Viruses and MS Don't Jive

I should make the disclaimer that the following ms experiences are mine, not necessarily the expressed written experiences of other ms'ers. Now that I'm legally protected...

Viruses, colds, and flu! We fear them as the season approaches. We rush out to be vaccinated. We wash the fingerprints from our hands! But me? Say hello to my little friend...superfreak immune system! Let's call her Alice, just because I like that.

Here's the thing 'bout Alice. If I could categorize her, I'd say she has an anger management problem. You figure, if she's angry enough to attack her own body, she's pretty volatile, right? Oh no, I ain't messin' with her! I even changed my diet around completely to try to settle her, and that worked for the most part. It's basically an "anti-inflammatory diet" aka "keep Alice in Chains". Yeah, another shameless musical reference.

Anyway, I came down with a virus a couple days ago, one that a couple of friends also got. Major difference is that Alice kicked its tail in no time, while my couple of friends are still struggling. Alice is the relative no one wants to invite to Thanksgiving. The one you walk on eggshells around, because they could snap at any moment! Oh come on, I can't be the only one with that relative! She's a very freaky girl...the kind you don't take home to mama...

Looking back, I always did have a pretty volatile immune system. Bee stings? Swell up like a house! Eat a slice of watermelon? Ears swell up like cauliflower! Take a penicilin capsule by accident? Hives for 7 months! Xanax, anyone? I'm telling you, she's fierce!

All that sounds like maybe a good thing, right? It is and it's not. Illnesses don't seem to stick around for long, which is great! But, like the relative you don't invite to Thanksgiving, she doesn't know when to settle down. In other words, now that she's fought off this virus in record time and kept viral symptoms to a minimum - as compared to like sufferers - she won't yet have removed the boxing gloves. You should understand that Alice is an MMA fighter, so she's got on those little fingers-cut-out, black leather gloves. The opponent? Me. So now it's game on and I just await her tactics. She may inflict creepy crawlies on my legs, extra large eye flies, sunburn feeling across my back, shaky legs, or all of the above. It's her game, I'm just a playa...

So I wait in anticipation, but I try not to worry. Worry also gets Alice all fired up. Come to think of it, there's not much that doesn't upset her apple cart. But somehow, giving her a name and sharing her with you enables me to laugh at her! I am learning to put her in her place. She will strike, and when she does, I need to do like Romans 5:3 says and rejoice! Now if only someone could remind me of that in about a day? May God bless you all!

Romans 5:3 ...but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope does not disappoint...