Woman Says Multiple Sclerosis Forced Her To Slow Down After a Lifetime of ‘Always Accomplishing Something’

Reflecting on the “fast-paced world” we live in today, Calzado says her experience with MS has offered her a completely new perspective on life.

“As the saying goes, when one door closes, a window opens. For me, God didn’t just open a window; he made sure I finally stopped long enough to look through it,” she says.

“At first, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Faith didn’t magically erase my frustration, but it did grow stronger, gently nudging me to search for meaning in a journey I never signed up for. Living with MS forced me to slow down, something I had avoided my entire life. Rest and stillness once felt like wasted time. I was always busy, always accomplishing something. Productivity defined my worth. If I wasn’t doing it, I felt like I was failing.”

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A post shared by Aranzazu Calzado (@amess.withms)

Calzado, who is now in her 40s, said she “ignored” any warning side of MS her body had quietly been trying to tell her for years

However, she has since learned to listen to her body and “recognize the small signal.”

“Taking a break no longer feels like failure; it feels like wisdom. Rest, I’ve learned, isn’t quitting; it’s refueling. And running on empty is not nearly as smart as we pretend it is,” she continued.

Most importantly, Calzado, who is living with a type of MS called primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), has learned that “life doesn’t end with a diagnosis; it evolves.”

She now prioritizes grace and patience, determined never to give up.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS): Inspiring Stories from SNTV  

Calzado continued, “Like many life-changing diagnoses, I moved through emotional stages. Denial came first. Then anger—at myself, at the world, at anyone breathing too loudly near me. Sadness followed, filled with tears and a fear of the unknown. And then, finally, acceptance.

“Not dramatic surrender, but a quiet decision to stop fighting reality and start living again. That was the day I took the bull by the horns and moved forward with a purpose.”

She commends MS for having pushed her toward greater compassion and a renewed focus on faith, patience, humor, and meaningful priorities.

Further hoping to spread awareness and inspire others with MS, Calzado also recently took to Instagram to praise Multiple Sclerosis News Today, which featured her new outlook on life, as “a space that doesn’t just share information, but truly connects lives.”

She wrote alongside a photo of herself, “Living with MS can feel like a solitary journey… but through the stories we share, I’m reminded every day that I am not alone. Behind every post is a story of courage, resilience, and hope—and together, those stories create something beautiful: a community.

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“A community that lifts us up. A community that reminds us: we matter. A community that shows us that no matter how hard the journey is, we can still accomplish anything we set our hearts to.”

Further hoping her story makes an impact on others she captioned another Instagram post, “A Journey Like No Other. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I officially met MS in December 2021, but truthfully, she’s been a silent companion for much longer. Multiple sclerosis hides in the shadows, difficult to diagnose, and often misunderstood.

“Advocacy starts with you—no one knows your body better than YOU. Listen, push, and fight for answers. If you’re on a similar path, you’re not alone. Let’s keep shining light on the silent battles and sharing strength.”

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For anyone coping with stress that comes along with a diagnosis, Dr. Kysa Christie, a clinical psychologist in the hematology and oncology clinic at the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, previously shared a simple exercise with SurvivorNet that can be used as an easy tool to help manage anxiety.

“So when people are feeling anxious, nervous, a little emotionally overwhelmed, there’s a few strategies that take less than a minute that you can do,” Dr. Christie explains.

“One of my favorites is belly breathing, so kind of putting one hand on your belly, one hand on your chest, let your shoulders relax, and if you’re standing, kind of really notice where your feet are touching the ground. If you’re sitting, notice where your butt and legs are connected with the chair, sink in for a second.”

“The belly breathing is designed to, as you breathe in, your hand should lift up a little bit like a balloon, and as you breathe out, your hand goes down. As that balloon deflates, what that’s doing is giving your body a chance to reset,” Dr. Christie says.

“So when we’re nervous, when we’re scared, we tend to breathe from our chest, and those breaths tend to be more shallow,” she continues. “So if you’ve got one hand on your chest, one hand on your belly, you can notice where is this breath coming from and try and breathe from your belly.”

Mental Health: A Guided Breathing Exercise to Help Manage Anxiety

“Let that lower hand rise and then let it fall. If you notice it’s coming from your chest, these more shallow breaths. Just again, try and focus your attention, bringing your attention to your belly, where your hand is, and breathing in, and then breathing out.”

So essentially, performing this belly breathing exercise can help curb those thoughts, bringing an awareness to your breath and also the visual element of the balloon can be helpful, aligning your body and mind.

If the anxiety you’re feeling is at a level where this is not helpful for you, you can try another exercise.

“Sometimes if your thoughts are racing so much, it can also be helpful to do some grounding exercises, and that’s a way of getting your mind kind of focused on the present rather than wherever it’s racing off to,” Dr. Christie says. “So you might think, okay, let me come up with 20 sports teams and I’m just going to sit here and rattle ’em off. Give yourself a minute or two to do that. Then let me come up with 20 different things I see in this room.”

“Again, it’s a way of getting your mind here where you are in the room, rather than the worries that are starting to carry those thoughts away,” Dr. Christie adds.

If you’re looking for more meditation practices, start with the below simple, guided meditation.

A guided meditation for the SurvivorNet community.

Living with Incurable Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis causes the immune system to attack cells that form the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers in the spinal cord. The disruption leads to communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body.

Once the protective barrier is damaged, the spinal cord struggles to communicate with the body’s arms, legs, and other parts to function normally.

