Long before he was diagnosed with MS in 2003, 50-year-old Bellas saw its impact up-close. His sister had been diagnosed earlier, and they often talked about her symptoms and emotions. When Bellas began experiencing his own symptoms — pins and needles in his right hand, numb feet, mental confusion, noise sensitivity — a diagnosis confirmed his instincts.An American who had worked in IT, he relocated to Holland in 2005 “to live with the girl of my dreams. I knew beforehand that my decision needed to be made soon, as primary progressive MS has a way of changing any future desires. So, I plunged into the unknown. A new land and my final great adventure.”After he was confined to his bed in 2019, he joined the Facebook community “on a whim, just to try it out. Turns out, it became my home away from home. Here is a place that understands me.”In the beginning, he posted questions and provided answers for others. Then, the empathetic artist in him gradually kicked in. He began composing long posts about how to live with MS, how to have hope, how to smile and still dream, and how to live life fully and gratefully.Like any artist who opens a window to their soul, Bellas held nothing back in an effort to take away embarrassment and make it easier and safer for others to talk about their issues — from what it felt like to wear a diaper when he went to sleep to sexual dysfunction due to MS.“To my surprise, that topic exploded. People wanted to talk about it, but they were too afraid to bring it up themselves,” he says. “I opened my private life to the public, making myself vulnerable, but it was a risk I was willing to take. And it paid off.”
