Stress and Heat

This past weekend I spent the weekend in Jackson with my sweet Chad and two rough, precious boys. We all had a great time together, even thought there were stressful moments especially with me keeping up with me having multiple sclerosis. The drive itself was a challenge as I cannot use my right leg completely as if I were normal without any lower extremity issues. My right left goes weak and it gets stiff with movement, so I have to depend on cruise control when driving. 

The stress of the packing and the boys wanting to play, sort of worried me a little. I keep reminding myself that they are only 9 and 5 years of age. Sometimes my older son happily aggravates my younger son, so he will scream. I wear glasses to drive, so I must focus on driving and being cautious so I do my best to discipline from the front seat, it does not work that well.

The next day I decide to try going to the zoo. We all wake up early and get dressed as quickly as possible, which my boys are more focused on playing and watching TV than getting ready to leave. I begin having an anxiety attack. I know they forget how sick I really am and I do try to hide it to the best of my ability, because the truth is so disturbing to young children.

The Zoo Was Miserable!
The heat was around low 90s and the humidity must have been high this past Sunday. It was awful. I used my walker with seat to ambulate around the zoo slowly to the best of my ability. I hate using a walker and I try to use a person for support when possible, but I decided to use the walker at the zoo and try my best to be independent. I was doing really well in the beginning but it turned miserable and I became slow after about thirty minutes. The heat and exhaustion got so bad the I almost passed out. I became sick, nauseated, dizzy, and lethargic while sitting to rest. I remember my boyfriend telling me to wake up and I would mumble that I am awake. I forced myself to get up and we desperately began looking for the exit. We did not get to see all of the animals and my boys missed seeing a portion of the zoo. I felt badly, but MS is not something that listens very well. I cooled off but was too sick to drive home as planned. We had to stay another night and made the best of it.