WATCH: SurvivorNetTV Presents: Defying All Odds – A World-Renowned Doctor’s Incredible Journey Through MS

There is no cure for M.S., but M.S. warriors battling the disease do have methods to manage their symptoms.

Common tools M.S. patients use to improve their quality of life include wheelchairs, canes, leg braces, and some medical treatments called disease-modifying therapies (DMTs).

A study in American Family Physician found that DMTs “have been shown to slow disease progression and disability; options include injectable agents, infusions, and oral medications targeting different sites in the inflammatory pathway.”

Research published in Frontiers in Neurology says autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) (also called bone marrow transplantation, with autologous meaning a patient’s own cells) used for multiple sclerosis therapy helps “reset the immune system.” Several studies and clinical trials using AHSCT have shown promise.

“In a meta-analysis of published studies using AHSCT for M.S. treatment, the pooled estimated transplant-related mortality was 2.1%, the two-year disease progression rate was 17.1%, the five-year progression rate of 23.3%, and a pooled 83% of patients had no evidence of disease activity at two years. Patients who had the most benefit and the least mortality rate were patients with relapsing-remitting M.S. (RRMS).”

Additional research published by NEJM Journal Watch says that AHSCT helps MS patients reduce relapses better than other forms of MS treatment.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society outlines the different types of multiple sclerosis:

• Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) is when an individual experiences a single neurological episode lasting 24 hours or less. CIS is what M.S. is diagnosed as until there is a second episode.
• Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS): The most common M.S. among the million people battling the disease in the U.S., RRMS is marked by sudden flare-ups, new symptoms, or worsening of symptoms and cognitive function. The condition will then go into remission for some time before reemerging with no known warning signs.
• Primary progressive M.S. (PPMS): These individuals have no flare-ups or remission, just a steady decline with progressively worse symptoms and an increasing loss of cognitive and body functions.
• Secondary progressive M.S. (SPMS): This is an almost transitional form of M.S. that progresses from RRMS to PPMS.

Mental Health: The Basics

The term mental health refers to both our emotional and psychological well-being. Our mental health can affect how we think, feel, and behave. Certain triggers like stress, traumatic events, or change in your physical health can affect mental health. That’s why it’s important to keep tabs on your mental health, which could mean seeking treatment for some. This doesn’t necessarily mean traditional therapy because while it may be really helpful (even life-changing) for some, that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.

Problems with mood and overall mental well-being can be attributed to several factors. For some people it’ss genetic, while others may be experiencing a response to some sort of stressor or past trauma.

Learning To Cope With Mental Health Struggles

“I think flexibility is really a core of how to manage it,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist and author, tells SurvivorNet. “Are your coping strategies that you’re using now, are they helpful in the way that they were in the past?”

Dr. Boardman suggests working to recognize any negative thoughts that may be making the process of cancer treatment more difficult, and trying to dismantle those to be more “realistically optimistic.”

Related: Responding to Stress: How to Cope With Complex & Changing Emotions

In order to keep your mental health in check, it’s important to be aware of signs, which can be subtle, that there is something affecting your mind. These signs include:

• A change in eating or sleeping habits
• Losing interest in people or usual activities
• Experiencing little or no energy
• Numb and/or hopeless feelings
• Turning to drinking or drugs more than usual
• Non-typical angry, upset, or on-edge feelings
• Yelling/fighting with loved ones
• Experiencing mood swings
• Intrusive thoughts
• Trouble getting through daily tasks

These symptoms can be wide-ranging and vary a great deal from person to person. Everyone experiences grief differently, for example. However, if you are feeling unusually sad, on-edge, or like you’re no longer interested in activities you used to love, know that there are many treatment options available and many different healthy ways to help you cope.

Finding the Right Option for Mental Health Needs

Whether it is life-balance, a loss of a loved one, or a change in life brought on by a cancer diagnosis, “grief comes in waves,” says Dr. Scott Irwin, a psychiatrist and Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“They’re grieving the change in their life, the future they had imagined is now different,” he told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. Some days can be tougher than others, but Dr. Irwin says talk therapy can be really helpful, so it’s important to reach out to your doctor, to a therapist, or to support groups in your community if you are struggling.

Dealing With Grief Related to Health Problems

Treatment options for people struggling with mental health really run the gamut. While some people may benefit from seeking the help of a psychologist and getting on medication, others see great improvement by simply implementing some lifestyle changes, such as prioritizing exercise and cutting back on alcohol.

Those struggling should know that they are not alone, about one in five American adults has experienced some sort of mental health issue, according to mentalhealth.gov. However, what worked to help someone else cope may not necessarily help you, as treatment must be individualized.

To maintain a positive mindset and address mental health struggles you may be having, treatment may include:

• Seeking professional help from a psychiatrist or therapist
• Learning healthy coping skills
• Medication such as antidepressants
• Adding more physical activity to your routine
• Adjusting your sleep schedule
• Connecting with others via support groups
• Mindfulness and meditation

Questions for Your Doctor

If you are diagnosed with MS or are concerned you have the chronic disease due to symptoms you’re experiencing, consider asking your doctor the following questions.

• Although there’s no cure for MS, which treatment option to manage my symptoms do you recommend for me?
• Are there any potential side effects of MS treatment?
• What if the treatment to manage symptoms doesn’t work?
• Will exercise or therapy help my symptoms?
• Are there any MS support groups you recommend to help me cope

Critical Questions. Trusted Answers. A New Wave of Cancer Patients Using SurvivorNet’s My Health AI Tools For Support

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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