Is This Job Worth It?

Today is the first time in my life that someone accused my wife of not pulling her load due to her MS. We have never dealt with this before and were very frustrated. It was a very interesting conversation because they couldn't give any specifics or times that it had caused them any extra work or issues, but they asked specifically whether this job was for her or not because of her MS. The ironic part of it all is that the person asking has had physical issues that have been an issue with his ability to work at our job.

Much of this accusation came out of ignorance of the disease. Most people that I have spoken with about the disease only know progressive cases and assume that my wife will be wheelchair bound or have major issues. As a spouse it is hard to watch someone speak out of ignorance when it directly affects your wife and family. My wife and I tried our hardest to control our tongue today and speak only things that would be helpful in the situation to educate, but neither one of us feel like the other couple understood. My wife's MS was an easy target and was used against us even though it hasn't affected her ability to do her job.

Our bosses, other co-workers, kiddos and others involved with our family know that my wife is awesome at her job. She has never had any negative comments from our bosses or anyone involved with our work. She not only pulls her weight, but she goes above and beyond in her actions and activities. It is hard when you have one co-worker that doesn't know you and makes assumptions about your health and abilities. So we now have to deal with something that is a false accusation that has to do with something as complicated as Multiple Sclerosis.

Brown Spots On Skin With MS

Over the past few years my wife has developed more and more brown spots on her skin. A few of them are on her face and cause her a lot of frustration. They don't hurt or itch or cause any discomfort. They are just dark brown spots that have grown and cover small areas of her skin. We have been told they are age spots but we both feel like they are caused by something going on in her body. There are too many concidences that we see day to day from her MS that makes us feel like the spots are being caused by something going on other than age.

My wife also has a few small raised bumps on her skin that have formed over the last few years. These bumps don't itch or hurt, but none of them have gone away. They formed and have stayed for years now. They are raised like a bite or something, and are either skin colored or red. When we used to see Dr. Swank, he recommended lots of fish oils to compensate for the lack of oils in the diet. When she was taking the oils, we did notice improvements in her skin and hair, but are not sure where the spots or bumps have come from.

Tripping and Falling With MS

A few nights ago my wife came into the house limping. She had just come back from the grocery store and was bringing some food into the house. On her way up the sidewalk she slipped trying to step up onto the porch. Her foot came out from under her and she hit her elbow, side, leg and foot very hard on the concrete. She limped through the house and showed me the areas that she hurt. The bruises were already starting to show, and her foot began to swell.

My first reaction when something like this happens is to worry that there will be lasting effects. Many times when she falls or hits something very hard it stirs up her MS issues. She may hit her foot and not be able to walk on it for weeks due to other MS problems. This time her foot became swolen and she was having major pain just trying to move her foot up or down. She went to bed early and used heat to help her foot loosen up. The next day she had a bruised side, bruised elbow, bruised leg and bruised foot. All of those areas hurt, but there was no numbness or other issues. It is amazing to me how much better her health has gotten over the years and how she can handle more than when we first met 14 years ago.

My wife has had balance issues since her first MS attacks. She has also lost her eye sight multiple times so her vision is not great in one eye due to the eye being "dark". This causes her to be clumsy at times and it frustrates her horribly. She competed as a gymnast for 12 years of her life so it drives her nuts when she loses her balance. This time she has bruises all over but no lasting effects. She had to deal with pain for a day or two, and the bruises are healing, but I think it hurt her pride more than anything. I think that is one of the things that has been the hardest for my wife, not being able to do what she always has. She is not as balanced, not able to do what she always has, and having to deal with constant limitations. That has to be frustrating!

What Causes MS?

I spent some time yesterday with a Naturopathic Doctor talking about Multiple Sclerosis and other diseases. He has spent the last few years focusing his efforts on auto-immune diseases and studying the effects of different treatments on MS, Lupus, ALS and a host of other diseases. He feels he may even have a way to reverse Alzheimer's, which my mother has been affected with. So, we spoke a little about what he thinks may cause MS and what he has seen over the past year or so. I can only put this in my own words, so I will try to explain this to the best of my ability.

Through research, he has found one thing that seems to be consistent within all MS patients. Since he does Darkfield Microscopy, he looks at all patients blood that comes into his office. He has found spirochetes in all MS patients blood. I have a limited understanding of this, but spirochetes can come from different sources and once they are in the blood stream, they can be very hard to kill. My wife has spirochetes in her blood and the strange thing is that they actually live in her blood cells. This causes major issues when you try to kill them because they have infiltrated your body's defense system. The spirochetes give off neurotoxins in your blood stream that can cause MS symptoms, like nerve issues etc. When you kill them, it can cause flu symptoms and can really stir up your immune system.

They are also hard to kill because they live in different forms in the body. Depending on which form they are in, ie larva, adult etc., they have to be attacked with different medicines. We saw this in my wife. She could take certain meds that would attack the spirochetes, and when they started to die off, she would have flu like symptoms and other MS symptoms. One thing we have noticed through the years is that when my wife takes antibiotics she usually feels very good and has no MS issues. This would make sense if the spirochetes are part of the problem. The spirochetes are killed off by the antibiotics which allows her immune system to flourish and her body to feel better.

He went on to explain that when you have spirochetes you usually have secondary infections. These infections can also involve "critters" that give off neurotoxins and cause neurological problems. When you combine these together in your blood, they can cause swelling and pain in joints, numbness, fatigue etc. Sometimes these secondary infections can be as hard or harder to kill than the spirochetes. My father has RA extremely bad in his hands and joints. When we used the treatment for spirochetes he was able to get relief and was even able to close his hands. He hadn't been able to make a fist for months when we started.

