A Costly Mistake

It's been said that everyone makes mistakes. That's not far fetched because, in reality, no one is perfect. Mistakes come in all shapes and sizes with a plethora of reasons for why they're made (i.e. immaturity, not listening to reason, exercising poor judgment, acting too quickly, or not thinking things through). They can range in the degree of severity - for example, a small faux pas like throwing away something in the refrigerator that's still fresh in haste to a much more serious err such as an auto accident due to an ill lapse in judgment. The significance of their outcomes can also run the gambit. As for the small faux pas, you may just have to re-purchase the discarded item, but the latter could be a loss of driving privileges or, worst-case scenario, a fatally detrimental result. Some mistakes can be quite costly.

Mistakes and errors can happen on a large scale

Errors aren't limited to individual and personal occurrences. They, too, can and do happen on a larger scale and affect a larger body of people. Ruminate on, for example, the election of a world leader who makes dubious, unintelligent and unwise decisions and demonstrates like behavior - and we, as citizens, must live with it and the repercussions. Or think of a public building made with no or very limited handicapped access. A population of people (disabled/handicapped) would have to live with no or difficult access to that building. And think - what if a rule or law was made that was intended to help a specific class of people, but was found to actually be a severe hindrance to them in some way or another? These can all be considered mistakes, but are capable of being 'fixed' - with the election of a better leader, renovations to the building, and revamping said rule or law.

My life has been chronically impacted by a MiStake

I know firsthand how poorly the result of a mistake can be. My life has been seriously - or shall I say chronically - impacted by a costly mistake in which I had no control over and the ramification is quite significant, life-changing,  life-long, and cannot be 'fixed'. There's no person or thing to hold accountable, not even myself. However, ironically, it is my body that has misjudged, moved too quickly, or whatever may be the case. It is my body that is the culprit of this costly mistake that changed the trajectory of my life's normal.

My body turned against itself

My body, particularly my immune system, didn't adhere to the 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' adage. There's no 'why' for the huge error, but in response to an unknown trigger, my 'loyal' immune system made the grave error of attacking my body's normal tissues which, in turn, produced an immune system disorder, specifically an autoimmune disease and even more specific for me, multiple sclerosis. MS is a chronic, degenerative and unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and body.

Living with the consequences of my body's mistake

Yes, my overzealous immune system made the huge mistake of attacking my normal tissues, specifically, the myelin sheath that normally protects nerve fibers in the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerve. The severe outcome to this gross error? Many (multiple) scars (sclerosis) along my spine and brain. MS causes me to suffer from, among other symptoms, muscle weakness and spasms, very limited fine and gross motor skills, pain, and sensory issues. And it wasn't even my mistake. I just live with its perils. And there's no fix...it's incurable. Luckily, however, there are DMDs (disease-modifying drugs) to help slow the progression and medicines and therapies that manage the symptoms. Hey, life happens, right?

Other autoimmune diseases

Other examples of autoimmune diseases include, but aren't limited to sarcoidosis, cardiomyopathy, multiple myeloma, T-cell and B-cell leukemia, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), rheumatoid arthritis, pericarditis, type 1 diabetes, mellitus, and vasculitis. If you suffer from an autoimmune disorder, you, like me, are living with the ramifications of the mistake of an over-enthusiastic immune system that did way too much and way too wrong. We recognize this, but we don't have to let it stop us from moving out, moving on and staying strong. After all, no one is perfect.. mistakes happen… both small and costly. It's called life.