Medical Fun

The title might make you think this will be about the Evil Twin, but no, this one is on me. 

You're welcome!

I don't talk about it much, and I don't make a big secret of it either, but I was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in the year 2000. 

Buddy was about two and for many months, I had not been able to feel the backs of my legs or my feet. 

I really didn't think much about it, because it wasn't painful, just mildly annoying - but easy enough to dismiss.

Until one day, I was slicing tomatoes. I dropped the knife, leaned over, picked it up and kept on with my slicing. Then, I looked down again and my big toe was bleeding. The point of the knife had pierced my toe, but I hadn't felt it AT ALL. 

I started seeing doctors. Many, many doctors and so on and so forth and they ruled out this and ruled out that and not one of them suspected MS...

"Well, it just doesn't present that way." 

An MRI of my back, a spinal tap and finally an MRI of my brain were administered and the results came back: MS. 

I started on an injectable drug called Copaxone almost immediately. Copaxone is a subcutaneous (meaning the needle goes just right under the "fat layer" of skin for the injection). It's a daily medication. Some of the injectables are once a week or every other day, but one is intra-muscular (a trickier injection for someone to give themselves) and they both had terrible side effects. 

Lucky, I'm not needle phobic or anything like that...It's just more of a logistical nightmare than anything else. 

Fast forward to today: I have an appointment to see my neurologist today. I plan on talking with him about Gilenya. I hope I'm a good candidate for this relatively new medication for MS. It's an oral medication, which means I wouldn't have to plan my entire dosing routine around a special time. I could just take it at the normal time I take my other oral medications. 

My appointment is around 10A, so keep your fingers crossed that I meet the requirements and seem to be a good candidate for this. It would make my life about a million times easier, in many ways. 

I'm still going to be a slow walker, in pain from my back down on many days and extremely exhausted, I'm sure. But, it'd be one less thing to drain my mental energy, so I am really hoping this is doable for me. I shall let you know, hooligans!

Enjoy your Friday! 

Love,