I asked my brother, Dan, to write on his advice for those who have siblings with MS. Thanks Dan for taking the time to write this!
Here is what he had to say…
Many years ago I found out that my younger sister, Marci, was diagnosed with MS. I truly did not know what to think at that time. I have a good friend whose mother has MS and she has a hard time walking and needs to be in a wheelchair most the time. I thought to myself, “Is this how my sister was going to live the rest of her life?” After I did some research, I realized that a lot of people have MS and you wouldn’t know it. So after this research, I found some positive out of this situation.
As the years went on I could see my sister fight, struggle, and go through the pain of MS, however she did not let it affect her and she kept on as if she had nothing. Like most people with diseases they want to be treated “normal” and not be an “outcast” because they have a disease or illness. This holds true with my sister. I don’t look at her any differently than I did growing up. Yes she has MS, but she also has the fight to attack MS the best she can. The best advice I could give anyone that knows someone with a disease or illness is to be supportive. You can never have enough support especially when you are attacking a disease that currently has no cure.
Now my sister has twin girls that are 15 months old and everyone is healthy and happy. Sometimes I even forget my sister has MS, but I know deep inside that she has a long road ahead of her and I hope she never gives up attacking this disease.
