busy he already was, she realized that probably was not going to happen.  So, a pre-built building was her next option, and then my husband and kids, along with my FM, would finish out the inside.  She gave us a dollar figure she was willing to work with and thus far, we’re still a bit under budget.

My husband really didn’t want another project added to his already long list of projects but he wanted me to be happy so that was his bottom line.  He can finish is other projects as time permits but only has a couple of months until my FM returns home to finish this one.

Lo and behold, when my husband took my FM over to town again, she ordered a metal building!  It took about a month to be built and delivered, but it now sits right out our back door:

IMG_9556

The heating and air conditioner unit has been roughed in and the reflective insulation on the inside of the building is being cut.  There’s still a lot of inside-work to do, but with the building here, we’re one step closer to that dream!

My FM celebrated her birthday while here, and although this gift is really for the building, it’s what I gave her for her birthday:

IMG_9586

The capital T is for my first name and the capital M is for her first name!  She loved it, said it was perfect for our studio.  And in truth, she wants to utilize the studio in the coming years, as she would like to continue to winter down here.  Which is just fine with us!

And all of this just because she loves me.  Very hard for me to take, but I promise to make the most of it!