I read this post by Exmo Mom, in Hermes' thread about SAHM Ann. Here's a quote:

"Ann Romney may or may not have had difficulty working, not only due to being a Mom of 5, but also due to her illness.

Although her illness diagnosis only came about fairly recently.

I postulate that the stress of being Mormon and raising 5 boys was probably something that led to her illness, although I don't know a lot about MS."

So I gather Ann has been recently diagnosed with MS?

I find this sad news to be somewhat ironic, as I have seen video of Mitt totally dissing a crippled man with severe MS who asked him about his position on the legal status of the only medicine that has helped his symptoms--medical marijuana.

Mitt just said he was against med mj, refused to hear the man further, and turned his back on the guy's wheelchair. Hmmm...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2012 10:20PM by hello.

I saw that ineraction with the man also. Mitt is a jerk. I don't know how long she has had it-MS, but no one talked of it 4 yrs. ago I don't think.

Yes she has MS and has for a long time. I remember it being mentioned 4 years ago when he was running for president the first time.

I have MS and do relatively well. I can't imagine that it is too easy for Ann to deal with the strain of a presidential campaign while dealing with MS. Maybe with all of his money, Mitt doesn't have to worry about being a care giver or support for his wife dealing with a difficult disease.

My daughter has MS. A difficult disease to deal with for anyone, rich or poor. BTW, marijuana, medical or not, doesn't do much for MS. I would have dissed the guy too.

How about stem cell research? Diss someone who asks about that?

Stem cell research is moving beyond stem cells of embryonic origin, so your point is moot.

Doesn't do much for MS? Really?

Why do so many people think it is helping them, at least with pain and symptoms? No one is claiming it is a cure. But a lot of sufferers claim their quality of life is much higher with cannabis therapy.

So, I'm curious, on what do you base your statement?

I saw that video too. I thought he had cancer and the marijuana helped him with the nausea.

You know, knothead, yes, I am wrong about this encounter with Romney. I checked it out, and the patient who tried to ask if Mitt was going to arrest him for using med mj was suffering from muscular dystrophy, not multiple sclerosis. Apologies to the board for the error!

Right! It was muscular dystrophy! And Mitt was totally callous to that poor guy.

He really was.....wonder if Obama will show that exchange over and over this summer? It does not look good. He totally ignored the guy. I felt so bad for man in the chair.

So Ann is 63 or so. I wondered about that. Feel sorry for anyone who has a disease that can cause symtoms of any kind -at any time -and especially the weakness and pain.

hello Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Doesn't do much for MS? Really?
>
> Why do so many people think it is helping them, at
> least with pain and symptoms? No one is claiming
> it is a cure. But a lot of sufferers claim their
> quality of life is much higher with cannabis
> therapy.
>
> So, I'm curious, on what do you base your
> statement?

Yes, lots of people claim it's a cure all for everything. And it makes their life "better". If only more people "believed in cannabis therapy, life would be better for all sufferers....sound vaguely familiar. I am very well versed in MS treatments. Pot does not help.

"Yes, lots of people claim it's a cure all for everything. And it makes their life "better". If only more people "believed in cannabis therapy, life would be better for all sufferers....sound vaguely familiar. I am very well versed in MS treatments. Pot does not help."

Well, that settles it then. Battlebruise says it doesn't help. No need for further discussion.

IMO this alone should disqualify him for running for president. I don't care how much help you can afford to hire, when you're in this situation, you need your spouse to be there for you.

If you can turn your spouse and the mother of your children over to care givers while you glory in being the leader of the free world, you are a selfish SOB.

If she is saying that she doesn't mind making this sacrifice so her husband can live his dreams, she has been fully indoctrinated.

If you have a spouse that is chronically or terminally ill, you should be focusing on them, not the rest of the world.

If he isn't focused on her, it shows how narcissistic he is, and it just goes to show that she is replaceable in his mind.

Mia, I was thinking the same thing. I don't know how severe her symptoms are or whether or not her health will get worse. Did Mitt think about his wife or just himself?

I'm wondering if this could be an example of some mormons believing that because they have eternity to spend together, being too busy for each other in the here and now is acceptable.

Narcisistic is the word. He is all that for sure. I doubt he worries much about it-her illness. Some men do not deal well with any illness their woman has. It can certainly be the reverse with women not caring, but I don't think nearly as much.He has had a goal once people put him on a pedestal with the Olympic thing and now he feels he is owed this "prize". I just wish the whole thing was over.

MS for some people is a manageable condition and they can live a fairly normal life for many years. But, it's a condition that is difficult to generalize since each person's condition is unique.

I think she's also dealt with breast cancer. Brave woman.

Isn't the only alternative suicide? How many people do you know who have committed suicide upon being told they have a chronic/possibly fatal disease? Wouldn't that reaction be a little extreme?

Not that I don't feel sorry for anyone having to deal with ill health. But I don't get how she's particularly "brave" bc of it.

I hate the whole "survivor" thing. You are right. You aren't brave because you are motivated to stay alive. Everyone wants to stay alive.

She was diagnosed in '98 at age 49 with MS AND breast cancer. Contrary to some opinions, MS is/can be a painful condition, and it would be nice to have the option of medical marijuana instead of just prescription pain pills (although I am grateful for those!).

