Today marks our fifteenth anniversary. It honestly feels like we just got married and were heading off into the world together, and what an adventure it has been. We have had our ups and downs, but one thing I have learned is that marriage is real work. You can't just hope it all works out, you have to be intentional about making your marriage work. There are times that I have to take a real look at how I am doing as a husband. Sometimes I feel like we are just going through the motions of marriage because we are so busy and exhausted with our daily lives. Sometimes we need some time apart, and sometimes we need to spend some quality time together. Sometimes we need to be reminded of what's important in life and what our priorities should be, and sometimes we need to be reminded of how truly blessed we are to have the life we have.
Adding multiple sclerosis and marriage together really makes for an interesting mix. There are days that my wife's MS takes center stage because she is having an attack and we have to take immediate action. There are also days when her MS is no where to be found and life is as normal as it gets. For me her MS often becomes a challenge that I can learn about, figure out and try to solve the puzzle. There are other days that I just honestly wish it would go away and never be seen again. Lately we have been dealing more with MS frustrations than MS struggles. My wife's MS has been causing small frustrations like minor fatigue, joint pain, leg pain and other annoying things that really affect your day to day life. Some days she will wake up and feel great most of the day and then BAM!, it hits and she feels tired and exhausted and goes to bed early. Other days she wakes up weepy and crying and can't seem to control her emotions all day long.
Today is one of those days where she wants to feel great for our anniversary, but we have both had a stomach bug and are recovering so she is still weak from that and very emotional. She is at home in bed right now trying to sleep, but my guess is that she can't so she will be trying to do more than she should and not resting. As a wife, she is always trying to do for our daughter and me. She goes way above and beyond and sometimes pays for it in her health. She is an awesome mom and wife, and I know it frustrates her when her body doesn't cooperate and allow her to do what she wants. MS can get in the way of our marriage sometimes, but we can choose to focus on it or each other, and we choose each other. Multiple Sclerosis will never win out over love, and our love has grown for each other every year we have been married. Happy Anniversary honey, and I look forward to another 15 years of living life with you!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Throbbing Pain In Leg With Multiple Sclerosis
My wife has been on her feet a lot the last few weeks. Today the stress and lack of rest caught up with her causing her legs to ache. It started with just a small spot of pain on the top of her thigh and turned into throbbing pain by the afternoon. Right now she is laying in bed trying to rest her legs and sleep. The pain has only affected her left side, and she was having issues with her left shoulder and arm when we were traveling last week. I know the hotel beds we slept in were very hard, so I wonder how much that affected her side. We stayed at the same hotel for 4 nights, and she woke up more than once complaining about her left arm and shoulder. The pain today started slowly but when it did hit, it sidelined her to bed all afternoon and evening.
Leg pain is by far the most searched subject on my blog, and I totally understand why. When my wife has leg pain it shuts her down and she can't function until the pain subsides. Sometimes that happens in a short time and sometimes it takes days for the pain to go away. I do know that we have had success with chiropractic, massage, rest and heat/cold treatment for the pain, but it sure is annoying when it hits. I just remembered she was also having low back pain after sleeping on the hotel beds. Sometimes it seems like it is so easy for her body to get out of whack, and when it does, we can expect her to have multiple sclerosis issues.
Leg pain is by far the most searched subject on my blog, and I totally understand why. When my wife has leg pain it shuts her down and she can't function until the pain subsides. Sometimes that happens in a short time and sometimes it takes days for the pain to go away. I do know that we have had success with chiropractic, massage, rest and heat/cold treatment for the pain, but it sure is annoying when it hits. I just remembered she was also having low back pain after sleeping on the hotel beds. Sometimes it seems like it is so easy for her body to get out of whack, and when it does, we can expect her to have multiple sclerosis issues.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Alone With Multiple Sclerosis
If ministry work has taught me anything, it is that this world can be a very lonely place. Even though we have more ways to connect through technology than ever before, the world can be a very lonely place. When you have a disease like Multiple Sclerosis it seems to magnify those issues at times. My wife and I were talking the other day about how our world revolves around the times that we eat. We seem to have a lot of our social time with other adults during meal times, which can become very difficult if you are following Swank's MS diet or are trying to eat very carefully. My wife has been looking into a holistic nutrition school that teaches about whole body nutrition from cooking to preparing to how our bodies absorb and use the food. While she and I were talking about this school it took us back to the times when she was following the Swank MS diet very closely. We rarely could eat out due to the restrictions, so we cooked almost every meal and wouldn't have very many opportunities to go out and eat with anyone. Sometimes this was a very lonely place to be, especially when our friends were meeting and eating together.
Loneliness seems to be one of the most difficult things to deal with concerning MS. Multiple Sclerosis affects everyone in a little different way, and when fatigue or an attack is happening, life just shuts down while your body is trying to fight its way back to normal. I know that my wife has felt like she is the only one in the world with the issues she has, and has become depressed from these moments. Sometimes I think the emotional damage done by Multiple Sclerosis is worse than the physical damage for my wife. She has had a whole range of emotions from anger to sadness to loneliness to feeling depressed. My wife has been very fortunate to be surrounded by family and friends that support and love her very much, but sometimes it isn't enough and she becomes very frustrated with the whole MS thing. Sometimes she would just like to be able to go out and run as hard and fast as she can and not have to worry about her body warring against her and having an attack. Sometimes she would like to push herself to the limit knowing that she can just get some sleep and everything will be OK, but there have been too many attacks from pushing herself to the limit that she has to hold back.