One thing we have learned is that these infections seem to foster new infections and issues. I have written before about my wife's leaky gut and other gut issues. We feel like all of these issues are interconnected which can make treatment extremely difficult. Anytime you start to get aggressive with killing off spirochetes or the secondary infections, you have to deal with your body being overwhelmed with neurotoxins and die off of the "critters". The pain and general yucky feeling makes it difficult to want to continue for long periods of treatment. It can also become quite expensive when you do everything that is needed.

Every time my wife has had major MS attacks, we have aggressively used these treatment methods. They have worked and we have always been able to reverse the affects of her MS attacks. This particular ND feels like all of these infections combined are the "cause" of MS, and until the medical community comes up with something else, I have to agree with him based on our experience and his experience.

MS Headache Caused By Stress

Today was not a great day for my wife. Due to some circumstances at our workplace, my wife and I are both pretty stressed. When dealing with children ages 5-18, life can become very hectic and chaotic. When you add in the fact that we live in a community of three homes with three different styles of parenting and personalities it can become even more challenging. Today, my wife's emotional state and physical state couldn't handle the stress that was building in her body. Her head started to hurt mid afternoon and continued to worsen as the day went on.

Her headache peaked at supper time. She felt nauseous and finally had to lay down to help with the pain. She can even pinpoint the exact time that she let the stress get the better of her. She let something get to her that shouldn't, and within a few minutes she was in pain. My wife's MS has caused many issues through the years, but the headaches have to be one of the most frustrating. These MS stress headaches cause her so much pain that she usually has to sleep them off and many times we end up visiting the chiropractor to realign her body. She has been in bed since supper and she will need the rest to recoup from the stress her body is under.

I am not sure about other MS sufferers, but my wife's body is very sensitive to things. When she is adjusted by our chiropractor, she will feel the results immediately. When she allows stress to build, her body will react with headaches, nausea, numbness, vision issues, pain and many other symptoms. When she has physical trauma, it affects her whole body, not just the injured place. We can control many of these things, but many times they are out of our control. Today was one of those days, and again we are reminded how easily her body is affected by stress.

Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion, Upset Stomach, Diarrhea and MS

Once again, my wife had to run to the restroom with an upset stomach. Today we went to the movies to enjoy some time with our Children's home kiddos. We ordered the usual popcorn and drink and sat down to enjoy the movie. Half way through the movie my wife's stomach started to cramp and hurt. It became serious enough that she had to run to the bathroom before the end of the movie. She found herself in the bathroom vomiting and frustrated once again.

She has had stomach issues as long as I have known her, but it isn't consistent. Sometimes she will go weeks or months without issues then it hits out of nowhere. When she does have issues, it can be as simple as stomach pain or as serious as becoming ill after every meal. Many times she will even have to run to the restroom during the meal. It seems to start with an upset stomach and then will continue to be uncomfortable until she expels what's in her stomach. This is very frustrating for her and can really hamper any activities we have planned.

We have tried a few things to help with this, but we have still not figured out what triggers the reaction. We do know that over the last few years she has become more sensitive to dairy products and that when she is having issues, there are certain foods that she needs to stay away from. We have also used a combination of Mastic Gum and L-Glutamine to help ease the stomach. I know that we will eventually figure out what is causing this issue, but until then we will be aware of it and know that it is a temporary issue.

MS Magnifies Stressful Situation

Dr. Swank used to explain to us that a MS patient feels things more strongly than the average person. He said there would be times that my wife would feel things 10X stronger than me. This included emotional and physical things. MS seems to have a way to heighten the senses and my wife is no exception. Her MS has caused her to have cramps, stiffness, physical pain, emotional pain, mood swings, and a range of other feelings. Yesterday was the perfect example of this.

Working on a campus with kids all day can be stressful. We take care of all of their needs 24/7 and then have to deal with their parents, other staff, school etc. on any given day. We also have regular staff meetings with other personnel that are also responsible for children on our campus. In our weekly meeting, one of the houseparents was very frustrated about some issues on campus and proceeded to vent her frustration to one of our bosses. During this venting, I could visibly see my wife tense up. Her hands started to tighten into fists and I could see the stress start to work its way through her body. She was not involved in the venting or the problem, but just by sitting in the same room she became physically involved in the encounter.

At one point in the conversation she felt compelled to defend another staff on our campus without becoming personally involved in the issue. She explained herself well, but her hands were visibly shaking and I could see the stress in her eyes and body. The tension from being in the same room during this venting exhausted my wife. She was flush and physically hot during this time, and remained that way for some time after the meeting. I know that she "feels" things more strongly than I do, and this meeting left her physically and emotionally spent even though she was not the one in the conversation.

MS and stress do not go well together, and we are reminded of this often. Our Chiropractor pointed out that one way he knows where our body is out of whack is by the physical indicators. He pointed out that our skin temperature, skin blemishes and other factors can easily tell him where the problems are occurring. He was able to show me on my wife's back where she was out of alignment and then show me the blemishes right at the problem area. It really was very fascinating. Stress manifests itself in so many strange ways and MS seems to magnify it. Just being in the room with a stressful situation can wear out my wife, and this particular event went on for maybe twenty minutes. We hope that the next staff meeting isn't quite so "exciting".