B.C. Laybolt's Blog
January 22, 2022
My Princess Has MS, S2E4: We Are Not Very Good Podcasters.
In which we FINALLY make it back ‘on air’, Princess updates about her symptoms, and I thank our ghost.
Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
Or check out our Youtube channel!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo5UtjXkPsQQ1F7bYiVn6nw
May 31, 2021
My Princess Has MS, S2E3: Princess Flies Solo!
In which Brent is MIA, Princess is brutally honest, and the podcast gets a sponsor!
Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
March 7, 2021
My Princess Has MS: Season 2, Episode 2! Caregiver Fatigue.
In which Brent’s beard is a problem, Princess does not interrupt, and we revisit the importance of reaching out.
Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
February 28, 2021
My Princess Has MS: Season 2, Episode 1!
In which we are back!
Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
July 29, 2020
25 years.
Take a minute and look at this picture. Really look at it.
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This was taken at the reception party after my brother’s wedding in 2014.
What you are looking at are two terrified people.
She knew something about her was eroding. She felt broken. In new ways every day. She saw it. We both did.
We didn’t know what. Only that something was terribly, terribly wrong. There was a malicious and mean ghost haunting us. She was struggling, even in this picture, to ignore it. Suffering silently in terrible ways to appear ‘normal’ to everyone on the outside.
We hadn’t danced in public since our wedding.
She had been recruited to fill in for one of the bridal party at the last minute. Her terror over what could happen in front of people in that church is something I will never understand how she overcame.
She forced herself to be there for our new sister-in-law, absolutely terrified. The reality of any number of accidents during the ceremony, and her humiliation and being mortified and embarrassed if any of them did take place, gave her panic attacks throughout the day.
In that picture, she is exhausted. She is terrified. She is fighting a brain that will not cooperate.
And we had no idea why. The two people in that picture are lost in a storm they can not see, name, or know how to fight.
That was taken in 2014. It would be two more years of confused fear before we would see her MRI and know what was changing her. Two more years of misunderstanding, of falls, of exhaustion, of cognitive fragmentation, of accidents, of shrinking worlds, of robbery of her capacities, of tremours, and of tears. She would lose her ability to drive, robbing her of her independence and making her feel more like a burden with every day that passed. She would doubt her ability to be a good mother, a good wife, and a good person, as her disease would chew away at her abilities and their life.
Every day was becoming a fight in a long war, and she did not know she was in it. Neither of us did.
We were simply trying together to hang on.
I was in the same room with my father, who had not recognized me that night when he had first seen me. My brother had to tell him who I was. My mind was on fire with threat. My children were meeting their grandfather for the first time. In this picture, my hyper-vigilance was cranked to the point of fracture.
There is a lot going on in this photograph.
Fear. Doubt. Loss. Grieving. Exhaustion. Two people lost in a fight they can’t name and may not win, because they don’t know how.
In that photograph, she was supporting me as much as I was her.
Those two people are holding each other together in equal measure, surrounded by the dark.
Full of doubt about how the next years would unfold.
Six years ago. We’ve been managing the storm ever since. Once we could label it, two years later, once we knew what the ghost looked like, once we saw her MRI, we had a name. And we could know what we were fighting.
Today, Lesley and I have arrived at our 25th wedding anniversary.
That’s half of my life. And half of hers. Agreeing to face storms of all natures, unknowable and unpredictable, as a team.
We’re not ideal. We’re not perfect. Not even close. We’ve struggled, fallen, been cursed by our mistakes, and battered by life’s strikes.
But we’re together. We’re a team. Somehow, we’re here, in the storm. Still holding on.
Happy 25th anniversary, Princess. I love you.
You’re the strongest person I know. Even when you break.
No matter the storm; hold on to me. For as long as you can.
Don’t be afraid if you weaken.
I will not let go.
March 29, 2020
My Princess Has MS, Episode 15: Coronavirus and positives
In which Princess considers online dating, I get tired, and we discover she is a master at social isolation.
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Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!
Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
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March 15, 2020
My Princess Has MS, Episode 14: The Struggle Worsens.
In which Princess discusses her rough week, I get puppy kisses, and we discuss Heavy Things.
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Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!
Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
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March 4, 2020
Short story 4 is back from the editor!
The fourth short story in my upcoming dark fantasy is back from my editor, the merciless ogre and wielder of the blood pen!
[image error]Progress is good.
He excels at BJJ, so I must approach his revisions carefully, at the risk of my ancient joints and bones.
Once finished, that leaves eight remaining before we finalize the anthology for publishing. Updates will follow!
Thanks so much for everyone’s encouragement and asks about the anthology’s progress! I promise, we’re going as quick as we can, while adhering to some fairly demanding quality standards. (I cannot escape neck cranks. Therefore, I must rewrite). Being an Indie, limited resources means fluid timelines. Your patience is much appreciated!
March 1, 2020
My Princess Has MS, Episode 13! (MS and Covid-19).
In which I get rubs, Princess finds out Timbuktu is a real place, (and tries to talk her way out of her upcoming MRI), and we discuss what it means to have MS in the face of Covid-19.
[image error]Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!
Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
Join my email list
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February 23, 2020
My Princess Has MS, Episode 12: (Empty Nesting and The Importance of Hobbies).
In which I brag about my beard, Princess finds out the secret reason why we podcast, and we discuss my replacement.
[image error]Special thanks to Kaitlin Braden and Ben Nickerson for our amazing intro jingle, and to Dylan Edwards for our logo!
Click on the file below for our latest episode, and feel free to share, like, comment, or follow! Please tell your friends, or anyone you think might benefit who has Multiple Sclerosis or is a loved one of someone who does.
Join my email list
By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
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