One thing we have learned from this blog is that we are not alone, that there are others out there dealing with the same issues as us. We have found kindred spirits that are fighting this disease with everything they have, and trying to live life fully. We are not alone, and I hope that this blog has shown those reading it that they are not alone. My wife and I know what it feels like to have to cancel everything because MS won the battle for that day. My wife and I know what it feels like to have to make life decisions based on how the career, home, climate etc. will affect her MS. We know what it feels like to have the pressure on our marriage of MS, to have to dig deep sometimes to not become frustrated at each other because of what kind of day my wife is having. I know what it is like to be alone as a husband and father because MS has sidelined my wife for a short time, and she knows what it is like to miss out on life because she is laid up in bed recovering. Through all of it, we are not alone, and neither are you! MS has made us stronger in our marriage, stronger as individuals and stronger as a family. Please don't ever feel alone in this battle, and please feel free to write us if you need an encouraging word or just need to vent. You are not alone!
Loneliness seems to be one of the most difficult things to deal with concerning MS. Multiple Sclerosis affects everyone in a little different way, and when fatigue or an attack is happening, life just shuts down while your body is trying to fight its way back to normal. I know that my wife has felt like she is the only one in the world with the issues she has, and has become depressed from these moments. Sometimes I think the emotional damage done by Multiple Sclerosis is worse than the physical damage for my wife. She has had a whole range of emotions from anger to sadness to loneliness to feeling depressed. My wife has been very fortunate to be surrounded by family and friends that support and love her very much, but sometimes it isn't enough and she becomes very frustrated with the whole MS thing. Sometimes she would just like to be able to go out and run as hard and fast as she can and not have to worry about her body warring against her and having an attack. Sometimes she would like to push herself to the limit knowing that she can just get some sleep and everything will be OK, but there have been too many attacks from pushing herself to the limit that she has to hold back.
One thing we have learned from this blog is that we are not alone, that there are others out there dealing with the same issues as us. We have found kindred spirits that are fighting this disease with everything they have, and trying to live life fully. We are not alone, and I hope that this blog has shown those reading it that they are not alone. My wife and I know what it feels like to have to cancel everything because MS won the battle for that day. My wife and I know what it feels like to have to make life decisions based on how the career, home, climate etc. will affect her MS. We know what it feels like to have the pressure on our marriage of MS, to have to dig deep sometimes to not become frustrated at each other because of what kind of day my wife is having. I know what it is like to be alone as a husband and father because MS has sidelined my wife for a short time, and she knows what it is like to miss out on life because she is laid up in bed recovering. Through all of it, we are not alone, and neither are you! MS has made us stronger in our marriage, stronger as individuals and stronger as a family. Please don't ever feel alone in this battle, and please feel free to write us if you need an encouraging word or just need to vent. You are not alone!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Foot Cramps With Multiple Sclerosis
My wife's Multiple Sclerosis has thrown a lot of different symptoms at us, and this summer has not been any different. Part of the way through the summer my wife started to have cramps in her feet. It started with the tops of her feet feeling tight, and she was able to stretch them and relieve the pain. After days of walking, the feet tightened more and more and the tops of her feet hurt more and more. At one point, the only way to relieve the pain was to put her feet up and not move. If she moved her feet any direction, the pain would become extreme. She couldn't walk for a few days due to the pain.
We weren't really sure what to do or how long the pain would last, but we knew for sure that she had to rest. She worked through the pain for a few days and then the pain put her in bed. It really worried me since we hadn't dealt with this issue before, but after a few days of rest, the pain started to subside and she could move her feet. We are still not sure what happened and I know my wife hopes that it doesn't happen again, but with MS you just never know how you will feel tomorrow or even later today. Multiple Sclerosis causes pain in so many different ways, and continues to surprise us with where it attacks.
We weren't really sure what to do or how long the pain would last, but we knew for sure that she had to rest. She worked through the pain for a few days and then the pain put her in bed. It really worried me since we hadn't dealt with this issue before, but after a few days of rest, the pain started to subside and she could move her feet. We are still not sure what happened and I know my wife hopes that it doesn't happen again, but with MS you just never know how you will feel tomorrow or even later today. Multiple Sclerosis causes pain in so many different ways, and continues to surprise us with where it attacks.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Summer Of Ups and Downs With MS
This summer we traveled for almost 4 straight weeks. It started with my wife going numb on her right side, from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. We were in Albuquerque and were able to see our Chiropractor, so we were able to resolve the issue and she had all the feeling back within a few days. It still amazes me that the Chiropractor can stop an MS attack and reverse it. I would have never believed it if I haven't seen it work so many times now. So, we drove thousands of miles, covering around 12 states and staying in hotels all over to arrive back home a few weeks ago. The trip involved a ton of walking, standing, heat, stress and a host of other issues, but my wife did pretty good for starting out numb.
