The Doctor

Today is September 25, 2010.

I know it has been a long time. I had a granddaughter, went to the doctor, had MRIs, Mom had a birthday, my laptop crashed, two weeks ago,.. it rained all week and flooded, yesterday I got a new laptop, so here I am... back to writing.

I did go to the doctor, finally... He talked to me and my husband and told me I was getting worse... you think? He wanted to do test to see which medicine to start me on. He sent me to get four MRIs of my spine. It literally took all day. Then a week later, I spoke to the doctor on the phone and he told me I did not have any lesions on my spine. There is nothing to do but wait until next May and do more MRIs. He said if I start seeing double or something major like that to call him. The doctor also mentioned that by next summer a pill will be approved that has already been approved by FDA (I think that is what he said), anyway, if I wait for the pill, I won't have to take shots everyday. He explained to my husband that the shots that you take daily are the ones he would prescribe because they do the most good for my type of MS, with the least amount of side effects.

At any rate, I am glad my spine is clear and I do not have to take shots yet. I have good days and bad. On the worse days, my entire right side (and sometimes part of my left) are numb, my right arm is weak and sometimes hurts pretty bad, I have short term memory lost (I call STML), have trouble concentrating, have to go to the restroom a lot to prevent accidents, get very dizzy (I almost fell just standing in my boss' office one day), and I see blurry. On my good days, my right arm and sometimes my face are numb. I hold my youngest granddaughter, who is six weeks old, with my left arm, so I do not drop her. I do not hold her on my bad days, just in case.

I will try to keep you posted... I am going to start noting if my bad days coincide with my stressful day, or what I eat, etc. I am very busy, so I am not good at documenting, but I think I will try to start so I see if that helps.

Bye for now. Love you all!

Getting Worse

Today is Monday, August 2, 2010

I have been feeling much better for the last couple of days, but for the last couple of weeks I have not been very well. About two weeks ago I was awakened by the pain in my right arm. It hurt for about a week, getting a little better each day. Aleve seemed to help some. For the past month my right arm has become weaker. Some days are better than others. Some days I have a hard time lifting things, such as a glass of water, a stapler, small things. And when I do lift the stapler, I cannot staple my paper. I have learned to pick up things with my left hand, and to use my left hand more. It seems stronger and more dominate these days, even though I have been right-handed for almost 50 years... Even on my good days, like today, my right arm is weak. Sometimes my right arm feels colder than my left arm. I asked others to verify it to make sure I just didn't feel it colder because of it being numb or something.

I called my doctor last Friday to make an appointment, but was told "Well you have an appointment next May... do you need one sooner? He is booked!". Well, I told her that he told me to call if I needed to, so she put me through to his nurse's voice mail to "state my case". I did, but the recording stated it will be at least 24 hours before I got a return phone call, so if it was an emergency to go to the emergency room - ... You think?

Asparagus/New symptoms?

Today is June 29, 2010

I have not had asparagus in weeks. I just cannot make myself drink 4 tablespoons twice a day for two weeks, so how could I do it for the rest of my life? When I was younger my doctor told me either start eating liver (not every day!) or get shot for my anemia. I learned to love liver. The problem is, the doctor did not tell me to eat asparagus or else. My husband read that it helped cancer patients. The days and weeks I did as requested I did not see improvement. It is like a placebo that I knew was only a sugar pill.... unless I believe it will work, it will not. Now I hate asparagus and it hurt my stomach to eat (or drink) that much.

My right arm is feeling more dead every day. Some days, like today, are worse than others. It is hard for me to lift things that are light, like a remote control. It is really hard for me to staple papers together - I have to use two hands (only because I do not know how to only use my left). My right leg tends to give out on me, especially when walking my dog, Lucky - a lab- because he is stronger than I am. The right side of my face is extremely numb today. I also was extremely tired. I almost fell asleep sitting up. At work this morning, we shut down production to prepare for Hurricane Alex. I do not think this extra physical work should exhaust me so much. It was not hard work, just different work. I have these days about five times a month and it does not seem to matter if I rested that day or worked out that day - just some days I am very tired.

Well, keep checking back for more details. Let me know your thoughts. Love you all.

Current Symptoms

Today is June 13, 2010

I woke up this morning and my right arm was dead to the world. I could move it, but it was (and still is) very tingly and it hurt to move it. It was like that most of the day and still is not doing so well. My right cheek is extremely numb today. I want to add that my numbness is daily, so I do not note it unless it is unusually bad or good. Most of the time it is just my right arm and check. Sometimes it is also my neck and upper back. Sometimes it is also my upper thigh. When everything on my right side is numb, my left cheek and arm start going numb. So, today, my right cheek and right arm are worse than normal. I am also very tired today.

