This is me

It is a quiet Thursday afternoon at the Old Observatory. The objects I will use to tell you about myself are displayed in front of me on the side table. The objects in question are valuable to me for various reasons and tell stories about me as a person, as an Egyptologist, as an employee at the Honours Academy, and as someone who is often creative.

You may have noticed that I’m in a wheelchair. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2011. Over time, I have suffered severe loss of mobility (amongst other things).To avoid misunderstandings; MS is not a muscle condition, it is a progressive neurological affliction causing infections (lesions) in the brain and spinal cord that result in damage to the nerve cap (myelin), which, in turn, impedes the conduction of nerve impulses.

Now that I’ve explained my primary health concerns, let me just stress that this story is not about disability (or ‘impairment’ for that matter). I simply refuse to be secretive about my disability, or be ashamed or uncomfortable about it. Although it is always present in every single thing I do (including writing this), for now I prefer to talk about how other aspects of my life have influenced who I am as a person, just as much, if not more than the disability does.

I can say with conviction that I appreciate myself for being me and I wish the same for you, dear reader. Obviously, I would prefer to not go through life with a disability, but considering that it is a given, I’ll do what I can to have a fulfilling life in spite of it.