10 Things I've Done DESPITE Having Multiple Sclerosis

In 2000, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When I was forced to leave the best job I'd ever had and go on disability, I thought my life was over. It wasn't. Here's the top ten things I've accomplished since then.

1. I have written and published four novels and one non-fiction book.

2. The first novel I published, The Bond, A Paranormal Love Story, has won an award, been translated into Turkish and movie producers have looked at it.

3.  My third book, Missing Flowers, had over 10,000 downloads during a four-day free promo.

4. Missing Flowers was number one in Germany during these four days for a short time.

5.   I've had two  Amazon number one best-selling books. The Bond and Missing Flowers.

6. My books are in select libraries across North America.

7.   I'm the Vancouver Voyageur, I walk around the city, taking photos, recording history and meeting people.

8.  I write a blog on Vancouver and its history – the Vancouver Voyager - which has gained notice from other parts of the world.

9. A local magazine approached me and asked to use some of my photos from the Vancouver Voyageur in a layout.

10.   I've started a career as a motivational speaker, another way I help people realize what they can do in life.

If you feel that you are ready to start living life again, to accomplish goals and do more than you ever thought you were capable of, then stop trying to figure it all out on your own and make sure you don’t go another year without seeing some success — click here

I might be able to help you by mentoring you & giving you a step-by-step system that I have been using for the last 15+YEARS to realize dreams and go past my diagnosis. click here 

To your success, 

Karen Magill 

P.S. It is NOT right for everyone – but if you feel having me working with you almost “daily” & giving you a proven step by step system to follow will help you get your life back on track then click here for more details.

The Cure is Here...Almost

Living with a chronic illness like multiple sclerosis can be a life of emotional ups and downs - a rollercoaster. Ever since I was diagnosed in 2000, I've heard how close medicine is to a cure for the disease. It seems that a few times a year, a new breakthrough treatment has been discovered that is going to eradicate MS forever. 

Then, as quickly as the excitement started, it seems to fade away as people realize there is no magic potion that is going to return them to perfect health.

Stem cell - as far as I know the procedure is still being performed but I don't hear about the miracles being brought forth with this procedure.

CCSVI - another procedure that looked so promising. I've known people who flew to European and Latin American countries to have this procedure done. I don't know of anyone who had great and wondrous results and recently I heard that the blockage, which the procedure removes, can grow back.

Those are the two biggest 'cures' I can think of.

We are also bombarded with suspected causes of whatever chronic illness a person has. Aspartame causes MS so people get rid of artificial sweeteners in their diet but the MS stays. Not enough Vitamin D so we load up on supplements. It is our modern day diet - get rid of grains, eat only organic fruits and vegetables and grass fed meat.

We end up with a cupboard full of vitamins and supplements, an astronomical grocery bill and, many times, little improvement in our overall health.

So what do you do? We want to get better, to live a healthier, more meaningful life but what kind of life are you living if you are continuously chasing the next cure? If you are only focused on that next treatment that may cure the disease and are always looking for it, are you forgetting to live life for today? Remember - no one has promised us tomorrow.

If you feel that you are ready to start living life again, to accomplish goals and do more than you ever thought you were capable of, then stop trying to figure it all out on your own and make sure you don’t go another year without seeing some success — click here 

I might be able to help you by mentoring you & giving you a step-by-step system that I have been using for the last 15+YEARS to realize dreams and go past my diagnosis. click here 

To your success, 

Karen Magill 

P.S. It is NOT right for everyone – but if you feel having me working with you almost “daily” & giving you a proven step by step system to follow will help you get your life back on track then click here for more details.

The End of Life as I Knew It

It occurred to me that, although many of my readers may know that I have multiple sclerosis, they may not be aware of how it all started. So today, I am going to tell you.

I want to take you back to June 5, 2000. The alarm sounded and I rolled over to turn it off.  But my left arm didn't move so I silenced it with my right hand. Then I tried to climb out of bed but as soon as I put weight on my legs, the left one collapsed. I didn't have a lot of time to worry about it though because nature was calling. I crawled the short distance to the bathroom and hauled my body on the toilet. After I had finished there I was able to put some weight on the leg and I pulled myself up to the vanity and leaned against it. While brushing my teeth, I noticed that e left side of my face wasn't moving. It was as if someone had drawn an invisible line down the centre of my body. One side worked while the other didn't. Something was wrong but what?

The weird thing about this is that I wasn't terrified. I didn't call for an ambulance or find my way to the nearest hospital. No, I went to work. I did call and make a doctor's appointment as soon as they opened and the doctor sent me to the emergency room at St. Paul's Hospital.

