Hello friends,
Things are starting to fall into place. On Friday I had a sleep study. I have decided that this study was invented in Abu Ghraib. I believe that the goal is to see how many wires they can attach to your body and how many times can they wake you during the night without you losing it LOL! I slept so poorly that I ended up sleeping all day on Saturday. Which lead to being up all night and sleeping all day on Sunday.
I managed to get out of the house on Monday for a little bit, this happened to be ther first 90 degree day of the year. I found that the information from the doctors and MS websites was once again correct. The heat really takes it out of me. I am sure that I have slept more in the last two months then I have in the last two years. I am so tired of sleeping!
Today the nurse from the drug company came and taught me how to inject my Rebif. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The needle is very small and it didn;t hurt very much. the nurse explained that 59% of patient experienced the Flu-like symptoms as a side effect. So, there is a chance that I won't have these symptoms. This part usually kicks in around 8 hours after the injection, so I have my fingers crossed. On the plus side this medication should help to settle down my current flare up and prevent future lesions from developing. So if I am lucky this will be my one and only flare.
I also found out that most research is pointing towards this disease being at least exacerbated by an overactive immune system. The nurse stated that many MS patients report that the diagnosis was a surprise because they "never get sick". I have to wonder if this is true. When I first started working at the hospital it seemed like I was getting sick all the time! Then in the last year and a half or so I marveled at the the fact that it seemed that I have finally adjusted. I hadn't been sick in such a long time, I thought I was over the hump. I thought maybe me regular workouts and weight loss were making a difference. Now I wonder if this actually meant that my immune system had been kicked into overdrive by all the exposure to germs. I love my job so much. I would hate to think that it may be part of the cause of all of this.
Many of you know that I am a poker player. There is a saying in poker that all you need is "a chip and a chair". It means that as long as you have at least one chip and a chair at the table you still have a chance to win. In the picture I attached, you can see that a chip and a chair was just about all I had LOL! But, I didn't give up and when my opponent offered to let me surrender and accept the second place prize I said no. For some reason, I thought I still had a chance to win. The crazy part is that I did win!!! (I just wish I had gotten a picture of that too) That picture was taken less than a week before I went into the hospital for the first time. I didn't give up then and I am not giving up now. I feel like that experience and that photo were part of the plan for me. It was meant to show me that even when the odds seem insurmountable, I can still come out a winner. I am relying on this belief to help me stay focused on my ultimate goal. I will walk independently and return to my normal life, but I have be blessed with a new outlook on life that will make me a better person than I was before. So it's nothing but smiles ahead.
Thanks for listening. Talk to you soon!
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