the life and times of the lesser spotted packet jockey

I'd like to use your attention for a moment to ask that people don't underestimate what "balance issues" means.

I suffer from MS, multiple sclerosis, and for about a year now the world has been permanently spinning because of lesions on my cerebellum.

It will be for the rest of my life, the damage is done and won't get fixed. In fact, it'll get worse as more lesions appear and my brain gets increasingly scarred. It's not reduced over time, I've just learned to protect myself a bit more and to avoid things that make it worse.

The other day, I fell over from standing completely still.

The world shifted sideways, and I reflexively compensated, as anyone would if for example you were on a boat or plane and it suddenly took a turn or capsized; the response came, as it always does, before having a chance to process it on any conscious level. If the world had shifted, I would have then kept standing.

But it hadn't.

So I operate on false information and respond to something that doesn't exist, and end up on my arse. The number of times I've injured myself is pretty hilarious at this point, I've got multiple inches-deep gashes in my legs from falling on things made of metal.

I'm not looking for thoughts and prayers here, but I do want people to try to understand how radically crippling it is.