CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE JAN/FEB 2020 ISSUE | Page 88

Multiple Sclerosis (“MS”) is currently
considered an autoimmune
degenerative neurological illness that
attacks the central nervous system
(brain, optic nerves, bone marrow). MS
symptoms are unpredictable and can
vary drastically from one person to
another.The lesions on my nervous
system cause many symptoms for me:
balance issues, urinary, intestinal,
sensitivity, cognitive and locomotive
problems, neurological and visceral
pain at a very intense level, spasticity,
tremors, blurry vision, numbness and
extreme fatigue.Most of my lesions are
in the cognitive part of the brain so it
gives me severe cognitive impairments.
Mainly, it's language issues, capacity of
understanding a complex situation or
explanation, following a conversation,
brain fogs, execution of a task, and
short-term memory loss. I also
developed related conditions: cardiac
(cardiopathy) and respiratory issues,
POTS (Posture Orthostatic Tachycardia
Syndrome), hearing impairments
(eustachian tube paralysis), irritable
bowel syndrome and alopecia. I was
diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos
Syndrome (Hypermobile Type + BJHS
(Benin Joint Hyperflexibility
Syndrome)) in 2018 and developed
Gastroparesis (digestive tract system
paralysis) in 2016.
I've lost 165 pounds due to
gastroparesis but I'm now stable at
145lbs. After being obese my whole life,
I now get to experience a new body!
Right now, I do my best to force myself
to eat, to avoid the feeding tube.I had 3
surgeries in 2018, a complete
hysterectomy
(Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy;
removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes
and ovaries) in 2019 and I'm now in
menopause. I'm expecting 5 other
surgeries in 2020. There is going to be
some skin reduction and another to
help holding my internal organs in
place because with Ehlers-Danlos
Syndrome, they are all displaced (with
a "mesh" attached from the coccyx to
the rib cage).
I have no family close and manage
everything by myself, as hard as it is. I
am very blessed to have a few amazing
friends that I've met with MS that helps
and support me.Although I was going
to the gym since 2013, bodybuilding
became a passion at the beginning of
2018 after a year of enduring a level of
pain that was uncontrollable despite
all treatments. Through bodybuilding, I
found not only an outlet to take out my
frustrations towards the illness but also
because I see it as the last thing I can
still have control over.Building muscles
encourages me to keep it up through
the daily challenges. I like to say that, “I
choose the pain of the gym, to fight the
pain of my body”, not because it lowers
my pain level, it is quite the opposite,
but because I prefer the pain due to
the gym, because I chose it.The price I
pay to workout is high in terms of pain
and energy, but it keeps me alive
mentally.  I think that my mental
health matters more than a chronic
pain.