I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the early 1980s, before MRIs, and that was an experience. I am an ordained minister with my doctorate in Pastoral Care and Counseling. Before I was diagnosed with MS, I had worked on the neurology floor of both Cornell-Weil Hospital in New York, NY, and Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital, also in New York City. One of the first patients I had was a man who had a scooter and was in for a flare up of MS. In my ignorance at that time I called his scooter a “Go Cart,” and I don’t know how I would have felt about that if I had been him at the time. We talked a lot about what was happening with him, and I did some research then on MS, though not nearly as much known as now. I also worked with many other patients in a variety of settings and was very interested in the ways our bodies function to both alert us to what is happening and to repair damaged organs or bones.
Your magazine opens doors to new places and helps me understand better what is going on. Because of my chaplaincy training and my ministry in the parish, I have never stopped learning or seeking medical information for myself and for others whom I have seen in hospitals. I have been given a wonderful gift to be able to relate to people in a special way, and that has been nurtured by continued research on my own about different medical conditions.
Unfortunately right now I have been out on disability for quite a while after I left my last church, first because of my MS, then hip surgery, and then bilateral knee surgery. But I do believe there is still a place for me to help and give to others, and in due time I will find the right way.
—Reverend Dr. Marcia J. Graham
