Lasting Effects of Being Blind with Multiple Sclerosis

This last week my wife went in to get her eyes checked for the first time in a while. The poor Optometrist really didn't have a clue about MS or the condition of her eyes. When we explained to him that she had been blind four times, had a retina detachment with a buckle, and how one of her eyes is dim, he seemed a little overwhelmed. It is almost humorous to see doctors that don't have any kind of background in MS. He looked her eyes over and started the process of getting her a prescription, and we were happy that her eye sight hasn't changed much from the last time she had her eyes checked.

With the damage that has been done to her eyes, it is no wonder he couldn't get 20/20 vision in both eyes. Her left eye he was able to get to 20/20 even though she has gone blind in that eye, and we know that there was damage. She sees pretty well out of that eye, with full peripheral and good depth perception. The right eye is a different story. With the times she's gone blind in it, her optic nerve has apparently been damaged. She can see, but it is half the brightness. He was able to get her to 20/60 in that eye, and I know she has some issues with night blindness and peripheral in her right eye. She is still blessed to be able to see out of that eye as well as she does, and we are hoping her new prescription will help even more with some issues she is having.

In both eyes, she has gone completely blind for days, and then the eye sight came back through using steroid drips. This is one of the few times that we use any type of drugs to treat her MS, and we both feel it has saved her eyesight. I have had a few questions about whether you can get your eyesight back if you've been blind with MS, and my wife is a living testimonial to that. She doesn't see great out of her right eye, but her left eye is still normal. We also found out that she has some issues seeing colors. The doctor ran a few simple color tests, where they have letters or numbers in color on a page with other dots or designs, and she had a hard time seeing very many of them. Yes, the MS has affected her vision, but she is so happy that she can still see and enjoy her eye sight. Her few bouts with going blind have damaged her eyesight some, but overall we are very pleased with how well she can still see.

Dizzy, Light Headed, Nausea with MS

Last week my wife hit a point where we knew we were going to have to take action or watch her continue toward a full on MS attack. We went to see our special Chiropractor and immediately she started to feel better. Normally it takes a few days for her body to get back to some kind of normal state, and this time is no exception. Over the last few days, she has had moments of dizziness, feeling light headed, nausea and a general feeling of being woozy. It seems to hit out of nowhere and sometimes lasts just a few minutes, and at other times it goes on for an hour or longer. This has only made her car sickness worse, and she has been having to lay down and rest a lot.

I can feel her frustration with her body not cooperating. She is trying to finish up our taxes, and she hasn't been able to focus on much due to dull headaches. The Chiropractic visit helped to stop the immediate threat of vertigo, and we will probably go back this week to make sure her vertebra didn't just move back out of place. This is a four hour round trip for us, and we wouldn't do it if we didn't feel like it truly made a huge impact on her health. I guess I have learned there are no magic pills, magic diets or other get fixed quick treatments for Multiple Sclerosis, just persistent warring again the disease and constantly learning to find new ways to make daily life better.

Spinning Head With MS

Yesterday my wife woke up feeling pretty good, other than an unsettled stomach. She met me for lunch and right after she arrived home, her head started spinning and she began to vomit. She wasn't able to leave the bed for the rest of the day, with her head spinning. By mid afternoon her head hurt so bad that she wasn't able to sleep, and she was trying everything to relieve the pain and spinning. She wasn't able to sleep well through the night, and woke up feeling worse. From the time the spinning started, her body struggled to regulate her body temperature. She would become overheated easy which made the feelings of sickness even worse.

This morning I offered to take her to our Pro Adjuster Chiropractor and she felt like she would get better as the day went on. Around lunch time she showed up at my office struggling to stay on her feet, dizzier than the day before. We immediately contacted the Chiropractor and headed the 2 hours to see him. He adjusted her in about 10 minutes and she began to feel the rush of blood flow and feeling spread through her body and head. After about 10 minutes her headache had subsided to a dull pain and her dizziness was almost gone. After another 30 minutes we were sitting in a restaurant eating, with her continuing to feel better, laughing and talking like nothing was wrong. It still amazes me that a simple adjustment can radically change her well being.

While at the Chiropractor's office I spoke with him about the CCSVI research I have been studying. I explained the lack of blood flow due to twisted veins, especially the jugular veins, and asked him how the adjustments might affect this issue. As we talked about my wife's specific issues he adjusted each time she visited, he pointed out that the C1 and C2 vertebrae were always an issue for her. He explained to me that the jugular vein can easily be affected by these two vertebrae and that today was no exception. He also explained that a Chiropractor adjusts to affect nerves, but an Osteopath adjusts for blood flow. We talked for some time about how both of these issues, nerves and blood flow, are affected by adjustment and how my wife can see such drastic results from the adjustments time and time again. I am definitely not a doctor, and I am only passing along what this particular Chiropractor spoke to me about, but it sure does seem to make sense after he explained how the adjustments could be affecting the blood flow and potentially a CCSVI issue. We will continue to work with Chiropractic care until we decide whether we are going to pursue the Liberation treatment. I can honestly say that we are very excited about the future and my wife's health, and am very pleased with the current treatments we have found to help along the journey.