We are still learning about my wife's MS even after her being diagnosed 20 years ago. This trip showed us once more that it is so important to plan rest time and healthy habits to keep my wife's body working properly. There were times on the trip that she had to skip activities because she just couldn't handle the stress. She sat in the suburban with the A/C on while we fished one day, and chose not to go when I had to run the Children's Home booth during some of the events. Her MS slowed her down, but didn't stop her from enjoying the time on the road and all the great things we were able to do. Even when we arrived back at home, she chose to stay instead of going to Church Camp with my daughter and I. That was probably a smart decision since I barely kept up with the lack of sleep, ton of walking and the heat.
There were times this summer when I wondered if my wife would leave the hotel room, and other times when I couldn't keep up with her stride. It still fascinates me that she can have so many issues one day and wake up the next feeling fine. Multiple Sclerosis is such an odd disease. We are still searching for answers and watching the Liberation Treatment with some hope and excitement. Hopefully this year will be a year of discoveries for MS and we can come one step closer to my wife living a more normal life. For now, we face each day with hope and my wife is even taking some college classes in the Fall. She's nervous, but excited to get back to learning and growing. MS may have beat her up some this summer, but it can't hold her back from living life to the fullest!
We are still learning about my wife's MS even after her being diagnosed 20 years ago. This trip showed us once more that it is so important to plan rest time and healthy habits to keep my wife's body working properly. There were times on the trip that she had to skip activities because she just couldn't handle the stress. She sat in the suburban with the A/C on while we fished one day, and chose not to go when I had to run the Children's Home booth during some of the events. Her MS slowed her down, but didn't stop her from enjoying the time on the road and all the great things we were able to do. Even when we arrived back at home, she chose to stay instead of going to Church Camp with my daughter and I. That was probably a smart decision since I barely kept up with the lack of sleep, ton of walking and the heat.
There were times this summer when I wondered if my wife would leave the hotel room, and other times when I couldn't keep up with her stride. It still fascinates me that she can have so many issues one day and wake up the next feeling fine. Multiple Sclerosis is such an odd disease. We are still searching for answers and watching the Liberation Treatment with some hope and excitement. Hopefully this year will be a year of discoveries for MS and we can come one step closer to my wife living a more normal life. For now, we face each day with hope and my wife is even taking some college classes in the Fall. She's nervous, but excited to get back to learning and growing. MS may have beat her up some this summer, but it can't hold her back from living life to the fullest!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Tingling, Numb and Frustrated With MS
I wrote about my wife falling a few days ago and I have been worried ever since that it would cause other issues. Well, it has. We left town this past week to go to Albuquerque, NM, and after the first night we were there, my wife woke up tingling and numb on her right side. From her right toes to the top of her head, her whole right side had decided to lose feeling. Luckily we were near our Chiropractor, Dr. Kevin Atchley, and he was able to get us in for an adjustment. By the time we went to his office, my wife was limping and having issues getting her right side to function properly. She couldn't stand for very long, and had no energy. Dr. Atchley adjusted her that afternoon and she immediately began to feel a wave of "feeling" come into her arm and hand. Within a few hours she started to have more and more feeling come back, but by the next morning she was still not back to normal. Dr. Atchley saw us again, and was able to adjust her more thoroughly and again she started to feel the waves of feeling coming back.
By that afternoon, the feeling in her arm and hands was almost all the way back and she wasn't limping anymore because her leg and foot was behaving better. We are now in Red River, NM, and she still has some faint tingling on her right side, and is still having energy issues, but she isn't limping and has walked quite a bit around town without issues. She has been resting everyday, and is regaining the feeling more and more everyday. One of the odd things with this particular attack has been the numb feeling on the side and top of her head. Her head literally hurt from the issues this time, and she was very frustrated with it the first few days. Now, the feeling is back and the pain is gone, but we were very lucky that the numbness was on the side of her head and didn't move to her face.
I had a feeling that she would have issues like this after the fall last week, and I know she is extremely frustrated that she has missed out on things while we are in the mountains. Anytime she has had a "shock" to her body, like a fall or a physically demanding incident, she has almost always had some kind of after "shock". Sometimes it is tingling or numbness, and sometimes it is fatigue or bladder issues. This time she went numb really fast. Normally it takes days, but this time she went to bed fine and woke up numb on her right side. I know it scared her how quickly it happened this time, and we will be watching over the next few weeks to see if she continues to get better. We were very lucky that it happened in a place and time where we could get in to see our Chiropractor and get adjusted. I truly feel that Chiropractic has stopped and reversed her MS attacks, and has made living with this disease a lot more manageable.
By that afternoon, the feeling in her arm and hands was almost all the way back and she wasn't limping anymore because her leg and foot was behaving better. We are now in Red River, NM, and she still has some faint tingling on her right side, and is still having energy issues, but she isn't limping and has walked quite a bit around town without issues. She has been resting everyday, and is regaining the feeling more and more everyday. One of the odd things with this particular attack has been the numb feeling on the side and top of her head. Her head literally hurt from the issues this time, and she was very frustrated with it the first few days. Now, the feeling is back and the pain is gone, but we were very lucky that the numbness was on the side of her head and didn't move to her face.
