MS Gets On My Nerves

There's an old poem that goes, "Spring has sprung.  Fall has fell.  And summer this year is... hotter than it was last year!"  That describes our central California weather for 2005, 2006 and more than likely 2007 and beyond.  Were it not for the beckoning waters of the pool out back, I'd feel even more trapped than I already do with MS stalking my every move.



Find a pool & stay cool!

Hello.  I'm Francine Keehnel.   My husband Mark and I are native Californians, Christians, health care professionals, educators, writers, musicians and hobbyists, among other things.
We celebrated 29 years of marriage in July and have two lovely and talented grown daughters, one beloved son-in-law and two precious grandchildren.  In our early married days, we did a lot of furniture refinishing, followed by seasons of sewing and crafting, woodworking, gardening, canning, freezing and drying foods, learning to make everything from our own liquers to specialty vinegars, chutneys, salsas, and more.  I've always loved to bake my own bread and have come up with some innovations that were on the re-run list and others they begged me to never try again. The 100% pure whole wheat doorstops were on the second list.  The family was right.  I've done my best to comply.

When I was pregnant with our first daughter, working full time as a RN in a busy medical clinic,  it was autumn and we had a bounty of tomatoes, onions and very hot serrano chiles.   I cut and seeded the peppers over the sink, with the water running... but without rubber gloves, and spent the rest of the week holding my pen between my fingers and finding new ways to take messages and chart, since every time I held the pen or pencil "properly" my fingernail beds hurt like the mischief!  You might say the memory is burned into my consciousness.
In our free time we love to read, make home movies, learn new technology, spend time with our family, work on model railroading, collect or make railroad memorabilia and of course, go fishing together!  This past summer we've had a chance to do all of the above.  To celebrate our July anniversary, we escaped the valley heat and went to Santa Cruz for three days, spent time at the Beach Boardwalk and rode on the Roaring Camp Steam Train through the Big Trees from the Felton Station.

We had a pool built in 2004 in our ongoing fight against the MonSter.  I insisted on having a rail installed.  I call it my "pool handle."  It gets me in and out of the water without fear of falling.  Our next project is going to be a kitchen remodel, installing easily accessable cupboards with slide-outs instead of those deep recesses of doom which we now have. 

Soon after my diagnosis, the God given ability to laugh about my symptoms whenever possible instead of giving in to the urge to scream kicked in.  One day I told my husband, "I'm going to write a book someday.  I want to have a website and collect stories from other MSers.  I'll call it 'MS Gets On My Nerves.'"  We can laugh or cry together, share stories of our personal journeys through the maze and how we've used humor and faith to help us deal with this otherwise unthinkable diagnosis and disease. 

Not every day is a bad day.  Not every day is a good one either.  I have a sign up near my computer that reads, "I try to take one day at a time... but lately several days have attacked me at once."  Ever feel that way?  Click the Submit A Story link to share some of the ways you've used faith and/or humor to help you cope with MS.  Editing may take a while, so be patient.

As this site evolves and grows, I will add a live chat forum, plus lots of other goodies.  This is my maiden voyage with websites and some days I really DO feel like someone hit me over the prow with a bottle of champagne.

Sincerely,
Francine Keehnel,
MS Gets On My Nerves©

I'm a middle child.  My dad is also a middle child, and worked hard as a teacher while my sisters and I were in school.  He  worked several extra jobs as well to make ends meet and get us through college.  One of them was bee keeping and he sometimes allowed us to work with him making frames, scraping and painting hives, and every so often a lucky girl would get to go with him to the "Bee Barn" and extract the sweet golden honey.  At age ten, I earned some cash for summer camp by painting beehives for Daddy, and I vivdly remember the Christmas vacation of my last year in nurses' training when I was 21.  We were out in the cold barn, with fingers numbing, wiring frames for the hives.  I must have been talking a lot... (who, me?) about my friend Mark Keehnel when Dad suddenly tossed me the keys to the Chevette and said, "Go get him.  I want to meet him!"  After we got home, I called Mark's house and he said he'd be happy to visit.  I drove to Lodi in a pretty heavy rain to meet his parents and pick him up.   He drove back to Los Banos on I-5 and was a hit with everyone in my family.  My older sister Margi told me I could marry him long before I had made up my own mind.  She had disapproved of every other suitor up to this point, so this was actually a good sign.  

Dad's retired from teaching now, but inspired by his leadership, work ethic and curiosity, Mark took up the torch nearly 20 years ago and is a chemistry and science instructor at a local high school.  My educating years were from 1993 to 2000 while I home schooled our daughters from 6th grade through high school.  We chose the name "Holland Glen Christian Academy" for our school and as our mascot, appropriate for an all girl student body, the honeybee.  I found myself using many of the same teaching tools that Mother used for us girls with my own daughters and telling them, "you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar."   Bee sweet!

 One of our current pet projects is recording an album by "The Wheezles," a yet to be discovered group.  Mark has obtained the necessary audio equipment and set up a recording studio in our family room.  Inspired by our terrific grandkids, he is singing voice-over tracks of camp songs, lullabies, children's songs and hymns, and invites other family members to sing along at times.  When ready, we will have a sound bite for you to sample. Hey... those are MY eggs!   Stay tuned.