Callarse la Boca

Mexico?  For medical treatment?  You’ll die there!  I’ll check at work to see what they say. I’ll ask my doctor.  My colleague from the hospital said “she should absolutely not go there.”

Thank you for your input, but f-off!  Do you think we didn't do the research into this?  Do you think we just saw “Come to Mexico for a stem cell transplant” on a billboard somewhere and just said, “oh, yes! Brilliant idea!” 

I could understand their concern but not their ignorance.  If you, yourself, have not actually spent hours researching the procedure, the doctor, the facilities, connecting with people who have done it, meeting someone who had it done, then please keep your mouth shut.  Callarse la boca.

Wait, wait, is your immune system attacking your central nervous system?  Do you have 80-90 lesions, scars, on your brain & spinal cord that make it difficult to speak, write, drive, cook, work, TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILD?  Are you watching your life slowly slip away as it becomes difficult, almost impossible to do the things you love - teach, read, write, TAKE CARE OF YOUR 3-YEAR OLD?  No?  Then,  callarse la boca.

Do you live with constant pain, numbness in your legs, feet, arms, and hands? Do you have headaches that go from right between your eyes all the way over your head, down your neck, all the way down your spine to your tailbone?  No?  Then, callarse la boca.  

Are you so tired after working all day that you come home and cry because the pain and exhaustion are just too great to bear?  Are you unable to care for your family?  Unable to cook because the recipes are too much to understand, unable to play with your children, unable to just be a family because disease is destroying you?  No?  Then callarse la boca.  

Do you dread going to bed at night because you're terrified of what the next day will bring?  Will your vision betray you?  Will you see things that are just not there or will you see 2 of everything?  Will you not be able to swallow without feeling like you're choking?  Will you not have control of your bladder or bowels? No? Then, callarse la boca.

Are you sad because you had to decide that your child would be an only child not because that’s what you wanted for her but because you didn’t know where you were going?  Are you unable to give your child a forever friend?  Do you have to tell her, “no, you won’t have a brother or sister because mommy is sick”?  Are you afraid that soon enough you won’t even be able to care for your child? No? Then, callarse la boca.  

Please believe that despite what MS has done to my brain, that I often forget things, have difficulty reading, trip on my words or can’t get the words out, I am still an intelligent person.  I am still a person who looks at all of the options and does what is best for myself and my family.  Can you see that?  No? Then, callarse la boca.