Picture this. I am sitting in the emergency room at a large hospital in down town Vancouver and I have lost most of the use and feeling in my left side. Did I mention that my maternal grandmother died of brain tumour at this hospital in 1937? You can bet I thought about that possibility.

It took me over six hours before I was able to see a doctor. He poked and prodded me and asked me the same questions my doctor had. Then he left to get a neurology intern who came and did the same thing! All they would tell me was that it wasn't a brain tumour. Relief! But I still didn't know what the problem was.

In total, I was at the hospital for seven and a half hours before being allowed to leave. With no answers by the way. I was fed up by that time and just wanted to go home. I had the phone number of a neurologist to call and make an appointment so I guess events were promising.

On June 7, I went to the neurologist who did the same thing the other doctors had. The change this time was that he sent me for an MRI.

I was lucky. I managed to get in for an MRI within a week - usually it takes months to get one - and nine days after I woke to find my world turned upside down, I was called in the neurologist's office and given a diagnosis:

Multiple Sclerosis.

Actually, he said a suspicion of multiple sclerosis but it is more dramatic the way I said it.

The diagnosis was actually a relief in many ways. In 1986, at the age of nineteen, I went horse-back riding and the horse had a heart attack and fell on me, cracking my skull. Obviously, I recovered but I was left with strange things happening to my body. Like sudden numbness in my legs or arms that would go away. I was getting unexplained pain all over my body. Doctors never had an answer but now someone may have given me a reason why these things kept happening to me. As my late father said,

"The Devil you know is better than the one you don't".

I was told to take five weeks off work to rest and I thought great! I wanted some time off anyway. I will rest then go back to work and my life will continue as normal. Was I ever wrong!

Are you curious as to what happened next in my life? Tune in again and I will tell you.

The photos are from Morgue File except the one of St. Paul's Hospital. I took that one.

See ya next time!

Are You Living the Life You Want?

If you aren't, why not?

Do you feel as if your life is moving too slowly and the road to your goals is going to take forever? I know that feeling, as if my dreams were never going to come true. I have felt like I was banging my head against the proverbial wall and the only thing I am getting for it is a massive headache.

I'll tell you a bit about me. In June of 2000, I woke to find myself partially paralysed on one side of my body.  Nine days later, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and four months after that, I was forced to go on disability and leave the best job I had ever had. I thought my life was over.

I was single and living alone. I thought the only thing left for me was reality shows like Dancing with Stars or Real Housewives of wherever! I didn't think I would ever do anything exciting again. Oh, I was so wrong!

It is now 14 years later and I am living the life I want. I have five published books, one an award winner; I have gotten rid of the cane I walked with for thirteen years and I am working towards a career as a motivational speaker. And life coach. My days aren't bleak any longer and I don't dread facing the new day. In fact, I look forward to it.

I still have things I want to accomplish like being more financially successful and losing weight and I am working on those. I have no doubt I will accomplish those goals in the near future.

Now I want to help others realize their goals. I want to work with people who are feeling overwhelmed with life and get them back on the right track. My clients will even get a free copy of my one and only non-fiction book, On The Right Side, My Story of Survival and Success that tells about my journey with MS.

Does this sound like something you, or someone you know, would be interested in? If so, visit this page for more information.

And remember, as long as you aren't six feet under, you are on the right side and anything is possible. Let me help you accomplish what may seem impossible.

The photos are from Morgue File.

ON THE RIGHT SIDE

Strange Happenings

Everything happens for a reason. We are told that and I am sure that many roll our eyes and think yeah right. But it does.

Bear with me while I take you back to April of 2013. That is when I stopped using my cane to assist me walking. That was also when I knew the time was right for me to write my book On The Right Side, My Story of Survival and Success, which tells about my journey with multiple sclerosis. This book was not only cathartic to write but will also help others. I hope.

But to get my message out to as many people as possible, I knew I needed more than just the book so I decided to explore the possibility of motivational speaking.

Fast forward to end of February, beginning of March of this year. I happened to see Bradley Shende on Global TV morning news and he was talking about the BIL conference coming to Vancouver. The organizers were looking for volunteers and speakers. So I started looking for more information but I couldn't find anything until someone on my Facebook friend's list posted about the conference. (I was spelling it wrong) So I found the correct website, posted something and things started moving from there.

It's funny. When I first posted, I got that sinking feeling in my stomach and I knew I was stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something right.

