You’d think a simple game like mahjong would be easy for someone with a chronic illness. Any game card or tiles. After all you are just sitting at a table all day how hard is that? Well now add in a weakened core muscles and for some a hint of cognitive difficulty and the simple task isn’t simple. For me, it’s the core muscles. It’s those muscles that hold your body up helping you sit at that card table. It is work to lean forward and back each time picking and discarding the tiles of the game. That constant motion eventually tires out the muscles just like any other movements can tire out my MS muscles. By the end of the four hour game I come home completely fatigued. It’s like a full body workout for me something so simple. For me I’m constantly fighting my muscles to stay upright it’s a workout. Like any workout I’m stronger than when I first started but like anything with MS I have good days and bad days.

I can say it helps with a really good nights sleep. I slept straight through until morning without waking up even to use the bathroom. That is a rarity. Felt good to get a really good nights sleep. I needed that. Not only from the muscle fatigue of mahjong but from the tiredness leftover from my infusion. It doesn’t take much to run you down with MS. Getting a good nights sleep helps to recharge you a little.

It’s amazing that something so simple can make me so tired. I love playing the game. I have a really good time but it isn’t easy for me. I look at people sometimes, when they walk, and wonder if they ever appreciate that they are able to walk or run if they wanted. The girls I play with could never understand the difficulty I face when playing because they don’t have anything remotely similar in experience. I wonder if they appreciate that? Of course I don’t expect it because how could they, they only know of can, not can’t. It’s hard to walk in someone else’s shoes. I can say that most people I meet, including them, go out of their way to be helpful. I am able to appreciate that.