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Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis affects 2.5 million people worldwide, including 400,000 Americans. Peg Shepherd, RN, is not only an expert in MS, but she also lives with it. Peg is here to offer information and advice on multiple sclerosis, and share her personal experiences.

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WebMD Health News

Monday, January 30, 2006

MS Means Managing Resources Wisely
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We had a surfing contest here in Mexico last week. There were a couple of bad "crashes" among the surfers, although none as bad as the one last year that resulted in a broken neck.

It made me stop and think about how unpredictable life is. I tend at times to do a bit of futile 'if only' thinking about having MS. But anyone can have a life-changing event at any time.

Be it an accident or a disease, humans are very vulnerable to the unexpected. One of the things that I always encourage people to do is to invest in disability insurance. Face it -- disability is more likely than an early death. So disability insurance is more important than life insurance for most people. Like me, you could 'wake up' one morning with a disease like MS or be in a traffic accident and as a result be unable to continue your profession.

And, no, I neither sell nor own stock in insurance! But most people don't realize how long it can take social security disability to kick in or how few other resources most of us have to cope with a prolonged period of unemployment. Especially not when that lack of income is accompanied by steep medical bills.

I have often given this same message to the nursing students I taught. And many of them were in their early 20s. I don't know if any of them took my advice but it's something I want you all to think about. You can save yourself and your family a lot of potential grief by being prepared.

Enough. I really do NOT sell insurance!

Posted by: Peg Shepherd, RN at 9:39 AM

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