A Fragile Hold: Living With Multiple Sclerosis And Other Uncertainties

When Ruth Cotton walked out of her neurologist's office in 1997 with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, her life changed irrevocably. At the peak of her career and with three children still at home, all she could think of was uncertainty - about the trajectory of the disease, the limited treatments available, and whether she'd evade the spectre of a wheelchair-bound life. Since then, Ruth has lived a rich and full life, striving to minimise the stress that can cause multiple sclerosis to flare up, and growing in resilience. Not until her retirement years did multiple sclerosis exact its greatest toll - by stealth, taking her balance and mobility. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic confined Ruth indoors, she lost the engagement that she'd long enjoyed with the wider world. Then news comes that her husband's cancer - melanoma, diagnosed years before - was accelerating. Overwhelmed by a sense of the fragility of her life, Ruth turns to writing to make sense of it all. Giving close attention to her immediate environment, and recording what she sees, hears, and feels, a more mindful way of being and thinking unfolds. Simple interactions and small moments begin to take on a singular shape and intensity. Ruth discovers her life need not be defined by what she is unable to do, but by what she can. A fragile hold by Ruth Cotton is a collection of micro-essays revealing with warmth and unflinching honesty intimate scenes of her daily life with multiple sclerosis.

• | Author: Ruth Maree Cotton
• | Publisher: Lightleaf Press
• | Publication Date: Feb 17, 2023
• | Number of Pages: 328 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 064812861X
• | ISBN-13: 9780648128618