Happy Gnu Deer you MSers!

Well, so far the new year has been far less dramatic than last year! Jan 13th will be my 1st MS anniversary. Maybe I'll go crazy and have some vino! Of course, a week after that I go back for the second set of ocrelizumab infusions. I have to say, I've been feeling pretty good on it! I'm not sure about all this jazz with CCSVI, but I'm doing pretty good so far.

I still feel a bit tentative about being cheerful overly, but.. maybe I'll get over it. Or not...:)

Once more into the breach!

Deity-of-choice bless us, every one!

The peaceful sleep of the innocent insane kitty at Christmas
Well, here it is, the American holiday of choice, for the most part, and it's bittersweet. I miss my baby boy cat, who would have spent his 12th Xmas with me. It hurts.

On the other hand, I have my seven furkids, my SO, and the survival of almost an entire year with an MS diagnosis. So yeah, bittersweet. I try to remember the spots of brightness, not the spots on my brain. I am encouraged by medical developments and happy with my own health in terms of MS (but the days off are taking a toll on my diet!:p).

We had a nice Xmas, with lots of cheer and happiness and some really cool gifts and mad kittens racing about, well, madly and running into things. We have stockings and lights and a Charlie Brown Xmas tree... and well... it's not bad at all.

May all have love, happiness, kindness, and peace and joy this season and always!

LOLcat of the weekend

Down to the wire!

Well, finished teaching for the year, and am happy. We're in our finals week and overall it's been much less stressful than last year! Of course, around this time last year I was in the middle of a full-blown relapse from hell and coming up on surgery to fuse vertebrae in my cervical spine-- man, I can remember that! Actually, today someone mentioned I looked really good, ready to "lift weights" and all that. I guess so-- but it means I must have looked like hell on toast last December. I finished my grades in the hospital. Joy!

So this December is looking better overall, and I have to say i think the ocrelizumab is doing good stuff for me. I don't think I'm ready to go out and try the CCSVI stuff, esp since I can't figure where I personally would get excess iron from to begin with as a 16-year vegetarian. Hmph.

Here's hoping all goes well for finals!

Counting down the days

Here in desert Southwest, we're winding down school semesters and stretching ourselves for a snowbird-infested nap of sorts. Practically speaking, this is a good time to unwind, even if not the best place for me. Ah well.

The old MS dance has been pretty quiet lately, though I still wish I lived closer to my doc since this first year of MS has been a little unsettling. OK, a LOT unsettling. On Jan 13th of next year, I'll have been officially dx'ed with MS for a year. I keep telling myself I should have taken better notes, so I could appreciate the year more, but frankly-- I think it would be a bit of a downer. So I'm going to look back on it in January, have a wee cake, and really see what it feels like to have made it one year.

Tgiving was fine, tho I don't eat turkey. Good wine makes all things well-- I can't remember, tho, if I should be drinking wine in this clinical trial! I'll be glad when all the holiday stuff is kind of done-- a lot of feelings of ambiguity and "feh"ness around here. The zoloft has helped take the edge off life, but still-- I think I need a vacation more than anything, and I don't know when that will happen!

Here's to the last week of classes!

New theory for MS progression/ treatment

The Venous Theory

As has been hitting the net recently, there is a newish theory of MS progression, if not causation, based on insufficient blood flow in the brain due to iron deposition there not being flushed out.

I admit it's intriguing, but one of the things I'm not getting out of the info yet is why the iron is there, and where it came from. I'm particularly intrigued as a long-time vegetarian, who clearly does not overload on iron like many Americans who eat red meat, etc. I'm glad the studies will continue, and if the treatment of improving the blood flow works for some people, I'm happy! Right now, I think it's one nice part of an horrendously complex issue-- why iron, for example? If more northerners get it, who maybe eat less red meat around the world, why that? Why not mercury from commercial fishing? Do people have insufficient blood flow in other parts of their body too? Is the heart involved? I have "mild mitral insufficiency"-- is that part of it?

GAH! These are times I wish I'd gone to medical school rather than do the "easy" PhD. (Caveat-- PhDs are for people with mental issues who like pain. Honest-- at least the real ones you don't buy off the internet.)

Will follow to see how this goes along!

It's definitely not lupus...

...and not the flu, either. Arg. So far I have managed to miss the flu, I think, but lately my left ear has been hurting and my left (and only left!) tonsil is swollen and sore. It's like the ultimate headcold, since I can't get the nasal congestion to leave my head. The nice nurse at my school took a look, and yep, the left eardrum is slightly bulged, so I am wondering if I have a lovely ear infection coming. I hate this stuff.

At the school as a whole, while flumania is down, allergies are running rampant. I don't think I have allergies, but the fine silica sanddust is EVERYWHERE here. I see why bedouins tend to cover their faces.

MS wise, all is mostly stable, though I do wonder if the weird shocklike headaches I've had lately are MS related or just tension issues. I wish massage was indicated for MS!

Hope all are well!