I am 48 years old and catastrophically disabled by multiple sclerosis (secondary-progressive MS) that finally put me in a wheel chair in 2005. My MS started in the mid-80s while I was a Marine with the 2nd and 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. I was a 60mm Mortar man in 2/5 and a 50-caliber machine gunner in 3/5, but because so little was and still is known about MS, I was misdiagnosed with everything from depression to being called crazy.After the Marine Corps, I became an auto tech at a Chevrolet dealership in Norman, Oklahoma, which is where I was raised. My condition became so bad that after 10 years, I could no longer walk without falling down and suffered from extreme fatigue. I now live in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I can sit at my desk and function pretty well. I use a hands-free mouse that I control with my head movements to do my design work, and I use my computer because I can no longer use my hands. I have been designing cars for about five years now along with logos, etc. I really love doing this work because it is one of the only things I can do by myself without any assistance from anyone.I can still stand, but I have no balance and cannot take steps. Without the help of my wonderful family to assist me to do other things like moving from my chair to the bed, I would be lost. Kathy,Val and Tim, I love and would be lost without you.
Scott BatesMuskogee, OK
