Peace

I'm really at peace with my diagnosis. Maybe it's the Lexapro... Or maybe it's just easier because I remain mostly symptom free...

I saw my neurosurgeon this week. Once again I realize how blessed I am with my medical team. When I read stories about other MS patients with insensitive Drs., I can't reiterate how wonderful it is that I am in such good hands!

Said neurosurgeon saw me at 6:30 in the evening. He and his asst. waited around for me, obviously, I was the last patient! He is pleased with my progress and recovery from the surgery. Says I have good strength, and if didn't know how bad the weakness was before, he wouldn't have known I had a problem. That said, I do still have significant atrophy in those big thigh muscles. He said that when a nerve is damaged and not sending impules to the muscles (even in sedentary patients) it only takes 72 hours before the muscles start to atrophy. And it can take me up to 18 MONTHS to get back to where I was. As such, altho I am through with PT, he is going to send me to an exercise specialist to put a plan together of strengthening exercises for me to do on my own.

We also discussed the MS. He thinks the leg weakness I sometimes have when I walk, is not MS, but still related to my herniated disk. Hmmm. He showed me my MRI films (after some "reluctance" worrying that I was going to "obsess" about my lesions) I told him I might, but only until I could accept them. I just gotta know. So he called them up, and while I have a lesion each in my left temporal lobe, corpus collosum, medulla, c2-3 and t2-3 spines they are all tiny. The biggest lesion is 9 mm, which is like a third of an inch. None are active. He said if I didn't have the other MS symptoms I do (wacky reflexes, stuff in my spinal fluid) he might consider the "lesions" "UBOs" --unidentified bright objects" they sometimes discover in normal MRIs.

I also asked him what I do if I get other serious symptoms (temporary blindness for one) or what I do when I'm travelling--do I just assume its MS? Do I go to any old hospital? Is it ER visit worthy? And his first, flat out comment was "You immediately call me." Nice since I have both his home # and e-mail. Like I said, I can't believe what good hands I am in!!!

Summer's Over

At least for me. I had a quiet July off from school. Wish I could say I did something fun and exciting. But as I've already posted, vacation wasn't an option for us again this year. However, it was a healthy, contemplative, restorative time for me.

I really needed to decompress after the wild ride I was on since January. And the good news is I've spent this last week in my office with my NEW boss. And she seems really, really normal and wonderful! Normal is a great compliment, believe me! I told her about my MS diagnosis and told her we would all figure out together what that means for me. I said that there are 3 triggers: heat (and in Houston we have to deal with that!), illness (and I'm usually pretty healthy) and stress. I told her that's where she comes in. She laughed and said (Honest to God) "I don't believe in work place stress." !!!!!

If this new and improved work environment and boss turns out like it seems--what a wonderful reward for me!