I had a great time and Bradley and I discussed getting together so he could give me some ideas. Originally, we were supposed to have coffee around the first few weeks of April but that didn't happen. Bradley is a very busy man and couldn't find the time. We finally set up a time to meet on May 2.

Now I am going to take you back even further. To a cloudy day in August of 1990. That day a friend and I went to Canada Olympic Park in Calgary to see a free concert featuring Paul Laine, The Pursuit of Happiness and Bryan Adams. I met one of the men from Paul's band and Paul and I ended up connecting a few months later. Years pass, life goes on and we lose touch.

Thanks to Facebook, I managed to reconnect with Paul and on April 27, I went to see his new band, Darkhorse. Great show, I had a blast. I got to talk at length with Paul and his friend Les Horne and even had my photo taken with Paul, which I put on my phone. I didn't realize it beforehand, but Paul had been working on music behind the scenes and this was the first time in years he had performed like this. I was even more honoured to be there.

Are you with me so far? Because things are about to get a little weird.

Friday, May 2, I am sitting in the waiting room of the office that Bradley shares with another company. He was an hour and a half late but because he was, I saw something I didn't realize existed. A backpack with a section especially for a laptop. I just got my first laptop and was going out after our meeting to get something to carry it in. So if Bradley had been on time I wouldn't have seen that and it is ideal for me.

Bradley and I were sitting having coffee and I showed him something on my phone. He looks at the photo and says 'that's Paul Laine.'. I said yeah.

Paul had created music for one of Bradley's projects and the office where I had sat waiting for Bradley used to be Paul's.

Now you may say that is just coincidence but is it really? Think about it. I get rid of my cane, decide to venture into motivational writing and speaking at the same time the BIL Conference makes it debut in Vancouver and through there I meet some awesome people who I hope to be friends with for many years.

My meeting with Bradley were delayed to until after I saw an uber-talented musician perform whom we both know. Something was guiding circumstances to create just the perfect connection. I think it was fate and it means that I am involved with the right people and on the right track to accomplishing my goals.

Think about that the next time a meeting is delayed or you miss a plane or are late. Everything happens for a reason and in its own time, we just don't always see why.

At least that's my opinion. The photos are from Morgue File.

See ya next time!

How Green Grew

On the weekend of March 22 and 23, I had the privilege of being involved with the BIL Conference. I met some really great people and one of the, David J. Hiebert, is contributing to today's entry.

David is the author of Gratefully Green, a children's book that explains the benefit of living a green lifestyle.

I haven't always been green. I’m still not “perfectly” green. Why wasn't my life “green”? There was a problem with the roots.

After years of marriage, I divorced. I jumped into a series of relationships. Common law, an affair with a married woman, a marriage that ended when I cheated. I stopped. I lived alone. I took stock of my life. I saw that what my life had grown into was very weedy,confusing and not very attractive. During this ”gardening” I was clinically diagnosed as having ADHD. I received treatment, benefited from an adult ADHD support group and started to weed, prune and cultivate my life.

Then an “inner voice” asked me if I would be willing to be an apprentice for sixty years to work for one? That was not such a strange question considering that I had just had my second blood transfusion. I had had ALL the tests. Cancer? No. A virus? No. Finally there were no more tests to take. Then followed years of monitored maintenance. More blood transfusions. Weekly and bi-weekly Iron infusions. My doctor said she was glad that she had saved my life.

I decided to live my life more honourably by being Creative, Compassionate and Humble. It was during this time of deconstructing and rebuilding my life that a concept came to me. The concept was that each letter of the word GREEN had a meaning to explain what “Going Green” might mean. It started with, “G is for Grateful”, “R is for Respectful” etc. Each “explanation” became wordy and plodding. These ramblings morphed into snappy poems. I drew the illustrations.

And so the concept grew. The leaves became pages that turned into a book. The process to an ISBN numbered children’s book called Gratefully Going GREEN took five years.

I have read Gratefully Going GREEN at a school, it’s in a local book store and I’ve presented it at the recent BIL conference. Where will the book go next? I don’t really know. It’s still growing. .

Thank you. David (J. Hiebert)

Thank you David for an entertaining, and enlightening, article.

The photos are from me and Morgue File.

See ya next time.

When Did You Grow Up?

Today's entry is from Brian Randleas. Take it away Brian.

Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Most of us went through a list of possible dream professions. When we learned that there were not many openings for real cowboys, who rode the range, fought Indians and outlaws, and drank rye whiskey from a dirty glass, we moved on. We discovered that to be a princess you needed to have more than a tiara and a pink evening gown with frilly edges. Your parents had to be royalty. We judge from mom's old housecoat, and dad's comfortable but worn out shirt and boxers, this was not happening. Gradually we worked our way through a world of possibilities, until as we grew taller our list grew shorter and more practical.