I had a feeling that she would have issues like this after the fall last week, and I know she is extremely frustrated that she has missed out on things while we are in the mountains. Anytime she has had a "shock" to her body, like a fall or a physically demanding incident, she has almost always had some kind of after "shock". Sometimes it is tingling or numbness, and sometimes it is fatigue or bladder issues. This time she went numb really fast. Normally it takes days, but this time she went to bed fine and woke up numb on her right side. I know it scared her how quickly it happened this time, and we will be watching over the next few weeks to see if she continues to get better. We were very lucky that it happened in a place and time where we could get in to see our Chiropractor and get adjusted. I truly feel that Chiropractic has stopped and reversed her MS attacks, and has made living with this disease a lot more manageable.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tripping and Falling With MS
Today I had another scare with my wife. We were walking into Hobby Lobby after lunch and I was ahead of my wife and daughter. I stepped up on the curb and a few steps later I heard someone hit the concrete behind me. I turned around quickly and found my wife face first on the concrete sidewalk. She is not sure exactly what happened, but she fell and rolled hard on the ground. As soon as I turned around my daughter immediately helped her up and she was ready to move on and not cause a scene. She was embarrassed and hurting, and didn't want to stick around to see who saw her fall. I tried to make sure she was OK, but I knew that she probably wouldn't say much as she was trying to compose herself. She grabbed a basket when we walked in so she could use it as support and walked into the store.
She has a few bumps and bruises, but overall is doing well tonight. Her side and leg is hurting from falling on it, and her arm is a little scraped up, but I think it scared me as much as it hurt her. She said she was not sure if she missed the curb or her leg, or foot, or knee gave out, but the next thing she knew she was rolling on the concrete. This is not the first time this has happened, and it always seems to happen when we are walking somewhere in public. A few years ago this happened fairly often, but it hasn't been a problem for awhile. Today I think we were both taken by surprise at how quickly she fell.
The hard part about this isn't just the physical part, but the emotional part of the disease. Our daughter was pretty distressed after her mom fell today. She was attached to my wife at the hip at first, and my wife had to tell her to back off and give her some space. I know it is hard on our daughter to watch her mom struggle and especially hard when she sees her hurt. Today concerned me too. It stresses me when she falls or has issues like this because it usually doesn't stop for awhile. The fall she took today could cause her to have other physical issues since it jarred her body so hard. Sometimes the effect of a fall like this will last for days if not weeks. We will have to be careful the next few days and with a three week trip ahead, we may have to find a chiropractor to check her alignment after the fall.
She has a few bumps and bruises, but overall is doing well tonight. Her side and leg is hurting from falling on it, and her arm is a little scraped up, but I think it scared me as much as it hurt her. She said she was not sure if she missed the curb or her leg, or foot, or knee gave out, but the next thing she knew she was rolling on the concrete. This is not the first time this has happened, and it always seems to happen when we are walking somewhere in public. A few years ago this happened fairly often, but it hasn't been a problem for awhile. Today I think we were both taken by surprise at how quickly she fell.
The hard part about this isn't just the physical part, but the emotional part of the disease. Our daughter was pretty distressed after her mom fell today. She was attached to my wife at the hip at first, and my wife had to tell her to back off and give her some space. I know it is hard on our daughter to watch her mom struggle and especially hard when she sees her hurt. Today concerned me too. It stresses me when she falls or has issues like this because it usually doesn't stop for awhile. The fall she took today could cause her to have other physical issues since it jarred her body so hard. Sometimes the effect of a fall like this will last for days if not weeks. We will have to be careful the next few days and with a three week trip ahead, we may have to find a chiropractor to check her alignment after the fall.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
MS Is A Pain In The Neck
I find myself wondering what new weird symptom can pop up with my wife's MS. We have been dealing with this crazy disease for years, and have seen a lot of different symptoms that may be associated with her MS, but there always seems to be some new symptom lurking around the corner. My wife has had the issues with the electrical shock shooting down her spine as I know many MS'ers have, but she has had a new problem lately. About a week ago she started having issues with the right side of her neck. Her gland was really swollen and her neck really hurt from the pressure the swollen gland caused. When she would turn her head many times she would feel a pinching in her neck and would have to try and keep her neck still.
Along with this problem has come another strange issue. Her whole right side has felt funny since the gland issue has started, and her right shoulder has had soreness and pain. Her right side feeling funny is nothing new, but the shoulder pain is a new issue that we don't remember happening before. Sometimes the pain shoots from her shoulder blade and sometimes the pain shoots from her collarbone. When it happens, she has to stop because it really takes her breath away and she has to really concentrate to begin to feel better. She has been having cramps in her shoulder blades forever, but the shooting pain and the collarbone are new. Not sure what all is causing this, but I know the massage therapist commented on how wrecked her shoulder area is and how hard it is to get her body to loosen up.
I wish that was everything that was going on, but she has had another past villain show up. Under her arm she has an area that is extremely sensitive, and reminds her of shingles. She has had shingles multiple times before and many times it is in the armpit area. This is extremely uncomfortable for her, and it seems to come and go. So, she is having the cramps and pains in her shoulder and collarbone, and then she can't move her arm much because of the sensitivity issue. What a life it has been lately. She is doing much better the last few days, and I think we are past the main issues this time around. We are about to go on a 4 week trip to areas of the US setting up displays, so maybe we can find some time to just relax and rest. I know it would do both of us a lot of good.