Forgiving with Multiple Sclerosis

My wife and I joke all the time that she is a very forgiving person, which she really is, but our joke has to do with her lack of memory. We were having a conversation the other day and I brought up something that she had been upset with me about, and she had to ask me when it had happened. She didn't remember any of it, and this is a very common occurance. She and I will have a disagreement and within a few hours, she has completely forgotten about it. I have noticed that this happens more often when she is stressed, and it has seemed to happen a lot lately. I can tell when her memory is slipping because she will forget simple things that normally she is very good about remembering. It definatley makes for some interesting disagreements because she will get fired up about something, then totally forget it within a short amount of time. Some of this is probably her ADD. She always struggles to stay focused, and I know that is one of the reasons she forgets so easily, but I also know that her memory comes and goes depending on how she is doing physically and emotionally.

I am not sure how much of all of this is MS, or if any of it is MS, but I know from some of the studies being put out right now about CCSVI that there are some major issues that can result from the blood flow being restricted. I read a study the other day talking about how the blood going into the brain is actually cooled down before it enters, and how the blood flow affects how our bodies deals with temperature changes and all sorts of other issues. I want to write more about this later, but for now, I guess I am just curious if anyone else out there is struggling with memory issues. Multiple Sclerosis affects so many different areas of your life, and this is one that has helped my wife in some ways. Because she forgets some things so easily, it actually lessens the stress on her body and she forgives very easily. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some things that she never forgets and she definately reminds me of some of those on a regular basis. :) She really is an amazing woman that is truly forgiving and is always trying to make the right decision, no matter how hard that is on her. Dr Swank used to talk about how amazing the MS patients were that he treated, and I would have to agree that I have an amazing MS woman!

Seeing Vegas with Multiple Sclerosis

Two weeks ago I was invited to speak at a conference in Las Vegas, NV, so we loaded up and headed that way. We had never been to Vegas so we wanted to make sure and give ourselves some time to see the sights. The first night we arrived around 4 and headed out on the town. We drove to Cesar's Palace and started walking from there, knowing that my wife could struggle to walk to all of the areas we wanted to see. We took in the Volcano at the Mirage, walked over to Treasure Island and took in the show there, then headed on to the Eiffel Tower and saw the Bellagio fountains from the top of the tower. What an awesome sight to hear the music and watch the fountains from above. After quite a few hours of walking I turned to my wife and asked about her legs. She said she felt fine and we made our way back to Cesar's Palace and our car. On our way back, things got a little tricky, and I thought I might have to carry her.

We had made it through most of Cesar's Palace when her legs finally decided to give up. Her left leg started dragging and she found herself almost tripping many times. I was a little concerned because we had quite a walk left before we were going to be back at the car, and I could tell that her legs weren't cooperating. She seemed to "feel" OK, but was stumbling and struggling to walk at all. We were joking that most people probably thought she was just drunk, like most of the other people in the hotel. We finally made it back to the car and headed to our hotel, where she went straight to bed. Her legs ached a little that night, and she tried to rest as much as possible for the next day.

The next day we went to the event I was speaking at and she had to sit for quite a few hours. After sitting for some time, her legs began to get out of control again. She kicked the seats in front of her as her legs jumped uncontrollably. She was so frustrated by that point and couldn't seem to get control of her legs. When we got up to leave, she noticed that she began to walk funny. She would lift her left leg up very high and walked very differently than normal. After walking to the car we decided that she probably shouldn't do much else for that day. Frustration set in again! She was so mad that we were in Vegas, by ourselves, and she was being limited by her Multiple Sclerosis again.

Over the next three days she struggled with everything from jumpy legs to achy legs to even struggling with stomach pain and headaches. The over stimulation of the lights, sounds and activity in Vegas was so hard on her body. Just about everyday she had a dull headache, and with the leg issues, it was a struggle for her to enjoy very much of the trip. She struggled with her body keeping a constant temperature, and would need the A/C blowing full blast at times, and then the heater warming her up later. Her MS was truly wreaking havoc on our Vegas trip, but she worked through the issues the best she could and we still walked some more and saw some more. I guess we have learned through the years that there are going to be times when we are going to have to create some down time so that we can enjoy our time actually participating in whatever we are doing. Our trip to Vegas turned out OK, but it sure is a struggle to watch her have so many issues within just a few days just because of the amount of walking and activity.

New Year, New MS Discoveries?

2011 could shape up to be an amazing year. With Dr. Zamboni getting the OK to start his Clinical Trial for CCSVI and MS, many others already having the Liberation treatment done and so much dialogue being done about new ideas about Multiple Sclerosis, this year could be a turning point for so many facing this disease. My wife and I have been following all of this very closely but are not at a point to where we feel ready to jump in yet. There is still a lot of details to be worked out concerning after care and a way to create long term opening of the veins, that we are not ready to move forward with the procedure. But, it has been amazing to read stories about progressive MS patients that have seen miraculous recovery from this surgery. We will be following everything with anticipation to see what new technology or technique or method may fix some of the issues that are currently hindering a full recovery for many of the patients.

I know for my wife, the last year and a half have been very interesting. I can honestly say she has had more daily issues with her MS where we live now than almost any other time since her diagnosis. She hasn't had any major attacks or major issues, just annoying issues that have disrupted the routines of our life and affected our daily living. We have made some commitments in 2011 to begin to shape our lives better so we can control more of the things that we know are affecting her health. She is already beginning to take control of some of her dietary habits again, and we are gearing up for some much needed physical training to strengthen and build up our bodies. We have already began to make some major changes in our lives, and I am excited about what the future holds for treatment of MS.

Multiple Sclerosis And Marriage

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!