My name is Gil Greenman. This podcast is a chapter-by-chapter reading of my book, "A Fortunate Man with MS". It tells the story of one person with multiple sclerosis, a very fortunate person! Just as nature has decided to make snowflakes different, the stories of people with MS are all very different. And this is my story, told in the hope that maybe just one person who has been recently diagnosed or has lost hope might hear it. And that, maybe, they will take just one more walk, go to one m ...
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In my work on mindfulness, I open to what arises: sounds, sensations—including pain—and then, of course, thoughts. They arrive like waves on the ocean. Occasional waves of reality-based optimism are appearing.De către Gil Greenman
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My amazing wife Lisa shared an idea: “I think Gil and I should come [to the Edgewater Hotel} every Friday in the summer and spend the night. We can have drinks in the bar in the middle of the day with one set of friends and then later have dinner with another group.“ And so it began...De către Gil Greenman
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Will the chronic inflammation and lesions that have plagued me and brought a dramatic worsening of my condition for almost two years start to calm down?De către Gil Greenman
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As my acute troubles continue - chronic brain inflammation with new lesions, losing my vision, inability to feed myself, and confusion- I have been thinking about purpose.De către Gil Greenman
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For me, 2018 was like navigating this street in a wheelchair. I am currently sitting stuck in the largest pothole.De către Gil Greenman
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"It’s you I like, It’s not the things you wear, It’s not the way you do your hair– But it’s you I like The way you are right now . . ."De către Gil Greenman
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Lying on the wood floor, I played a game with myself. I imagined that I was a samurai sleeping across the threshold of his Lord. Samurai slept on wood without anything else, I thought. So “samurai! Bonsai!”“ Whatever. I was still stuck.De către Gil Greenman
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“Please call me asap” read the text from my neurologist. This could not be good news.De către Gil Greenman
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These days, my experience of walking feels like climbing a rock face.De către Gil Greenman
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There is a story about a Cherokee grandfather teaching his grandson about life.De către Gil Greenman
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Gratitude showers our lives with Grace
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Grateful and together, we celebrated on Thanksgiving. Now we move forward in Grace to the next moment. And the next.De către Gil Greenman
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An Urban Symphony with Extra Needles
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After my needles were in, I stared at the ceiling and tried to meditate on my breath. Not today. Frustrated, I smoldered until a set of sounds came together in my conscious mind.De către Gil Greenman
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Everyone living with MS knows that each story is individual and unique. The picture of the disease that we paint needs to take into account some of the harsher parts.De către Gil Greenman
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At Last, a Disease Modifying Therapy
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Then I wake up. But this is no dream. This is the story of my year-long search for a treatment, a disease-modifying therapy that will halt or at least slow this inexorable disease.De către Gil Greenman
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My dogs are thinking “will he ever get up from the chair and go somewhere else so that something interesting might happen?"De către Gil Greenman
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To Be Known and to Be Loved - A Poem
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My left leg sucks, no two ways about it. But last week it started to suck worse, like a lot worse...De către Gil Greenman
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Family and Forgiveness, by Pope Francis
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"There is no perfect family."De către Gil Greenman
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There’s been a lot of mud described here in the last few posts, so I thought I’d describe a Lotus that bloomed in Washington DC recently.De către Gil Greenman
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Inspiration on a Newark NJ flight to DC
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When we landed, I waited in my seat as usual so as not to hold up deplaning while I embark on yet another rolling airport adventure. I noticed that the soldier was waiting also, and as soon as the last passenger went by, she came over to readjust my crutches and hand me my bag.De către Gil Greenman
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Gil writes a short poem about the new disabled parking sign in front of his house.De către Gil Greenman
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My neurologist sounded frightened “I usually get paged by my office for MRI results like this. I can’t believe I missed them. I don’t want you to see the slides.” She said that these were the worst set of slides of my brain and spine that she had ever seen.De către Gil Greenman
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It Happened at the Seattle Women's March
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Just to the side of the route, we were close enough to touch them. An older woman with a beautiful, careworn face and deep, piercing eyes singled me out.De către Gil Greenman
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I learned what the word “cul-de-sac” meant when my mother moved me and my brother to Bellevue, Washington, then a suburb of Seattle, now a major city in its own right. I had two different paper routes during two different periods of my adolescence in Bellevue. Both involved lots of turning around at the dead ends of suburban streets. Cul-de-sac is …
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Every six weeks, my beautiful wife transforms our house for a religious experience.De către Gil Greenman
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Although I use wheelchairs at work and for distance, my walker still supported those 50 or so paces from my door to a car or into a restaurant or around the house. Until two weeks ago.De către Gil Greenman
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"Please call me asap" read the text from my neurologist. This could not be good news.De către Gil Greenman
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It happened on a grimy New York subway in 1985
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My first New York subway ride was in 1985, with a new friend in the tender first week of college. It brought a moment that will stay with me forever.De către Gil Greenman
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Told in words, this is the story of how my faith grew since my last post. My angels — family, friends, colleagues, support team, et al. — in person and texts and emails and books have showered me with loving words and touch.De către Gil Greenman
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When illusion ends, what rushes in? Terror, then hopefully the calming sea.
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The MRI showed two new lesions on my brain. My grand illusion evaporated. This illusion, a sturdy structure of columns and marble and rationalization and denial. Gone.De către Gil Greenman
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I felt a surge of anger, sadness, and frustration as she said this to me...
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In hindsight, I wish I had asked some more general questions and followed up, but I am also terrified and dismayed by the failure of the medical professionals to ask the question I was not asking.De către Gil Greenman
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When You Are "Certain", Think Again, and Then Laugh!
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It's ridiculous for us to think we are really "certain" of anything!De către Gil Greenman
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Enormous Support at the Dinner of Champions, May 9, 2015
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Life with MS is a dance – for me, my wife, and everyone we love. Sometimes, MS takes the lead and we must follow. At other times, MS must follow our lead.De către Gil Greenman
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Today I Bought a Wheelchair. It’s Okay, and I May Even Walk More Because of It.
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Sometimes what we dread can surprise us and turn around.De către Gil Greenman
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On Board / The Day We First Met and the Dance Began
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I will never know whether my health would have been better in a less stressful job. I do know that to my dying day, I will be grateful that I took my shot.De către Gil Greenman
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One of the Most Beautiful Things I Have Ever Read
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And then it happened, one Christmas Eve.De către Gil Greenman
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In three short posts, Gil begins to find his spiritual footing.De către Gil Greenman
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Walking into any new space, Gil is always thinking, “how hot is it?”De către Gil Greenman
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Gil's college friend Eli comes to stay for a couple of days. In the laughter that ensues, the arc of their adult lives seems to stretch in a comically predictable and somewhat poignant line, punctuated each morning by a truly obnoxious alarm clock!De către Gil Greenman
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Gil's long history of pushing through MS exacerbations, cheerfully making adaptations like using a cane, and working at the pace of a DC litigator came to an end when the one muscle he could not circumvent or supplement failed — his brain.De către Gil Greenman
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9-year-old Gil has a realization.De către Gil Greenman
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