Just a word of caution, here. In reference to Ann Romney's being a breast cancer survivor: she DIDN'T have metastatic breast cancer, folks. It was a small tumor that was safely removed. She didn't suffer through countless courses of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. She should be honest and admit that she didn't have the type of breast cancer that spreads, as most breast cancers do. To omit this fact, makes me suspicious of her publicizing it. It smells like she is doing everything in her power to get her husband elected, including getting him the always effective "sympathy vote."

Regarding her MS - where has anyone of her doctors stated that she has been diagnosed? Everything has been what either she or her husband's campaign has said. Not one word from one of jer doctors on the supposed MS. Again, this doesn't pass the smell test. As Ann stated a month ago when doing everything she could to help her husband's ridiculously shallow campaign effort, "It's Mitt's turn." she will do anything in her power to help him get that sympathy vote. What a shame.

Oh wait, she did think she'd hit the jackpot when Hilary Rosen said she'd never worked a day in her life.

Hmmm...

DCIS? A very tiny tumor that is considered stage "0." Lumpectomy, no chemo, no radiation. Maybe tamoxifen for 5 years.

I know a lady at church who wears her status as "breast cancer survivor" like a badge of honor and she had DCIS. There were complications with her lumpectomy because of her breast implants.

I don't doubt that she has MS and I don't doubt that she has difficult days because of it. What I *do* doubt are her and Mitt's claims that her illness somehow puts them on the same playing field as struggling middle class families. Has she ever had to forego treatment because of money? Spent hours on the phone battling with her insurance company to cover a medication or additional physical therapy? Spent nights trying to figure out how they could feed her family AND still afford the medication she needs? NO. She undoubtedly receives top-notch medical care, has never had to worry about medical bills, and if something isn't covered, paying out of pocket is no hardship. She stated in a Washington Post article that she took up dressage riding because it helped with her MS. For anyone who doesn't know, dressage is HUGELY expensive, easily thousands and thousands of dollars a year for lessons and gear(not including the cost of the horse--of which she apparently owns several-- and its care and feeding). That's all great for her, but someone in her position has absolutely no idea how severely a chronic illness can financially cripple most working families.

While I agree with everything you said about Mitt being skanky and narcissistic and ... well, everything, I think we ought to give Ann a chance. She knows her capabilities and maybe she's living her dream too - wife of an important, powerful man. Just because she has MS doesn't mean she shouldn't go for what she wants as far as she is able. We don't really know how bad her MS is or how ambitious she is (in a Mormon helpmeet way, granted). We also don't know how much she is giving into Mitt's ambition (likely) and how much is her own. MS is a difficult disease but if they think they can cope with it and the pressures of a campaign, it's really their call. It doesn't make Mitt look like much of a loving, supportive husband but we also don't know what Ann wants out of the campaign either.

Yes, I read that Ann Romney has MS. Instead of trying to treat the painful symptoms with medical marijuana, Ann chooses to role-model a wholesome, entirely legal way of managing her disability.

Practice dressage! It is best if you can buy several Austrian Warmbloods (pricey, but worth it) and - sorry, I forgot to mention the first step. The best way of treating MS is to have millions of dollars to spend on every treatment, drug and therapy under the sun.

To CateS, I do know of someone who committed suicide after reading about the type of terminal cancer he had. It was my husband step-grandfather. I forgot what type he had, but he did lots of research on it. In the end he decided he didn't want to go deteriate like that. He sent grandma out into the yard to do some yard work, took a shotgun into the guest bathroom, put it to his chest and pulled the trigger. I'm sure his is a rare instance, but it does happen.

I'm very sorry for your husband's grandmother and her family.

However committing suicide after getting a cancer diagnosis likely indicates a deeper psychological issue. Even if said diagnosis is terminal.

I can understand how a psychologically healthy individual would ultimately choose suicide once the terminal illness they had been unsuccessfully treated using all conventional protocols.

I stand by my original point. Just because Ann Romney got cancer doesn't mean she's brave and I have never ever heard of another case of someone who got a diagnosis of cancer who committed suicide because of it. I don't guess there are many (if any) studies out there to prove my point but I'm confident that suicidal responses would be few and far between. As Presbyterian said: "everyone wants to stay alive." Maybe I should add the codicil "provided they're mentally healthy individuals to begin with."

My uncle did that last year.

He was a hard working farmer all of his life. I'm sure he couldn't stand the thought of being bed ridden and slowly dying. He was a very independent type.

He came home from the Dr's, went out in a field and shot himself.

The Dil of a friend got the news two weeks ago that her father had shot himself after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

About 2 years ago a man in our ward went out into Puget sound and quietly drowned himself after getting a terminal diagnosis.

My neighbor told me that a guy who used to live down the street had terminal cancer, shot himself. That was 5 years ago.

I find it interesting I've only known or heard of men who do this. It may be more common than we realize. A lot of families don't like to talk about suicide.

http://www.msassociation.org/about_multiple_sclerosis/symptoms/?gclid=CJjP2Lel3a8CFakERQodJCZxBg

The symptoms vary greatly & it's often not diagnosed correctly for years and years. It's a very debilitating disease for most. Montel Williams also has it.

From what I've read, and some of you here have verified it, MS symptoms can vary from very bad to quite manageable, depending on the person. My guess is that she has a mild case, but I don't know that, obviously.