Along with this problem has come another strange issue. Her whole right side has felt funny since the gland issue has started, and her right shoulder has had soreness and pain. Her right side feeling funny is nothing new, but the shoulder pain is a new issue that we don't remember happening before. Sometimes the pain shoots from her shoulder blade and sometimes the pain shoots from her collarbone. When it happens, she has to stop because it really takes her breath away and she has to really concentrate to begin to feel better. She has been having cramps in her shoulder blades forever, but the shooting pain and the collarbone are new. Not sure what all is causing this, but I know the massage therapist commented on how wrecked her shoulder area is and how hard it is to get her body to loosen up.
I wish that was everything that was going on, but she has had another past villain show up. Under her arm she has an area that is extremely sensitive, and reminds her of shingles. She has had shingles multiple times before and many times it is in the armpit area. This is extremely uncomfortable for her, and it seems to come and go. So, she is having the cramps and pains in her shoulder and collarbone, and then she can't move her arm much because of the sensitivity issue. What a life it has been lately. She is doing much better the last few days, and I think we are past the main issues this time around. We are about to go on a 4 week trip to areas of the US setting up displays, so maybe we can find some time to just relax and rest. I know it would do both of us a lot of good.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Light Headed With Multiple Sclerosis
My wife and I are currently on a work trip to gather groceries from churches for our Children's Home. The average temperature per day is around 100 degrees, and my wife has had periods of time where she feels light headed and dizzy. It doesn't always happen with the heat, but the heat does seem to make it worse. The last few days we have been in and out of the vehicle loading groceries in our trailer. When she gets out and gets overheated, her body begins to shut down and she becomes light headed. She also starts to feel dizzy and has to cool off quick or have issues with needing to vomit.
A few weeks ago she went through a day or two that she felt like she was getting vertigo again. It really frustrated her since she hasn't had vertigo issues in years. She spent those few days in bed resting and trying to keep food and water down. We are not sure where all of this is coming from, but know that stress is a huge factor in it. The feeling of being light headed has really bother her since it is really affecting her day to day activities. We know that stress and a lack of rest are not helping with this, so we are taking some extra time now to allow her some downtime and time to de-stress.
A few weeks ago she went through a day or two that she felt like she was getting vertigo again. It really frustrated her since she hasn't had vertigo issues in years. She spent those few days in bed resting and trying to keep food and water down. We are not sure where all of this is coming from, but know that stress is a huge factor in it. The feeling of being light headed has really bother her since it is really affecting her day to day activities. We know that stress and a lack of rest are not helping with this, so we are taking some extra time now to allow her some downtime and time to de-stress.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Dr. Pepper, Not What The Doctor Ordered For MS
I have posted before about how much my wife loves her Dr. Pepper. This has been an ongoing battle for her to break the addiction, but the other day she had a totally different issue. She has been watching her diet and controlling her fat intake, just like when she was on the Swank diet, but she still drinks a Dr. Pepper occasionally. She went to the coke machine a few days ago to get a drink for me and for her. She set her Dr. Pepper on the top of the coke machine and when she reached down to get my drink out of the machine, the can fell off the top and onto the side of her head. It really stung her and the area immediately bumped up and hurt. Within 30 minutes not only was it hurting but the whole side of her head was going numb. Within another 30 minutes or so, the side of her face was loosing feeling.
All of this over a Dr. Pepper! We both knew that she needed to do something or the numbness would continue to spread and cause more issues. She called a new massage therapist she is trying and went to see her that afternoon. After the massage, she had all her feeling back and was doing much better. It still amazes both of us that something as simple as a soda can falling on your head would start her body to reacting, but we have seen so many weird things through the years that we aren't surprised, just amazed. She has been more careful with the soda machine now, but it was just another reminder that something simple can create bigger issues if left untreated.
All of this over a Dr. Pepper! We both knew that she needed to do something or the numbness would continue to spread and cause more issues. She called a new massage therapist she is trying and went to see her that afternoon. After the massage, she had all her feeling back and was doing much better. It still amazes both of us that something as simple as a soda can falling on your head would start her body to reacting, but we have seen so many weird things through the years that we aren't surprised, just amazed. She has been more careful with the soda machine now, but it was just another reminder that something simple can create bigger issues if left untreated.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
No MS Symptoms During Pregnancy
I've been thinking through all of the different situations I have seen with my wife's MS, and one of the strangest was during pregnancy. When my wife first became pregnant she thought she was depressed due to the emotional swings and the crying. After about a week of that, she decided to see if she was pregnant. I'll never forget her sharing with me that she was pregnant. I was excited and scared out of my mind all at the same time. After we found out, she noticed the depression went away along with her MS. She had normal pregnancy issues like weird food cravings and morning sickness, but she didn't have any MS problems.
I think it took a little while for me to notice it, but her fatigue was gone and she generally felt better. We were both amazed at how well she felt and how she didn't have any numbness, fatigue, tingling, eye problems or other common MS issues. This always intrigued me because it was the most normal 9 months of our marriage. I have spoken with many doctors and MS patients and many of them have seen the same thing. So, why does this happen? Some of the doctors have talked about the hormone shifts in the body and how they could be affecting the MS. I wonder now if this has something to do with the vascular issues in CCSVI. Could the changes in the body during pregnancy affect the veins and how well they function? I have no idea, but it sure poses an interesting set of questions. Maybe we'll learn more as the research keeps coming out at the multiple Universities in the US performing trials.
