Annette Funicello has died at age 70.

[nuthatch]

No doctor should ever tell someone that they'll be in a wheelchair or be dead within a certain amount of time, diagnosed or undiagnosed with MS or any disease for that matter. What will be, will be.

[Kittianne54]

What i can't figure out, in reference to Annette Funicello, is that she lost her ability to speak (I think it was in 2009). I am on a similar course. I was dx'd at 47 in 2001 with a gait disturbance, now 11 years later, I lost my ability to walk, along with various other problems (i can still transfer somewhat). Except in Annette's case, I've never heard or read about the loss of speach in MS. Anyone have any knowledge on this?

[agate]

Hi Kittianne54,
I'm sorry your MS has been progressing but hope you won't give up and just decide that you've lost walking forever. I've heard of many cases of people who lost functioning--walking, vision, etc.--for quite a while, and then some or most of it came back.

Unfortunately MS can take away speech too. I've known a couple of people with MS. One had no voice at all in the 17 years I knew him. Eventually he was able to get an electronic device that enabled him to type out messages on a keyboard, and a voice simulator spoke them for him. The messages also came up on a display screen.

This wasn't an easy thing for him because his hand spasticity limited him but it was better than nothing.

[Abby2006]

When I was in rehab after second hospital stay they had a speech therapist come in who said she did not think the pneumonia was caused from food being inhaled into lungs and tat my MS is destroying my esph (whatever it is) so I had to have speec theraphy the weeks I was there everyday whic was boring but I have noticed something has happened to my voice, not kije it used to be.

And I don't care that they pulled the plug as long as they kept feeding her and giving her wate. I mean just having MS is torture enought but to have to die like Terry Schaivo did would have been awful.

Abby

ONe did not have anything to do with the other but at least I could start eating again without fear and am up to almost 70 lbs now(from 57) and had lab work done this week so will find out if D3 is out of danger yet so I can go bac on D4 (not 50,000 oncde a week)

Oh! I found ORGANIC pop tarts ao atill am shuolving them and washing them down with ORGAIN protien shake