woman's face close up with laughter surrounding her

Invisible Illness

By Brooke Pelczynski

July 30, 2018

People living with MS sometimes avoid social situations where they might be judged or misunderstood due to the often invisible nature of MS. Brooke shares her fears in this comic: after being invited out for drinks with friends, she contemplates what could happen if her MS causes her to spill a drink and appear "drunk" at the bar, resulting in being kicked out.

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lupe
August 5, 2018
<p>Oh I so empathize! Several years ago, before I was diagnosed with MS, I was constantly falling at the wrong times and places. One of these places was at the Straz Center in Tampa FL where I had gone to see "The Nutcracker" with a friend. I had not had a drop of alcohol; I was sober as can be, when I fell down the few stairs that lead into the theater, and crashed into a little girl. She was crying and her mother gave me a look that said it all: You should be ashamed of yourself getting so drunk, falling and crashing into a child! I felt so bad even though I was NOT intoxicated. Knowing now what the cause of the fall was makes me realize that I need to really think about doing something social, even when I'm straight as a pin.</p>

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