I think it took a little while for me to notice it, but her fatigue was gone and she generally felt better. We were both amazed at how well she felt and how she didn't have any numbness, fatigue, tingling, eye problems or other common MS issues. This always intrigued me because it was the most normal 9 months of our marriage. I have spoken with many doctors and MS patients and many of them have seen the same thing. So, why does this happen? Some of the doctors have talked about the hormone shifts in the body and how they could be affecting the MS. I wonder now if this has something to do with the vascular issues in CCSVI. Could the changes in the body during pregnancy affect the veins and how well they function? I have no idea, but it sure poses an interesting set of questions. Maybe we'll learn more as the research keeps coming out at the multiple Universities in the US performing trials.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
First Years With Multiple Sclerosis
The first MS attack my wife remembers was her left arm going numb from her shoulder to her finger tips. During that time, she was going to paralegal school and had recently moved to the Dallas area. She was 20 yrs old at the time. She went to see the doctors and they felt she had carpal tunnel syndrome. They gave her a wrist support and sent her home, diagnosing her with a pinched nerve. For weeks she was numb, then the feeling started to come back. Everyone felt as if this was an isolated incident and not a big deal. Almost a year later, at Thanksgiving, my wife started to have fuzziness in her left eye. This was after a busy day and it came on without warning. She noticed the problem as she tried to drive home and couldn't see well when she was passing cars. She went to bed that night not knowing what the issue was, then woke up the next day blind in that eye.
She immediately went to see the eye doctor and he gave my wife the diagnosis of MS. He explained that he had only seen this issue with patients that had Multiple Sclerosis. My wife's biological mom had been in contact with her adoptive father at the time so he knew that she could have MS. At that time, the doctors were still teaching that MS was not hereditary and my wife was one of the first cases of a mother/daughter with MS. Her eye doctor gave her steroids for the blindness and she was able to regain her sight after a few weeks. My wife was completely blind for a full week this first time before the sight began to come back. About the time that she had regained her sight completely back, her right eye went blind.
This happened the day after Christmas, and seemed to coincide with her menstrual cycle. This time my wife was hospitalized and put through testing for MS. She had an MRI done and a spinal tap. Neither one of these came back positive for MS. The MRI showed no lesions but her parents felt like it was definitely MS. Her father chose at this point to not continue any testing because as a pharmacist, he felt like it was futile. He felt like it was a waste because it wasn't like they could cure or really even help with the drugs that were available then. The doctors started her on steroids and her eyesight began to come back just like it had before.
About that same time my wife's mother attended a Yanni concert. During the concert he spoke about how his daughter was about to give birth, and about how she had MS. My wife's mother approached him after the concert and he took her aside and told her about Dr Roy L Swank. My in-laws called Dr. Swank's office and was lucky enough to get an appointment within a month due to a cancellation and her age. Because she was only 21 at the time, Dr. Swank wanted to see her as quickly as possible. My wife moved back home and went to see Dr. Swank. Dr. Swank confirmed the MS diagnosis and had her start the Swank MS diet. My wife moved back home and began the diet immediately.
For nine months my wife slept and kept a strict diet according to Dr. Swank's book. Right after the blindness issues, my wife had tingling in her legs and problems walking. She also started to have epileptic seizures in her left arm. She had the seizures for about a month, and the doctors had her take seizure medication. The seizures stopped after that month and she has not had any since. The leg issues continued off and on for the first six months after starting the diet. My wife's main memories of that first year of MS were sleeping all the time and being stuck at the house. She remembers how strict the diet was and how worried she was about breaking the diet. She has commented many times about how she was worried about eating a french fry, or potato chip, because it might make her blind. Even when I met her a few years later, she was still strict with her diet and wouldn't cheat due to fear that it would hurt her and cause an MS attack.
After the nine months of sleeping, my wife slowly began to go back to work and continue with her schooling. She continued to have mild MS issues, including fatigue, tingling in her legs/feet, tingling in her arms/hands and headaches. About two years after starting the diet, she went blind for her third time. This time the eye issues started right after rock climbing and hiking all day. About a year later, my wife and I met. I know there are many, many things I am leaving out about those first few years, but maybe this will give a big picture view of my wife's experience. I will try to get into more detail in later posts.
She immediately went to see the eye doctor and he gave my wife the diagnosis of MS. He explained that he had only seen this issue with patients that had Multiple Sclerosis. My wife's biological mom had been in contact with her adoptive father at the time so he knew that she could have MS. At that time, the doctors were still teaching that MS was not hereditary and my wife was one of the first cases of a mother/daughter with MS. Her eye doctor gave her steroids for the blindness and she was able to regain her sight after a few weeks. My wife was completely blind for a full week this first time before the sight began to come back. About the time that she had regained her sight completely back, her right eye went blind.
