Tag Archives: MSinspiration

A Remarkable Story about Life in Bush Alaska

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Melissa Cook spent twenty years living and teaching in remote Alaska.  She is now an award-winning author of her memoir The Call of the Last Frontier. Melissa has MS and authors her blog MSsymptoms.me.  I just finished reading her book and want to tell you what I think:

Read it! You’ll be glad you did.

I have MS and took a 16-day land and sea tour of Alaska some years ago. My visiting experience is miniscule compared to this admirable memoir of Cook’s life in the Last Frontier. Our luxury cruise ship navigated an horrific 2-day storm with 90 mph winds off the coast of Ketchikan. To read about what it took to live through similar winds and constant rains in the bush is unimaginable.

Visiting Alaska was wondrous, but Melissa’s personal account of living there is extraordinary through her eyes, words, senses, and thoughts.  There is little more I can add to other reviews of her book on Amazon, BookBub, and Goodreads.  Brave isn’t a big enough word to describe her “adventure” as she refers to it. I have grit, but not this much.

The only thing I wonder about is the extent MS really had on her; I think she downplayed its true impact on her physically, mentally, and emotionally. Nevertheless, her strength and resilience to survive the Alaskan bush with MS is remarkable.

Melissa now lives in Wyoming and documents her current adventures on her You Tube channel, Wyoming Jeepers. (I’ll stick with cruises!)

If you read Melissa Cook’s book, be sure to write a review telling her what you think.

Debbie Petrina
Author of Managing MS 
Moderator, MultipleSclerosis.net 

Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

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On the cusp of our MS diagnosis, we are gripped by fear and panic. With no cure, we envision ourselves entering a dark tunnel of unknowns. How do we begin living with it? What will life be like? What will be at the other end of the tunnel? A never-ending list of questions follow.

Years ago, I read a story about a lady who was on her way to her dream vacation in Italy. Somehow, the plane got diverted, and she ended up in Holland. The dream was shattered, and now she was in a country she knew nothing about. Grief—denial, anger, sadness, bargaining… Having no choice in the matter, she finally accepted her fate.

The lady took action and learned about Holland as quickly as she could. She discovered that Holland turned out much better than she expected. There were tulips, windmills, Anne Frank’s house, Van Gogh Museum, amazing architecture, canals, gouda cheese………

Forty-two years ago, I was looking into that dark tunnel. I took action to make the best of an unplanned situation.  Now, 42 years later, I’m on the other side of the tunnel.  It all turned out much better than I expected. As I travelled through the tunnel, the light at the end got bigger and brighter. The grief in my “Good grief!” moment evolved into something I call “good” grief.  It’s all explained in my book.

Opportunities aren’t opportunities unless you act on them. If you make the best out of an unplanned circumstance, it may turn out better than you thought.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?  The choice is yours.

 

Debbie Petrina
Author of Managing MS 
       Kindle Unlimited
Moderator, MultipleSclerosis.net