Finished with the 'Roid Run

Today was the fourth and final infusion of SoluMedrol for me. The results, so far at least, have not been outstanding, but even my husband mentioned today he thought I was walking a little better. He doesn't talk about my MS very much. He's not big into allopathic medicine, and prefers natural remedies or ayurvedic medicine. Hey whatever rocks your boat. But his ways are not my way, and I after all have to be the one who is in charge of my body.

So he went with me today, and didn't have to witness any pokes as my site remained viable. They were booked up, so it took about 45 minutes longer than I had anticipated, but no big deal.

Just before I left, a good friend of mine called. She wants to buy me a cell phone with a prepaid card to have for emergencies. I saw an ad in a Radio Shack flyer and told her about it, and apparently she went over and checked them out and thought it was a good deal, so we may go over tomorrow (I think the last day of the sale - not sure) so I can sign the papers. I don't feel any need to be tethered to a telephone, but in my case physically, and in an emergency of any kind, it does seem prudent. And I am grateful to her for the offer.

Often when I do steroids I come home and am flushed with heat, but this week it just feels like hot flashes. I gained 10 pounds of mostly water, which will come off easily - but since my friend was here I have been eating more because she is a 5AM - 10:30 PM person who is always doing something, and eats four smallish meals a day. She was always pushing 'good' foods at me to eat; Finally I had to tell her, Sweetie, I know you just thinking about doing the best for me, but don't forget, I just don't burn as many calories as you do. So we're cool. She went home to Yakima this morning, and is really tired. I hope she gets some good rest.

I'm going to try to get to bed by at least 2:00 AM (late Friday, but really Saturday early morning), so when I get that call to go to Radio Shack I'll be ready.

Today at the infusion center, the nurse told me of a few patients they had that were doing Tysabri - one, a man in his early 70s was having difficulty walking told her that it was the only thing he had ever taken that really seemed to make a difference for him. She also said that they do a whole workup questionnaire between each infusion to make sure that any of the bad 'potential' side effects can be treated while they are still treatable and not made worse by another dose. Again, they sounded thorough - and perhaps hopeful - so maybe I need to do a little more research on it.

My neuro is waiting for the MS studies on 4-AP to be published, because it sounds like it helps the nerve signals travel the axons and may improve walking ability. It's just a waiting game with research, isn't it?

In the meanwhile I just do what I can, which isn't a lot, and I know I sit too much - but there you go. In the meanwhile, just thought I'd check in and say...

Good night, TTYL, and Be Well

P.S. to the Cheese: I had nightclothes on when I crumbled to the floor - almost to my knees! Plus a silk long sleeve tee. Modest for the most part, OK? The fireman was cute, and the fire woman was very nice, and I didn't want to call anybody an wake them at 3:30 AM, so they all got worried. My knee is back to maybe 93% without a wrap, so all is good.