Medical student

Today I am seeing my neurologist to talk about my pain in my legs and medication options. Before the Dr came in I had the pleasure of having a medical student talk to me and do my exam. Being at Stanford I am pretty used to this and have come to really appreciate it. The medical students and residents are always very nice and have the time to give a bit longer explanations of things. They also are learning so they do things a bit slower, more in depth and explain what they are doing more. I enjoy knowing that what I'm going through might help this student to be a better dr. My BIL is in medical school and I would want his patients to give him the time and opportunity to learn like I do. 

I'm writing this while waiting for the dr to come in to talk. Since it was a last minute add appt I have had to wait longer than normal. For some reason today more than others I felt very nervous and anxious about my appt. I guess the fear that the dr could tell me that the way my legs feel is my new normal or just the idea of having something else wrong and needing more meds that could make it so we can't get pregnant for longer. In the end I think my biggest fear right now is ending up in a wheelchair and not being able to take care of myself or Caleb. I know I'm not there yet or really close but it's a hard thought to shake. 

Infusions

Today is day three of three for a steroid infusion of Solumedrol. I had noticed on saturday last week that I had some numbness in my right leg. I didn't think much of it because it was mostly sensitivity to temperature. Then by Sunday night I figured out it was another flair up. Same feelings as the last time. I talked to my Neurologist and after she looked at my MRI results and saw a new lesion on the right side of my brain she suggested an infusion. This will hopefully help the one in my brain from remaining active and for the numbness in my leg to go away.

During my initial diagnosis last year we decided to wait to start any of the disease modifying drugs until after we got pregnant and had another baby. We knew we wanted to start trying soon so it wasn't a problem. Well now that it has been a year and 8 mo of trying with out any luck I am looking at starting the one drug they say is safe while trying to get pregnant. Once I get pregnant I won't need to take the drugs because women are protected during pregnancy from MS flair ups.

The Drug we are looking at and I will be talking to my Dr about next week is called Copaxone. It is an every other day injection that I will have to learn to give myself. It will definitely be something to get used to but its better than having more and more lesions and flair ups.

I'm Back Again

It has been around 2 1/2 years since I last posted anything and so many thing have happened. Caleb will be 3 in Nov and will hopefully be starting preschool in september. He is so smart, funny, loving and very testing of my patience. He loves to be naked which I think was a huge help in him getting potty trained around his 2nd birthday. He is very healthy and weighs in at about 36lbs right now. He is a great eater and likes lots of different types of food. his favorites right now are tofu, caesar salad, sushi, chipotle and veggie sandwiches from subway.

Since my last post Mike and I have had some major changes. We decided to add 400 sq ft to the back of our house with a master bathroom, a laundry room and an office. We are still in the process of finishing the project. Mike's job changed so we now have better benefits and things and the ship he has been on for a while is on the west coast which is nice. We are also looking to grow our family soon with another baby (I'll post more about all of that later).

The biggest thing I am dealing with right now is my newly diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis. In July of 2013 I was diagnosed with MS after many MRI's and various tests. So far other than some slight memory, processing and balance issues I am the same as I always have been. Many people in my life know I was diagnosed but not everyone because until now I haven't really talked about it openly to the world. I didn't post it on Facebook or anything because I didn't want people to feel bad for me or say the wrong things while I was still processing what this means for my future. I hope talking about it now helps others and helps me to find more people who are dealing with this disease.