Lima

Member Since March 2009

My Story
My name is Tam Jenkins and I want people to know if I can do it ANYONE can do it. I have Multiple Sclerosis and Sjorgrens Disease, which together involve my nervous system and brain, my muscles, joints and even have invaded my major organs. I have been bed ridden, used an electric cart, wheel chair and at the very least a quad cane. I have been legally blind more times than I can count and the doctors have written me off so many times they had to purchase new pencils and paper to write it on. The fatigue is overwhelming the pain is horrendous at times and the desire to stay in bed presents itself on a daily basis. Due to massive amounts of Steroids as the main treatment of choice I have fluctuated in weight to the point I feel like a yoyo on a tattered old string.

Through it all I have developed an inner strength and a sense of humor that has gotten me up every morning and made me fight harder every day. I spend more time fighting back than I do enjoying the routine plateaus that so many of you are blessed to have. I envy the healthy person or the ones with the mild pain that no matter what they do you will still be able to walk tomorrow with ease and balance.

I have found that working out has kept me mobile and even though my attacks are all too common, my return to the place I call normal is a lot quicker and there are fewer weeks wasted on getting back to my previous routine. A lot of people think exercise is something to take lightly but in my case without it I have no life. I cant let myself fall prey to laziness or pity to the point I give up what so many healthy people take for granted, the ability to be mobile and function as a normal human being. The old commercial states Weebles Wobble but they dont fall down, well they do and I have but getting back up is the easy part, staying up is what is difficult.

No matter how many times I have to fight back I have no choice but to do it. I have a life to live, and frankly I dont think my friends and family could do without my daily sense of humor. I hope every healthy person out there realizes what a wonderful gift they have and if people like me can exercise with a quad cane, and the pain and fatigue I deal with on a daily basis than what is your excuse for not doing it? Physical strength is one thing, inner strength is yet another and in my case the inner strength is why I can maintain the physical strength. For the rest of you that have the physical strength I hope you are blessed with the inner strength to maintain that healthy body I will never have. You are blessed with a healthy body; please dont waste it sitting at home when so many like me would give anything to be able to walk in your shoes. Heck at this point even standing up in them and not fall down backwards would be great. So as I mentioned earlier if I can do it ANYONE can do it; so what did you say your excuse was again?