OasisOP  - Linda K

H.U.G.S. Coordinator
Web Management Team
Co-Editor LivingMS Magazine

The road I've traveled has taken me to be born & raised in the Missouri Ozarks, begin my adult life on the ocean front in Southern California, begin marriage and a family back in Missouri, and continue in Central Nebraska (where I learned the beginning vestiges of the publishing world.)

After a brief stay in Missouri, I traveled west again to rejoin my two eldest children and their father to enjoy the beautiful Southeast Utah & Southwest Colorado world. I moved BACK to Missouri as a divorced single parent of two, and became a magazine editor for a dairy breed publication.

In that job, I met Mike the man of my present life - and we live here in Western Oklahoma. He is legally blind because of diabetic retinopathy, but operates a flea market when weather permits.

My children are: a son & his family who live in Chicago; a daugher & her family in Missouri; an my youngest son who lives in West Virginia. I travel often to see them.

I am a Christian and am busily involved with my church as well as being a member of a ladies' choir (over 400 ladies from throughout Oklahoma who sing across the state once a month during the fall and spring seasons.)
 
For absolute pleasure, I work in my yard & gardens (which is a challenge in this semiarid country) and enjoy theatre. I volunteer with various organizations in my "spare" time.
 
I have R/R MS (Diagnosed in 1996). I awakened one morning with a numb right hand (which is still numb more than ten years later). The numbness continued to creep up my right arm and down my right side.  I saw a Doctor and had an MRI and the diagnosis of MS was confirmed.  

I had treatments with Solumedrol and the numbness retreated to just my hand.  I was on Betaseron for about four years but stopped taking it when our income decreased and I couldn’t afford it without the subsidy from the drug company (my insurance does not cover injections).  I did lose some hearing in my right ear (have never recovered) and have had several bouts with optic neuritis but for now, I am blessed that l am able to do just about anything I choose to do.  Interestingly, to begin with, the neuro said I was “too old” to have MS (I was 53 when I was diagnosed) but after we talked, he confirmed that I had had various minor exacerbations for several years.  Each time, the symptoms went away and I attributed them to stress.

I am thankful for the opportunity to use my talents here at MSWorld with a staff who all use their skills and talents to help others.

NaNa (on the right) with four of the joys of my life - three of my granddaughters and my precious daughter (who is a Physical Therapist).  We went on a two-week vacation all the way to Cape Cod.  I drove ALL the way!
 

Email me:  OasisOP