For instance. To be an astronaut one is required to learn things. Things like math and algebra. To be a famous athlete one must be borne with amazing talent, or resign themselves to work each and every day to make the cut.

That being said. If you didn't like math, or the idea of spending hours a day doing actual exercise didn't make you giddy then chances are your list was pretty short.

What about those of us who never got that dream job or our face was never on the cover of a Wheaties box? How did we know we had grown up? Well first I suppose we must try to define a measure of what it means to be grown up.

Would being old enough to vote count as being grown up? Society after all and even our own government have decided that at the age of 18 we are grown up, and responsible enough to be able to vote. What about our first real job where we were not required to ask, “Would you like fries with that?”, or “May I super size that for you?” Perhaps it was having our own car, apartment, or even kids of our very own. Along with each of these choices came responsibilities as well as bills of our very own.

I must confess. With each of these new milestones I still had no sense of being grown up. Although I did have a new sense of responsibility, a grown up to me was someone like my parents. That was definitely not me.

Then one day it happened. There had been no warning. No one sent out a memo. Nothing was marked on the calendar to prepare me. One of my children wanted to go somewhere, or do something. My mind raced ahead to all of the dangers, and things that could or would go wrong, and end with my child endangering themselves or another. Of course I said no. At this point dad had done his duty as a parent and been responsible. Of course my child asked me the question all young and foolish young children are want to ask. “Why not?”

Now if you were reading earlier you know and I know that I genuinely did have reasons. My list of reasons was way to long to make for anything other, than a long and drawn out answer, which would of no doubt surpassed the attention span time limit of a youngster. I also thought better of suggesting things to an impressionable young mind that had not occurred to them before. So of course I gave the old standard adult answer.

I immediately flashed back to my childhood as I heard my father’s voice escaping from my own lips, and saying those four words. “Because I said so.” I wanted to take it back, to not believe it was so, but it was too late. I had said it. Unfortunately everyone knows that once said, words cannot be taken back. They are out there.

I sat down sighing in my comfortable worn out shirt and boxers, and feeling very much like a grown up.

Thank you Brian for that story. Quite interesting and I am sure that many parents can relate.

If you want to connect with Brian Randleas, you can cruise over to his blog and check out his Facebook page.

Thanks to Morgue File for the photos.

See ya next time.

Bouncing Back

Recently, I had an event on Facebook. It didn't turn out to be the roaring success I had hoped it would be and I was understandably disappointed. Heck, I was ticked off! My co-host and I, along with numerous other kind people, put a lot of time and effort into getting this event arranged.

It is so frustrating when I run promotions, which other writers have had great success on, and I see very little. It is heartbreaking to hear about the great successes of other authors and not seeing them myself. Especially if I am doing basically the same thing. Is it a problem with my presentation? Is my product not that good? Will I ever get to the level of success I want to? What is wrong with me? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

To be honest, those questions don't disturb my slumber. Because when I get discouraged or down about this, I start making plans. I have a list of promotions and ways to increase my sales. I know that some will work better than others. 

That's the only way to be, I think. Lick your wounds, do something totally different for a little while (I watched Fast and Furious 6 and drooled over the men)  then get back to the task at hand later. We can't let the disappointments that happen in life discourage us from going on. Just think how life would be if everyone gave up after a few disappointments? We wouldn't have the technology we do. We would still be living in caves!

I am embarking on a new career - author/speaker/life coach - and am billing myself as a Positive Energy Mentor. But I am human and there are times when I will have difficulty being positive and happy. I may snap at people, I may hurt their feelings. I don't mean to, I regret it and am trying to be more careful. However, it will happen. Because I am human and I am not perfect.

But I am not giving up. I will continue to keep working towards my goals and trying to find the way that works for me. I will keep bouncing back.

Photos from Morguefile Free photos.

See ya next time!

Strangers in our Midst

There are lots of people in this world, many in my own town of Vancouver, BC. I don't know everyone, nor will I ever. I pass strangers daily and I don't know much about them and probably never will. That's okay though. I don't have the time to befriend everyone I see. Nor are most people interested in that.

However, just because a person isn't a friend doesn't mean I can't do something special for them. Sometimes it is as simple as smiling at someone you pass on the street. Many times, they don't smile back - lost in their own thoughts, consumed with their own problems - but sometimes someone will. Did my smile make that person feel a little better? I hope so.

