I have been advised by wife and Neuro to see a psychiatrist to deal with my depression issues.

Those of you who have read me in the past know me not to be a depressed person, but I agreed to meet the doctor and discuss issues without limits.

Getting to the doctor was stressful enough.  Wife in bad mood, 40-mile drive, get to friend’s house at 9 am and he had failed to wake up.  This drove my wife to distraction as we arrived he still had not moved the LARGE SUV.   The house is in a nice part of New Orleans, but an old section where off street parking is sometimes a luxury.

Our friend finally got out of bed and moved the truck, then I got dropped off.

Now I got sit and wait.

PS.  No Wi-Fi ugh.

At 12 pm my wife arrives to drive me to hospital for the appointment.  I finally get to the office and wait.

The doctor is a nice lady in a very bland office.  I expected wall paintings and other such personal items and pictures.

Nothing is on the wall.  Not even a diploma.

So we begin talking about MS, diagnosis, my family and such.

I told her several people wished for us to discuss “my depression issues.”

She asked how I handled the diagnosis and I discussed the fact I told my 8-½ month pregnant wife and regretted it.

“And did that depress you?” she asked.

“No,” I responded.  I regretted telling my wife in her delicate state.  Regret is not depression.  Mistakes offer an opportunity to learn.  I did not wallow because I had to go forward and try to be the life partner my wife married.

I told the doctor of a line I heard from a comedian: “Life sucks.  Grab a helmet.”  This is not the comedian, but the link does accomplish the concept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PzprzoQF1A

She could not grasp the fact I did not curl into a fetal position and give up.  I told her I am relentlessly optimistic and seeking cure or improvement. My wife says that I remind her of the Chevy Chase charecter (Clark Griswald) in the Vacation movies with his relentless optimism and feeling that everything will work out.  MS has no cure, but CCSVI has given new angles.  I told her about Dr. Zamboni, the doctor's wife, plus the fact the procedure reflects outside the box thinking.  And told the psychiatrist  the fact outcomes from the procedure will vary from patient to patient.  I also told her about the pop that I had signaling a clearing of cog fog.  I spoke with  her of potential new stem cell concepts being worked on by people across the planet.

Her head was spinning as I gave her this information she had never heard or thought about.  My self taught “Street Ideas” against her book knowledge.

Back to my aggressive attitude and medical population expectation I should  fall into deep, constantly getting worse depression.  We had created a young family and had a life to build.  Month after diagnosis we moved 400 miles away.  We basically moved ourselves.  Told the doctor our repeated moves and moving back to Louisiana.  Plus I continued working, evolving, moving the yard, wife and I got featured in a local newspaper, hated my look, lost 90 pounds with exercise and diet.  Then we retuned to New Orleans two months before Hurricane Katrina damaged 70% of the city. 

She continued her disbelief and asked if Katrina depressed me. No, I feel deeply for those hurt by the storm, but we were blessed and lucky to have just moved from apartment that flooded for the first time ever to one of the sections that did not flood.

In short, I told her I felt blessed.

“Life sucks.  Grab a helmet” to me means you cannot wallow in the lows.  Rather you have to do the best you can with what you DO have rather than focus on the bad events of life.

I told her that I have this attitude because my wife chose not to divorce me.  Losing her and the kids would devastate me.

And she refused to write prescriptions to help my sleeping issues.   Nothing.

But I enjoyed meeting with her and offering her a new perspective from the patient who forces a different attitude.

I do feel the attitude of Life Sucks, Grab a Helmet have helped me in several ways, especially in dealing with MS.

The statement requires tough skin and a firm attitude that we can and will get better.  It guarantees nothing.  I just feel stronger.

Thank you for reading.

Power to the People.

Power to the cure.