My Response to a Question about "That Sh*t on Your Leg"

I have to apologize first and foremost about the crude blog post title. Rest assured this isn't my usual language, but quoted from someone else. One of the hazards of writing for a large media outlet like Breitbart Texas is that you open yourself up for the general public to criticize or question. Trust me when I tell you the public does NOT hold anything back in the anonymous space known as the comments section of a story.

Several days ago, my managing director at Breitbart agreed to post the video of my interview on The Tavis Smiley Show from this past week, despite the fact he knew the mostly hard-core conservative readership might not agree with my more moderate opinions about how to tackle the illegal immigration problem. We talked about other border security-related stuff in my book, but that's what people would likely zero in on. However, he felt it was important to offer different voices and points of view, so they posted and we braced for some serious heat...that didn't come. Honestly, I was surprised, although I could chalk it up to maybe no one wanted to sit through the roughly 13-minute video. The initial comments criticized the show's host (who is a known liberal), but nothing about my views that was negative.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this comment from "1bimbo":


what the f*ck is that sh*t on her leg, take a day off and heal up for crisake

Again, my apologies for the foul language, but it's not mine :). To give you some context, here's a screen still from my interview that Breitbart Texas used for the story:

If you take a look at my right leg, there's certainly an odd contraption attached to it. While most of my interview was conducted showing me from the chest up, there were some shots of my entire body where this device was clearly shown. It must certainly have seemed strange to "1bimbo," who apparently thought I had it on as a result of some injury I could stay home and heal from before appearing on national television.

So in response to "1bimbo" and anyone else who might be curious about "that sh*t on [my] leg," it is called a WalkAide, and it's an electronic stimulation device that essentially keeps me from falling flat on my face. If you're reading this blog for the first time, I'll tell you that I've had multiple sclerosis for over nine years, and one of my symptoms is something called drop foot. Basically, when I take a step, my brain is unable to make my right foot pivot up to clear the ground when my right leg swings forward. As a result, my foot just flops down, and since I can't lift my right leg up at the knee either, I have to swing my right leg around in a wide arc just to walk. Amusing, I assure you. You can actually see this pretty cool video of the difference a WalkAide can make in a person with MS-induced drop foot.

Enter the WalkAide (or the competing device, called the Bioness L300):

Inside the cuff are two electrodes that are placed in the exact spot where a small electric jolt can stimulate my peroneal nerve. When I get that jolt with every step, through a reflex action my foot is forced to flex at the ankle, which allows it to clear the ground when I take a relatively normal step. Do you see that little box with the blue knob? Inside that box is a tilt sensor exactly like the one that's in your smart phone and makes your screen rotate when you change the position of your phone. The specialists calibrate the timing between that sensor and the electrodes to make sure it's perfect every time I take a step.

Does the WalkAide stick out? Sometimes. I can wear it under my boot-cut jeans, capris, and work slacks with no trouble. I'm still trying to figure out whether to cut holes for the electrodes in my (rather expensive) skinny jeans or just convert them into cutoffs. The device is obvious when I wear a dress, of course, and I get asked a lot about it. 99 times out of 100, people think I have some sort of injury or am recovering from surgery when they see it. I mean, how common is it for a young and (I'm told) relatively attractive professional woman to be using a walker or electric scooter? The producers of the show asked me if I'd be comfortable talking about my MS if Tavis wanted to address the device or just chat about my background, and I said I'd be more than happy to; they even had a printout of this blog! But in the 13 minutes we had to talk, we (and happily so) had more than enough ground to cover with just the book.

When people do ask, I tell them I have MS and the cuff is a device that helps me walk better. Usually after I give them a demonstration (there's a little test button on the control box), they're fascinated and so excited that I can take advantage of medical technology. I also tell them their tax dollars paid for it and thank them profusely, since I got it through the Veterans Administration. The reaction is ALWAYS, "I'm so happy my tax dollars are finally going towards something useful!" That usually makes an interaction that started out awkwardly (what do you say when someone tells you they have a lifelong chronic disease with no cure?) much more comfortable by the end. 

So, Mr. or Ms. "1bimbo," there's your answer. And as much as I'd like to take a day off and heal up before appearing on national television, MS just doesn't work that way. I'll take it from your lack of response to my MUCH shorter--and still very civilized--response than this one below your comment that you have been sufficiently placated. Oh, and no apology necessary.