Thank you for the Christmas wishes. I hope you have found this forum helpful. There are so many affected people. I personally do not know anyone else with MS (in my family or circle of friends). So this is a very helpful way to encourage others and receive encouragement. It looks like you were diagnosed at a very early age. I received my diagnosis in 2005. Do not ever feel lost and abandoned, as Jesus Christ came to provide us all HOPE in every sense of the word. Hope for our bodies and minds to be one day made perfect and hope for the forgiveness of the host of sins that we commit. I put HIM first in my thoughts and he steers me to look at the suffering of other people and see if there is any opportunity to express empathy, or just offer a positive thought. I hope this message finds you in a positive place, as you get ready to celebrate Christmas. Whether we are together or alone, Christ never leaves us and he knows the pain and discomfort that we are feeling. Here’s to a much better NEW YEAR in 2022, no matter what distractions Satan tries to throw at us. (That’s the way I look at MS—Satan says, “I’m going to make him/her curse you, God” and God says, “Go ahead and test my child because I know he/she will have the final victory through Jesus, who keeps him/her calm, strong and capable of brining glory back to God!”)

First symptom at age 17 in 1989, diagnosed in Japan in 2007. I am always positive and never let negativity get the better of me. This MS monster is there and i will fight as long as I have the strength. Hope is the only thing that keeps me going… so 2022 will be a better year.