Alas, Love Does Not Conquer All

In sickness, and in sickness, until circumstances do them part

My daughter is undergoing a five-day course of intravenous steroid treatments for exacerbation of Multiple Sclerosis.

Three days in, Lauren feels as if she has the flu. She’s too weak to walk without support. It is uncertain as to whether the sudden turn of events is a consequence of the treatment.

We hope it is; the alternative is that her disease has dramatically progressed.

The last time she underwent infusion therapy was two years ago; though she felt lousy, neither of us recall her having had difficulty walking. Moreover, Lauren has been experiencing frequent weakness in her legs over the last couple of months.

Meantime, Lauren’s boyfriend lives five hours away. Mick can’t drive and is broke besides; the upshot is that he cannot come to see her.

For the past eight months, Lauren has been traveling to visit him for a week at a time; when she’d return, Mick would be in tow. A week later, back they’d go to Mick’s place. Etc. Etc.

Mick has serious health problems himself, not likely to resolve.

With Lauren now out of commission, they likely won’t see each other indefinitely. If ever.

The upside to Lauren’s condition is that she feels so miserable in the physical realm that she has no energy to put toward emotions.

Her mind is, in a sense, as numb as her legs.

I pray that the feeling returns to the latter.

And that she’ll have the strength to contend with the feelings that will flood the former.