This happened the day after Christmas, and seemed to coincide with her menstrual cycle. This time my wife was hospitalized and put through testing for MS. She had an MRI done and a spinal tap. Neither one of these came back positive for MS. The MRI showed no lesions but her parents felt like it was definitely MS. Her father chose at this point to not continue any testing because as a pharmacist, he felt like it was futile. He felt like it was a waste because it wasn't like they could cure or really even help with the drugs that were available then. The doctors started her on steroids and her eyesight began to come back just like it had before.
About that same time my wife's mother attended a Yanni concert. During the concert he spoke about how his daughter was about to give birth, and about how she had MS. My wife's mother approached him after the concert and he took her aside and told her about Dr Roy L Swank. My in-laws called Dr. Swank's office and was lucky enough to get an appointment within a month due to a cancellation and her age. Because she was only 21 at the time, Dr. Swank wanted to see her as quickly as possible. My wife moved back home and went to see Dr. Swank. Dr. Swank confirmed the MS diagnosis and had her start the Swank MS diet. My wife moved back home and began the diet immediately.
For nine months my wife slept and kept a strict diet according to Dr. Swank's book. Right after the blindness issues, my wife had tingling in her legs and problems walking. She also started to have epileptic seizures in her left arm. She had the seizures for about a month, and the doctors had her take seizure medication. The seizures stopped after that month and she has not had any since. The leg issues continued off and on for the first six months after starting the diet. My wife's main memories of that first year of MS were sleeping all the time and being stuck at the house. She remembers how strict the diet was and how worried she was about breaking the diet. She has commented many times about how she was worried about eating a french fry, or potato chip, because it might make her blind. Even when I met her a few years later, she was still strict with her diet and wouldn't cheat due to fear that it would hurt her and cause an MS attack.
After the nine months of sleeping, my wife slowly began to go back to work and continue with her schooling. She continued to have mild MS issues, including fatigue, tingling in her legs/feet, tingling in her arms/hands and headaches. About two years after starting the diet, she went blind for her third time. This time the eye issues started right after rock climbing and hiking all day. About a year later, my wife and I met. I know there are many, many things I am leaving out about those first few years, but maybe this will give a big picture view of my wife's experience. I will try to get into more detail in later posts.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Shooting Pain In Temples With MS
This past week has been a tough one. I had a kidney stone and stressed myself and my family to the limits. After an ER visit and a lot of pain, the kidney stone is gone, but the stress is hanging on. My wife was exhausted all of last week and woke up a few days ago with shooting pain in her temples. She had a dull headache, but she could handle that pain. What she couldn't handle was the pain that would hit every few minutes and would cause a searing pain in both temples by her eyes. Her eyes didn't necessarily ache, but when the pain hit, it would stop her in her tracks. She hadn't dealt with this kind of headache before, so we were a little unsure of what brought it on, but we feel like it was the way she had her head resting on her pillow.
We have been using special pillows for years after our Chiropractor recommended them. At first they were really uncomfortable and took a while to get used to, but now we both carry them everywhere and have a hard time sleeping without them. We have found our adjustments "stick" much better after we started using them, and we found ourselves sleeping better. The other morning she had tilted the pillow against the wall and was laying on it at an angle. While laying there she knew that her neck was sore, but didn't think it would bring on a headache. About 30 minutes later the pain hit and she knew then that she should have adjusted the pillow back correctly. I think it frustrates us both that it is so easy to create issues in our lives, not just with MS, but just life in general. We seem to cause a lot of our own misery by not resting enough, trying to do too much, eating poorly and a number of other things. Sometimes we seem to be our worst enemy. :)
We have been using special pillows for years after our Chiropractor recommended them. At first they were really uncomfortable and took a while to get used to, but now we both carry them everywhere and have a hard time sleeping without them. We have found our adjustments "stick" much better after we started using them, and we found ourselves sleeping better. The other morning she had tilted the pillow against the wall and was laying on it at an angle. While laying there she knew that her neck was sore, but didn't think it would bring on a headache. About 30 minutes later the pain hit and she knew then that she should have adjusted the pillow back correctly. I think it frustrates us both that it is so easy to create issues in our lives, not just with MS, but just life in general. We seem to cause a lot of our own misery by not resting enough, trying to do too much, eating poorly and a number of other things. Sometimes we seem to be our worst enemy. :)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thoughts on CCSVI and Dr. Paolo Zamboni's Research
I have been reading articles and posts all over the net about Dr. Zamboni's research and Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency. One article by Erika Milvy states, "Dr. Zamboni found that, in over 90 percent of people with Multiple Sclerosis, the veins draining blood from the brain were constricted and this led to a buildup of iron in the brain that, he theorized, causes the neurological symptoms of MS." Dr. Zamboni seems to have been driven to this conclusion by his desire to help his wife Elena Zamboni. Dr. Zamboni performed a surgical procedure on his wife to correct this issue and she was one of his first success stories.
After reading these articles I have tried to stay up on the research being done by different universities across the US and Canada. In February more information is supposed to be released and until then we will wait with anticipation. For the past 14 years I have watched as "miracle" cures have hit the media for Multiple Sclerosis, and I have tried to hold on to what we have learned through our own experiences. One of those "miracle" cures was a drug that my wife was set to take in 1990. Fortunately she chose not to take it because it caused major organ failure in the majority of patients that tried it. We have tried to look at this new finding through the lens of these experiences but feel very excited about the possiblities.
