Chris was diagnosed with MS in 2017, and that's when she really decided to live her life how she wanted to. It really drove home – with the spectrum of types and prognoses – that anything can truly happen in life… we never know. So soon after this huge upheaval to her life, she began to look at both what she had to do now (like eat healthier and exercise) and what she wanted to do. Chris re-evaluated her life in every way, which was incredibly hard but so worth it. She started with the happiness she had suppressed for a long time.  

Click here for a full transcript of this episode.

So many things have happened in the past four and a half years after diagnosis that she became a different person. She is still the same in some ways, of course – a crazy cat person and a Special Olympics volunteer for instance – but she has changed fundamentally. The way she views life, with a joy in the day to day and making sure those she loves know it, is now her core. Chris honestly can say that she is glad to be diagnosed with MS. As crazy as that sounds, it is true, because of all the epiphanies it has granted her. 

Links: 

  • Reach Chris’s blog on living despite the unknown here 

  • Check out Chris on Twitter 

  • Chris recommends finding and joining your local OMS Circle for support 

  • Chris wants anyone in the USA who is LGBTQ+ and struggling to know that they can text or call The Trevor Project (which is a nonprofit and totally free) by texting START to 678-678 or calling 1-866-488-7386 

Coming up next: 

Tune in on March 9 for the season premiere of Ask Jack, featuring the prodigious culinary talents of professional chef, writer, and OMSer Jack McNulty answering food and cooking questions from our community that inform their healthy OMS lifestyle. 

Don’t miss out: 

Subscribe to this podcast and never miss an episode. You can catch any episode of Living Well with MS here or on your favorite podcast app. For your convenience, a full episode transcript is also available on all platforms within 48 hours of each episode’s premiere. If you like our program, don’t be shy and leave a review wherever you tune into the show. And feel free to share your comments and suggestions for future guests and episode topics by emailing podcast@overcomingms.org. 

S4E48 transcript_Living Life to the Fullest.pdf