For people living with multiple sclerosis, it’s easy to dream of the life we had prior to being afflicted with this condition. So much of our everyday lives is shaped by MS, we often find ourselves missing the way things were. One of the amazing contributors at MultipleSclerosis.net, Marc Stecker (also known as the Wheelchair Kamikaze), wrote a poignant piece on missing his former self, called “I Miss Me”. We shared his article on our Facebook page and received a tremendous amount of feedback from our community about what it’s like to miss the “old you”. Here is what some of our community members had to say:

I’ve said the same thing to others!

• Funny, I said that to my neurologist shortly after I was diagnosed last year.
• I just said something similar to my sweetie the other day…that I would like to have my life back. I feel as though it’s been taken from me.

I thought I was the only one!

• And I just thought it was me.
• I really miss me!!!!!! I didn’t know there were others who felt this!
• I despise that I “miss me” BUT am relieved that I’m not the only one “Missing”.
• I always have moments of missing the old me. Glad it’s not only me thinking this way.
• I say this so much, but when I try to put things on my page or try and explain how hurts, even my family ignores it. I was glad to see this and know I’m not alone. I say to myself every day I miss me.

I Miss Me too!

• I miss me a lot!!
• What a well-written blog which perfectly describes the life so many of us live. Or should I say have lived. I am amongst the very elderly whose future time on this earth will be very short. You too, will adjust constantly to your new normal.
• I mourn and miss the old me. I can’t believe who I’ve become; however it’s a new challenge and who knows what I can be and what new experiences lie ahead that I would never have had. Stay positive guys.
• I shared with a friend recently, “I miss me, who I used to be.” Her reply… “No, now that person is still down in there somewhere.” I’m exasperated. People really don’t know!!!
• I just want the old me back!
• Wow! This is the first time a tag line has smacked me in the face! Even though I’ve been very lucky, as I pondered this “I Miss Me,” I suddenly felt very sad. I do miss me. Even though I haven’t been “obviously” affected by MS, there are so many hidden things, the fatigue, weakness, ability to think quickly, balance, and stamina, that yes, I am not the “me” I once was. I do miss ME. Thank you for a great article.
• What I miss about the old me is being able to do ANYTHING I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it!! Now, I have to accept the help of others, where I was the one always volunteering my abilities to those in need.
• ‪I do miss most of the old me!!!! But I have welcomed most of the new me, with very few regrets.
• I was missing for 15 years. I felt myself slowly slipping away, more and more the last 5 years though. It’s awful.
• I understand just how you feel. I miss dancing a lot! Stay strong
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• I miss myself so much! I just want to be able to be normal again and go to a ball game and climb up the bleachers and just walk around the yard without tripping in a hole and fix a meal or brownies without getting exhausted!
• I miss me! I miss being able to bounce out of bed, being able to run, to dance to skip/hop/jump whatever! . I miss the reality of being able to chase my dreams. I miss me.
• I have to believe that everyone misses the earlier version of himself or herself as they age, too.
• Thank you for sharing. I say this a lot. I miss what I used to be able to do and can’t. I don’t even know who “me” is anymore. My identity was through my work and my child and all the things I could do for others and now I often wonder, “who am I?”
• I am beginning to hate the new me!!!
• I get so depressed if I start to think about original me.
• I miss me like crazy!!!!! I say that to myself EVERYDAY
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• I want to run, even though I was not a runner!
• I read his blog, it’s so insightful. My every move is fraught with thought. I miss the “me” that was.
• Great article! It’s depressing to think about what MS stole from me but I know there are others who have it worse than I do and I try to stay positive. Keep writing it helps to know I am not alone.
• I want me back, but I don’t see that happening.
• Just learning to accept there is a new me but so hard to let go of the old me.
• Things that seemed so simple are now a struggle. Thanks MS–NOT!
• I miss being me. Feeling like I can do anything. I miss having a job, and making money.
• Wow, this is so powerful! I miss me and have been missing me for 16 years now! I don’t know how many times I say I want my OLD life back!

What about you? Do you miss a previous version of yourself? Please share with us in the comments!