Legs Tingling, Bladder Problems And Feet Numb

This morning we woke up to a few issues. My wife found that her feet were completely numb, her legs were tingling and she was running to the bathroom way more often than she would have liked. We knew that we needed to act or it could become bad fast so we decided to plan a quick trip to Dr Atchley in Albuquerque, which is about three hours from where we were going to be. It's in these moments that I really miss living in a large city where you have resources available within minutes. We made our way to our first stop of the day, thinking that we would then need to head down the road to the Chiropractor. My wife turned on the seat warmers in the car and we drove about 30 minutes when my wife said that her legs were feeling better. By the time we made it to our first stop, her feet and legs were feeling OK. She still had some tingling in her feet but it wasn't bad and it was going away.

We know we have been walking a fine line lately with how much we are pushing my wife's body. My wife has been standing and walking a lot with our work. This week we have been at the Eastern New Mexico State Fair where we have been walking and standing most of the day. She knew her legs were becoming tired yesterday and had commented that they were sore from so much physical exertion. This morning was a wake up call that she needed to rest more. I could see the stress on her face this morning when she knew something was not right. I know it frustrates her to not be able to push through things like this and that she has to manage her life with her MS. I also know she is really struggling right now trying to make some decisions about how to better handle the work and personal loads she has placed on her.

Multiple Sclerosis doesn't care if you're busy or don't have time, it just attacks. Sometimes MS attacks without warning, but most of our experience has been with some specific trigger like stress, toxins, exercise or traumatic event. We know why she is having issues right now. We have been stressed lately, both physically and emotionally. She has pushed her legs everyday, and has been struggling with short bouts of insomnia. Just a few days of poor rest really seems to wreck her body and the MS just takes over. I know she didn't sleep well last night and when you add that to the physical stress of working long hours on her feet, it really shouldn't surprise either one of us that she is having leg and feet issues. We made the decision today to put off the 6 hour round trip to the Chiropractor, but we realize that she will have to rest and we will need to plan that trip later. Tonight her legs are back to normal and her feet have all the feeling back, but we both know that everything could change by morning. So goes life with MS.

Gotta Go Right Now

This last week has been very tough on my wife. She found out her father was sick last week and then she caught a stomach bug herself. Our daughter then had the stomach bug and all the while my wife was stressed about her father's sickness. A few more hard days and a lot of stress and now she is having bladder issues again. The stress seems to have triggered the MS bladder issue, and we know that we need to take the time this week to have a chiropractic visit and for her to get some rest. This time has started the same as most, where she has to immediately go to the restroom when she has the urge to go. She can't wait or she may have an accident.

She has gone through this before but luckily we have stopped the problem previously with Bowen therapy, chiropractic and rest. She usually will start with the urgency issue then she will start to have less and less control. We know the progression so we will make sure she takes care of herself this week and begin the other protocols. For my wife it is as much an annoyance as anything because we have found a way for her to stop it and reverse the problem. Today was the perfect example with the bladder issue because she felt the need and had to run in as soon as we made it home or she would have had an accident. It was a "gotta go right now" issue.

Bowen Therapy and Multiple Sclerosis

It has been almost two years since I received the initial training in Bowen Therapy. After an intense weekend of classes, I finished the first session and was excited to try this new technique on other symptoms my wife was dealing with. Her symptoms have been very frustrating through the years. She had most of the same symptoms until we decided to move to Midland Tx. After we lived there for a few months she started to develop symptoms that we had never dealt with before. We had both read about them, but had never had to experience them. One of the symptoms that popped up a few times was bladder control or bladder dysfunction. This has to be one of the most demeaning symptoms she has had. While we were in Austin for the Bowen training, she was trying to find the hotel and had an accident right as she drove up to the hotel she thought we were staying at. It turned out to be the wrong hotel so she had to clean herself and the car up and try to have some dignity while she and my daughter headed to the right hotel. This was the first time she had lost total control. There had been moments before that we would have to pull over quickly or find a restroom, but never like this. I will never forget the intensity of frustration and shame she felt that evening when I was through with my first session. It killed me to see her so hurt, and it was even worse that this had all happened in front of our daughter. My wife has always tried to act like everything is normal for our daughter even though we have went through some really crazy times. She has always wanted our daughter to feel like her mom is normal and when something like the bladder control issue hits, it hurts her deeply. Our daughter handles it all so well, and we are both so proud of the way she deals with the issues of MS. So that night we decided to try out the new technique I had learned. I had no idea if Bowen would help with her bladder issues or not, but I knew that it had made her feel better before. After the session she did feel better, but the real difference was in her body the rest of the time we were in Austin. She didn't have anymore bladder problems the rest of the visit, and she had energy and felt great. We have since used Bowen anytime that she is having an attack or when we know that her body is screaming out for help. Sometimes it helps more than others, but we have both seen a good Bowen session stop an exacerbation in its tracks. I have not been able to go back for the next classes, but one day I hope to learn the rest of the specialized techniques. If you have any questions about Bowen please contact me. We both know that every person is affected by different therapies in different ways, but we truly believe that any Multiple Sclerosis patient could benefit from a Bowen session.