As far as my asparagus treatment is going... it does not go so well on the weekends when my Honey comes home. He is gone Monday - Friday and I have a routine. Then my routine gets messed up over the weekend... I shall try again tomorrow. - or maybe in a minute. It is only 9:30 p.m.

Symptoms

Today is still June 10, 2010.

I wanted to talk a little about my current symptoms. I want to keep up with my changes to be able to tell the doctor what is going on and to know when it is time to start his treatment - the shots - not the asparagus.

My eyes are getting more blurry. My numbness sometimes hurts in my right arm. Sometimes I try to lift something as light as a glass of tea, and my right arm feels like my muscles are not working properly; like the tea is very heavy. My left eye seems to water involuntarily - but it is not like tears, it seems a little thicker than tears. I get tired very easily. I sleep all night - about ten hours - and wake up tired. I started going to the gym on June 7 and so far I am only working on the stationary bike for 30 - 45 minutes. It takes more of an effort than it use to. My friend Rebeca wants me to go to a dance class with her next Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00 each night. I told her I would try it, but I do not know if I can make it. I feel like if I did not have to go home and feed the dogs, and the six aquariums full of fish, and cook, and do a ton of homework, I would be able to exercise and be okay without getting so tired. But even last week when I was not exercising, I still get tired to the point that I cannot think straight or see straight. I have to rest before continuing with my assignments. For this reason, I attempt to be ahead in my work in case I have a bad day. Somehow I manage to keep a 3.88 GPA... I surprise myself. Another symptom is loss of concentration. I will be thinking something, and know what I want to say, but cannot spit it out. It makes me feel like others think I am stupid or something. It is in my head, just have a hard time processing it. I have learned that I need to slow down and make sure I had the thought correct in my head before talking or sending an e-mail. I found that I make "stupid" mistakes lately when I know I know better. I must slow down.

What's Next?

Today is June 10, 2010.

Since my last post, my husband has been searching for answers. He wants to me research MS for about four weeks, write down questions I may have, then make an appointment with my doctor to discuss options and get answers. My main question is what are the benefits of starting treatment and what are the side effects. I would like to weigh both sides to see what is best for me. In the meantime, my husband has found a home remedy treatment he read about that he wants me to try. He said to drink four tablespoons of asparagus twice a day, every day. He said it would take about two weeks to notice a difference. I am trying, but it is very hard to remember to eat the asparagus, to buy it, and when I do remember, it is like "Yuk!, not again!". I use to like asparagus, now.... not so much. Oh, you may want to know how to drink it? Use the can stuff, Green Giant is suppose to work the best. Heat it up with seasoning of your choice. Puree it, measure and drink up. Yum! Yum! NOT. Actually it is not bad, just twice a day... tired of it. But I told him I will make a valid attempt to not miss a day for two weeks. So far, it has been five weeks and I have not made a consecutive fourteen days yet. I will keep trying. I have also not found that it has helped any, but unless I go through the two week trial, I will not know. So, I have to do it - for me, for you, and most of all for my husband.

Being Diagnosed with MS

Hello everyone,

Today is May 27, 2010

In May 2008 I needed surgery on my right knee, but experienced numbness in my right thigh and the right side of my lower back. My doctor sent me to a back specialist to check me out. He decided I was fine and sent me back to the knee doctor. The knee doctor then sent me to a neurologist. He said I was okay to have the knee surgery.

In February 2009, I was at work when my right side started getting numb. By the time I got to the minor emergency, my whole right side was numb, from my head to my ankle - front and back. They immediately checked to see if I had a stroke, then told me to drive across the street to the emergency room at the hospital. They took the whole day and checked me out for life-threatening issues, and found that I was not going to die. They advised me to see my regular doctor.

A week later, my regular doctor said he thought I had MS, but this had to be diagnosed by a specialist. He asked me if I knew a neurologist. I told him about the doctor I had seen the in May 2008.

In April 2009, after about two months of going through every test in the book, including a spinal tap, all test were inconclusive. My symptoms also included dizziness, muscle spasms and blurred vision. My doctor said he could not label me as having MS unless he was 100% positive. He advised me to wait one year and have the same MRI on the same machine as I just took. He asked me to promise to call him immediately if I had more symptoms or if I got a lot worse.

In 2010, a year later I got my MRI. My appointment to see the doctor for my results was on May 5. I expected to go in and get told that nothing has changed and to come back in a year. Instead, he said he put 2009 and 2010's results side-by-side on the computer monitor. He said see this picture on the left of 2009? Now see the same view of the 2010? See those three little black dots? That is MS. He explained that it was a mild case but we needed to discuss treatment.

He explained the treatment was a shot everyday for the rest of my life. He said once I started the treatment I could not stop. He said that I could wait to start treatment. He said if I was his wife or daughter, he would advise me to wait and have another MRI next year. I was in shock. I told him I would like to wait. He said I had to promise to call him if I started having new symptoms - especially if I started seeing double.