Over the past few weeks, I have been noticing that I have had to replace TP left and right.  I was blaming it on changing brands and that we needed to go with a different one, but I finally realized that it wasn't the TP.  It was my bladder. 

 

I find myself having to urinate over 30 times a day.  I remember on my wedding day, I only peed twice that morning before even getting in the limo to head to the wedding ceremony and I was able to hold my bladder all day until after the reception.

I did some research on multiple sclerosis and how a car accident can affect the brain in terms of lesions, and I came across upper cervical chiropractic care.  The reason I started looking into it is because I was in a three car accident where I was rear-ended and pushed under neath the back of a 4x4.  I never had any sign or symptom of having the disease until a few months after the accident.  I was diagnosed with MS two years before the accident happened.  When I searched for answers, I came across Montel Williams and articles about trauma.

Summer temperatures really do me in... I don't want to go outside in the heat because it drains my energy and then all I want to do is lay down.  I find it weird though because I was fine with heat and sun while my husband and I were on our honeymoon. 

 

My previous MS doctor has always told me the further south I go, the better I would feel, and that Australia would be my best option.  I always laughed, but the more I think about it, the more I see that he is right. I am not saying I want to move to Australia, but documentation proves that the closer to the equator people are, the less the risk is for developing multiple sclerosis.

I find it quite sad that the National MS Society expects to raise a pretty significant amount of money towards a cure through... word of mouth? There is absolutely no advertising EVER done to raise the awareness of the disease. WHY!?!?

 

I met with someone from the NMSS last spring and volunteered to start my own chapter.  Guess what I was told?  "That will never happen." Yea, well wait and see what I do for the MS Foundation.  At least they are willing to give me the chance to make a difference.

So, I get that I have severe anxiety.  However, I don't really feel that MS causes me anxiety.  I think that everything involved with having MS gives me anxiety.  By that, I mean disability and obtaining benefits for disability.  It's evident that I have issues that would affect my ability to do normal things such as work and drive... I don't know how much more evidence would classify as sufficient enough to determine this for fact.

 

I was made aware by my long term disability company that I should get some testing done : a neuropsychological evaluation.

So normally when I deal with my long term disability company, I speak specifically to my case manager.  This morning, I got a phone call from a disability doctor on their staff.  He explained to me that he has only had to deal with one other person whom has MS, and he proceeded to explain that the only issue the woman had was her inability to see in one of her eyes.  Okay... I totally get that, but #1, why was he telling me this? #2, I have more issues that losing my vision. #3 I am only concerned with my situation and #4, disability companies don't walk in our shoes so how can they just go by notes from doctors?

If things in life weren't hard, they wouldn't be worth it, right? People are too easily giving up on things because they just want to give in. Not this chick! My husband told me today that I am not as strong of a person as I was when we first met. Keep in mind that this was five years ago...

Five years ago, I was very healthy. I was also in my senior year of college at Penn State University about to graduate and become independent. Five years later, I am not the same girl I used to be. The thing I used to pry myself on has been taken from me, my independence, and right now, I am fighting to make sure I get it back.

I am not the girl who gives up. Nor am I the girl that lets anything get to me. Until now that is. I always say that MS might cause me to battle, but I am going to take it to war. When is a battle to much to handle? Honestly, I feel better. Not back to "normal", but, who is to say what "normal" is for me anymore? I don't like that my "normal" is the way I had felt at a certain point in time. Doctors ask me if I feel my new medicine is working. I tell them yes... But, the reality of the situation is that I really don't know.

My nams is Brittany. I have had MS for about 5 years now making me 25 and truly feel blessed to have the disease. It has affected my vision so I like to say that it changed the way I see things. I no longer take simple things for granted and I enjoy life more now that I know I can wake up and not be able to do the basic things I have always done. I like to think that God granted me with MS because I am a strong person and I refuse to give up no matter what happens.

 

From losing my ability to walk, going blind in my right eye, having my cognition affected and going completely numb on the left side of my body, I can finally say that I know what doctors mean when they ask if I had a relapse in the past.

I was diagnosed with MS in the begenning of 2005 and originally put on Betaseron. I loved betaseron because it never gave me any side effects. However, I had flare ups in August 2007, March 2008 and March 2009 resulting in my doctors switching me to another medication. My specilist in Philadelphia suggested that I switch to Tysabri but I felt Tysabri was too risky for me at that time since I was only 24, getting married in a year and a half, and to me, the risks for that medication were only considerable when I felt it was my last resort. Instead of agreeing with my specialist, I went with another option which was to start taking Copaxone and do solumedrol once a month. Since my last flare up was my worst and left me feeling really out of it, I am now excited to start Tysabri. Both my neurologist and my specialist feel is it the way to go. Although there are risks with it, the risks of not bring on it are far worse in my eyes. I have done my research and have talked to both doctors about the pro's and con's and I am finally ready to be on it. At my last appointment in Philly, I signed the paperwork, agreed to the terms and the possible risks and cannot wait to set up my first infusion. I just hope my insurance will cover it since it is $2,300.00 a month.