Last night, Monday March 3 2014, I was given the opportunity to meet Clay Walker. I had no idea he has MS. The same RRMS that I have!! I wasn’t sure how it was all going to plan out, how many people were going to be there, or if I will handle it. I’m still trying to take in the diagnosis of MS. I’m still in shock. I’m still telling myself that I can have my Dr. Pepper, if I only have one a day. 

Who needs a workout?! I walk up and down my stairs, go shopping, and clean my house. That’s enough of a workout for me!! So on we went. We stopped by Pei Wei in Ft. Worth for dinner. Yummy!! Don’t worry, I got a Dr. Pepper!! Then onto the hotel. When we arrived I remembered that I was suppose to call my peer advocate that lives in Iowa. She has MS, takes the same medicine as I do, and has been on it for 9 years. The day she called me was the day I thought I couldn’t do this anymore. The shots were really bugging me. She called just in time to talk me through what I should expect. Her name is SueAnne. I probably just spelt her name wrong. But nonetheless, she called when I needed her. She also mentioned that she was going to come to this event and would love to meet me. So…as I was walking in I remembered that I was suppose to call her. Ugh! Why did I have to forget. Anyways, I went to the registration table and gave my name. The lady immediately yells over to SueAnne to tell her I was here. She came running over and hugged me. I’ll admit, I was emotional. She is amazing. She pulled Randy and I aside to ask me if I wanted to skip the first part of the meeting with the neurologist and go backstage to meet Clay Walker. Ummm, YES!!! So that is how this amazing night began.

There was 12 of us with our spouses/moms/daughter/friend escorted to a room where we would wait, eat dessert, chat amongst ourselves until he came in.  This is where I met a hilarious guy that has MS. His name is Rusty and lives in West Texas. Of course we talked about the explosion and the hand of God that was seen after. So many lives were changed. Many miracles happened. Anyways this was a neat opportunity to talk with someone else that has MS. I of course ask about the diet and exercise. He is exercising daily AND eating healthy. Dang.

Then the moment when Clay walked in. Oh my!! I was so excited!! I walked up to him and said hi and that I’m new at all this. Ummm dumb!! He laughed. Then I told him I was just diagnosed a month ago. He then gave us amazing advice. He told me to take care of me through healthy diet and exercise. Great. Then told me that guys in general are the fixers. They like to fix things. He told him that all Randy needs to do is love me. I loved that. I’m not broken, I don’t need fixing, I just need to be loved for me. I then asked him about my addiction to Dr. Pepper. He said he loved his Dr. Pepper too! But then said that since the day he was diagnosed he hadn’t had one. Oh man!! Really??!! Ok. So I began to walk away when he shouted that my teeth will thank me too!! HA!! Yes, I know my addiction isn’t healthy for my body or teeth. I just didn’t want to hear it. I don’t know why I asked since I knew what the answer was going to be, but for some reason I was secretly hoping he would say that it would be fine.  He didn’t.  I was still so excited to have the opportunity to talk with him. He is very personal. He didn’t rush anyone away. He was there for us. amazing.

SOOO…now to the concert!! Randy and I sat right up front. It was amazing!! I loved his songs. Loved rocking out to “If I Could Make A Living”. Recorded some of it for my twin sister. She loved this song when we were in high school. Seriously I LOVED his music! It was fun watching him. He was diagnosed in 1996. He was only 26. Now look at him!! See…I won’t let this MS rule me. In between his singing he would talk to the audience a little. He told them that he just met a “beautiful lady” (He called me beautiful!!!) backstage that was newly diagnosed.  He said he also noticed that my husband was bigger than him…HA!! Cute. He started to tell them the advice he gave me, but stopped himself and asked me to come up on stage and tell the audience what he told me. Oh my goodness!!! I was so nervous. I went. I told. He hugged me. He kissed my cheek!! Then it was over. I went back, sat down, and thought to myself if he can do this, so can I. If he can stop drinking Dr. Pepper, so can I. If he can exercise, so can I. I really think this is what I needed to get out of the shock/depression I was in. So I’m going to try one step at a time. I’m going to give up my Dr. Pepper. I’m going to start just walking. I’ll try a workout program that Rusty told me about. We already have the program, I just don’t like working out, so I haven’t done it before. Today is the day. The day I really start taking better care of myself. The day I admit out loud that I won’t drink anymore Dr. Pepper or soda. Oh my. This is scary, but I have to do this. Not just for myself but for my family. I need to be here. I have a lot of life ahead of me. I’m going to start living it.

Thank you to Copaxone/Shared Solutions and Clay Walker. I know now that I can do this. This will be a day I won’t ever forget.