Have you ever noticed a woman's outfit and really liked it? What do you do? Do you just make a mental note that it was nice and walk on? I like to tell the woman. I don't stop and engage them in conversation but as I am walking by, I will say nice outfit. The woman will usually smile and say thank you. I have brightened her day. I may never see her again but perhaps I have given her a boost of confidence.

To be honest, it is so easy to make a stranger feel good. To shine a little light on their day. Just a compliment or a smile. Or, if you see someone struggling to get something in the car or pull in garbage cans from the curb, offer to help. It will take a few moments and will not only help them, but makes you feel good too.

Now if it were only as easy to make those close to us feel as good. Many times it is. It requires thinking before you speak or apologizing when you do make an error and hurt someone's feelings. It also requires people not to be overly sensitive. Before you take offence at something that is said or done, take a step back and think. Many times people imagine slights and insults when nothing like that was intended by the other person.

I hope you all enjoy your Valentine's weekend.

See ya next time!

Photos from Morguefile Free photos
.

On The Right Side: Forbidden words and a farewell

Frogs are Cute!

Today I am honoured to welcome guest writer, J.r. Barker.

Thank you Karen for having me here.

Today I would like to talk to you about Wildlife; or specifically the slimy, scaly aspect of it that isn’t as cute as say, a Kitten with some string.

Amphibians and reptiles are incredibly diverse species and can be found almost anywhere, the trouble is that they are also incredibly vulnerable. Any climate or environmental change can dramatically impact on the lives of these creatures, whether it’s their habitat or their general health. Many species have already become extinct or are on the endangered list, many within my lifetime.

A lot of work needs to be done to prevent further species following suit.

Why should we care?’ you might ask.

Well for a start they are good indicators on the state of the environment.They are crucial members of the food chain, birds, foxes and badgers all eat these creatures. If that doesn’t persuade you, it might help to remember that they also eat flies and insects. Those things we are so inept at squishing they literally eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also, contrary to popular belief, they can also be incredibly cute.

What can you do to help?Well actually there is something you can do right here, right now, without any cost to you.

An organisation called Froglife is doing a year long survey about how people see reptiles and amphibians in the hopes of improving their image. All you have to do is take part in a survey and as a bonus you’ll be entered into a competition in which you could win fabulous prizes.

The competition is open for adults and children, so you can get the whole family involved.To find out more and to enter the competition click here.

I would like to thank the following sites for frog photo.

© Janpietruszka

Dreams Time Stock

Stocks Free Images

See ya next time!

Welcome Author Doug Simpson

Today I would like to spotlight an author that find interesting, Doug Simpson. Doug has five published books. His latest is The Soul of Jesus. You can find it at this link:

US Link
UK Link

Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His first novel, a spiritual mystery titled Soul Awakening, was published in the United States in October of 2011, by Booklocker. It was reissued in October of 2012 by 5 Prince Publishing as Soul Awakening, Book I of the Dacque Chronicles.

The Soul of Jesusis Doug’s newest work. As part of His preparations for the long-prophesied birth of the Christ, God selected a devout group of primarily Jewish Essenes to oversee this monumental undertaking. The Soul of Jesus delves into numerous details surrounding these readily-available but little-known preparations which preceded the birth of Jesus, and then carries on to share delightful snippets concerning the birth and life of Jesus before the commencing of His Ministry, Jesus’ Healings and other Miracles, His Apostles, relatives, friends and the group of seventy disciples, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, His activities after the Resurrection, and Jesus’ Ascension, that are not recorded in the Scriptures.

One of my favorite questions for an author is what is your fondest childhood memory? I asked Doug this question and here is his answer:

Growing up, I loved playing hockey and following my heroes playing in the National Hockey League. That was back in the days when there were only six teams in the league. I knew all of the players by name and by face as they never wore helmets or face guards back then, not even the goalies. We lived about an hour outside of downtown Toronto and once or twice a year my father would take me to a Toronto Maple Leaf’s game. As I got older I developed the notion that I should try to collect autographs from my heroes and persuaded my father to not rush to the doors at the conclusion of games but to hang around outside the player’s dressing rooms or player’s exit and wait for the players to walk by. I not only collected their autographs but had brief conversions with some of them. Can there be a better dream than that for a hockey-crazy kid? I still have some of those autographed hockey programs framed and hanging on my wall in my computer room where I write. Can you have better inspiration than that?

You can stay connected with Doug Simpson here:

Amazon Author Page

Facebook

Twitter

Thanks for visiting Doug and I wish you all the best with your new book.

See ya next time.