There are a lot of
assumptions that people make when you have an invisible or even a
visible disease. Some people think they have the magic answer to
cure you of your ails, with little to no research or statistic
material evidence. One of the first things my Neurologist said to me
was, Unfortunately you will come across those who believe they have
the cure for MS. Don't believe them. There are snake oil salesmen
all over the world who will take advantage of your diagnosis. Also
don't take echinacea, that stuff actually works to boost immune
systems and you don't want that as you have an immune system
disorder.
I'm accustom to
misinformed people saying things like, you shouldn't eat meat or
wheat, or you should try this diet or supplement. I've heard it all
from bee sting therapy to water cures MS because it's an electrolyte
problem. Recently my child comes home from school and tells me that
her Science teacher/Librarian told her that the gene for MS resides
on the same gene as Coeliac
disease. My child was asked, “knowing that they reside on the same
gene and that eating wheat is bad for people with coeliac disease,
how is this going to affect your wheat consumption going forward?”
My brilliant child says, “It's not!” Her teacher retorts, “that
is a good way to end up with MS”. Okay did you just tell my child
that eating wheat causes MS? I may have a slight problem with this.
I stewed about this problem for about a week and decided enough was
enough. I was going to phone the school. I couldn't get a hold of
the vice principal, so I thought I'd try the teacher that was
teaching my child this charlatan science. As luck would have it she
was in. She knew exactly who I was Ironically enough, and she was
fully informed that I had a diagnosis of MS because my daughter had
informed her that was what she wanted to do her project on. She had
never heard of the human genome project. (I started to twitch when
she said that she was unfamiliar with this term and could I please
explain) and explained to me that she was well aware of MS and
Coeliac disease because she
has sister-in-laws that have each disease. WAIT you are teaching my
child science and are well versed in them because you have a
sister-law that has it? That's like saying I'm a fire fighter
because my cousins house burnt down. She then informed me that her
sister-in-law who has Coeliac
disease informed her of this amazing break through in genetic
discovery. I had to take a moment to digest this. You are teaching
my child pseudo-science not from any research other than the gospel
word of your family? I offered to speak to her class which she took
up immediately. She also informed me that the school was completely
wheelchair accessible and could accommodate any of my needs. I
thanked her. She ended the conversation with I will tell my
sister-in-law that she is mistaken.
Perhaps I should bring in
an ionic foot bath to soak in. I'm sure she'd love to explain how
the toxins are being extracted out of my feet instead of the process
of electrolysis (separating H2O into h2 and O and how it impacts
metal in the form of rust.) I think I lost a few braincells this
morning speaking with this woman. The really irritating part for me
was NOT how misinformed this woman was or how her utter lack of
research and education was impacting the education of my child. What
really burned me was that if I hadn't have educated my daughter about
MS she could be traumatized by eating bread. That she might have
started to believe that if I simply had avoided this food that I
would have been able to avoid getting Multiple Sclerosis. That
because she was taught that there is a genetic link that she should
avoid consuming wheat and what kind of a terrible Mother with MS am I
that I didn't know this? I could have caused the downfall of her
health. I'm going to stop writing this now. I feel the need to blog
this in a more appropriate area.