After reading one night I asked my wife how she thought life would change if she didn't have to deal with MS everyday. What would change? We sat and dreamed about no fatigue, no worries about over working her body, no worries about going numb or losing eyesight, no more missing events and activities that we have to miss now, and so many other things that we have made choices about that specifically have to do with her MS. It is the first time in our marriage that I can say that we really wondered what it would be like to have true health together, and actually feel there may be a way for that to happen.
I don't know how successful the trials will be, but I do have hope that it may be the beginning of the end. I know that we have personally tested my wife for iron overload and have been baffled by some of the things that have worked and not worked with the treatments we have chosen. I remember her sitting in a magnetic field chair when she was being treated by our naturopath after going numb from the chest down, and she felt great after the treatment. She tried to use the same treatment a year later and it made her feel ill. We had no idea why it made her feel great one time and made her feel awful the next. We still have no solid answer to why, but iron content was one of the issues we were looking at after the treatment. I will share more thoughts later, but for now I wanted to at least acknowledge that we are watching this play out with anticipation and excitement. Our hope is that this research will truly change the way MS is treated.
After reading these articles I have tried to stay up on the research being done by different universities across the US and Canada. In February more information is supposed to be released and until then we will wait with anticipation. For the past 14 years I have watched as "miracle" cures have hit the media for Multiple Sclerosis, and I have tried to hold on to what we have learned through our own experiences. One of those "miracle" cures was a drug that my wife was set to take in 1990. Fortunately she chose not to take it because it caused major organ failure in the majority of patients that tried it. We have tried to look at this new finding through the lens of these experiences but feel very excited about the possiblities.
After reading one night I asked my wife how she thought life would change if she didn't have to deal with MS everyday. What would change? We sat and dreamed about no fatigue, no worries about over working her body, no worries about going numb or losing eyesight, no more missing events and activities that we have to miss now, and so many other things that we have made choices about that specifically have to do with her MS. It is the first time in our marriage that I can say that we really wondered what it would be like to have true health together, and actually feel there may be a way for that to happen.
I don't know how successful the trials will be, but I do have hope that it may be the beginning of the end. I know that we have personally tested my wife for iron overload and have been baffled by some of the things that have worked and not worked with the treatments we have chosen. I remember her sitting in a magnetic field chair when she was being treated by our naturopath after going numb from the chest down, and she felt great after the treatment. She tried to use the same treatment a year later and it made her feel ill. We had no idea why it made her feel great one time and made her feel awful the next. We still have no solid answer to why, but iron content was one of the issues we were looking at after the treatment. I will share more thoughts later, but for now I wanted to at least acknowledge that we are watching this play out with anticipation and excitement. Our hope is that this research will truly change the way MS is treated.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Never Ceases To Amaze My Wife And I
Ok, so my wife wasn't able to hold any food down for days and was having some tingling and other issues, and she was becoming very frustrated. The first opportunity we had, we called our Chiropractor and setup an appointment. We drove 2 hours to see this specific Chiropractor and he adjusted our whole family with the Pro Adjuster tool. Even on the drive to see him my wife's stomach burned and she was worried about not being able to make it without bladder or stomach issues. Within minutes of being adjusted my wife started to feel better. After an hour or so she started to have more energy and was able to eat without issue. Since the adjustment she has not had anymore bladder issues or stomach issues. It continues to amaze both of us that with the right adjustment techniques her symptoms go away, and that they go away quickly. I am so glad that we didn't give up trying to find a natural treatment that would help with these issues.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wife TKO'd Through Holidays
What a rough holiday season! My wife dealt with tingling, numbness, pain, bladder issues, fatigue and many other issues over the last few weeks. Today we are heading to see our Chiropractor to realign her body so we can start to make some progress on her symptoms. The last three days she hasn't been able to eat any solid foods due to stomach and bladder issues. We had some teen boys stay with us for a few days and her symptoms started as soon as we picked them up and still haven't completely gone away. It was hard for her to not be involved with them and have to stay close to home because of the issues. That was a recurring theme for our 09 holiday experience.
Holiday stress, poor eating, lack of rest and just pushing her body too hard sure hasn't helped my wife. It amazes me how MS takes full advantage when your body is worn down and you are stressed out. At one point during Christmas, my wife couldn't even enjoy her family because she was so worn out and fatigued. During another time she started feeling tingling around her torso and was worried that it was spreading and would go numb. The emotional roller coaster alone was frustrating during the past few weeks. This morning she is feeling better than she has in four or five days, but if she doesn't see the Chiropractor today and start to rest and eat properly, none of these symptoms are going to go away. She wasn't knocked out completely through the holidays, but she was knocked down a few times.
Holiday stress, poor eating, lack of rest and just pushing her body too hard sure hasn't helped my wife. It amazes me how MS takes full advantage when your body is worn down and you are stressed out. At one point during Christmas, my wife couldn't even enjoy her family because she was so worn out and fatigued. During another time she started feeling tingling around her torso and was worried that it was spreading and would go numb. The emotional roller coaster alone was frustrating during the past few weeks. This morning she is feeling better than she has in four or five days, but if she doesn't see the Chiropractor today and start to rest and eat properly, none of these symptoms are going to go away. She wasn't knocked out completely through the holidays, but she was knocked down a few times.
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