Book Jacket

 

rank 5357
word count 15147
date submitted 02.10.2009
date updated 07.10.2009
genres: Non-fiction, Harper True Life
classification: universal
incomplete

Moving Forward: Learning to walk again for the first time

Vern Beachy

I will never, again, take walking for granted. Moving Forward is a story about walking again after taking a new MS drug called Tysabri.

 

Walking again after four years in a wheelchair, Vern Beachy talks about what it is like to begin a risky new treatment for Multiple Sclerosis and then being able to discard a wheelchair and crutches after just three months of treatment. The drug, Tysabri, is not a cure for MS, but it is really close.

In his conversational, vivid and stark writing style evident in his first memoir, A Tear-Stained Letter, Beachy wonders if "this is what heroin addicts feel like."

 
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tags

beachy, disabled, drug, multiple sclerosis, physical therapy, tysabri

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4 comments

 

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vbeachy wrote 155 days ago

Hi Vern, I just read your first chapter and find it tremendously encouraging for those of us with MS. I have not suffered anywhere near the degree you have and often wondered what it was like for those far worse than me. Your writing is wonderful; cryptic and to the point with the emotion someone in this circumstance would be feeling. I look forward to reading further. I laughed when I read the part about "always looking drunk" as that's how I describe MS to people who don't have a clue. Trouble is, you can't "sober up" from MS. Thank you for this.

Debbie Martin
IN THE FAMILY WAY



Thank YOU so much for your comment Debbie! I like a saying I once heard: "Nobody gets MS until they 'get' MS."

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DPMartin wrote 155 days ago

Hi Vern, I just read your first chapter and find it tremendously encouraging for those of us with MS. I have not suffered anywhere near the degree you have and often wondered what it was like for those far worse than me. Your writing is wonderful; cryptic and to the point with the emotion someone in this circumstance would be feeling. I look forward to reading further. I laughed when I read the part about "always looking drunk" as that's how I describe MS to people who don't have a clue. Trouble is, you can't "sober up" from MS. Thank you for this.

Debbie Martin
IN THE FAMILY WAY

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danielharper wrote 849 days ago

Beautiful. Read the entire work from beginning to end then more in a less traditional manner. I'll will most likely check on your updates daily... "back into 20/20 perspective" is so well articulated.

I deal with a similar, but definitively smaller facet of MS. This testimony is inspiring. Thank you so much for your work. I don't want to say anything more. I want people to read this, so much.

Thanks again. And good luck. I'll be looking for the previous memoir.

Dan

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Margaret Anthony wrote 852 days ago

Vern, you could tell a good story whatever the subject. That this one is true and about you makes it even more absorbing. You give us no self-pity, no mawkish sentimentality just tell it like it is. I love the dry wit, the fine-tuned observations and above all your courage. I read all the chapters because I wanted to progress with you and I look forward to you posting more. I'm sure Melinda would approve of this story. Love the pug! Happy to put this on my shelf so others might see it. Margaret.

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