My MS Story ... part two

It is now the Fall of 2010 & I find myself full circle back in the Loess Hills. We moved many years ago into a nearby Glenwood neighborhood, only 5 minutes away, but for some reason, we never get back here, other than the occasional camping trip at Pony Creek. I’ve got a new gig though, walking a dog named Sky, and this is where he lives. I’m so excited to be getting paid to spend time w/ a dog, in a beautiful setting & getting some much needed exercise as well. It’s Fall, the air is crisp & life is good!

Sky’s pace is sporadic. He stops & checks stuff out a lot but occasionally he can’t wait to get to the next scent so I have to pick up my pace & sometimes find myself actually jogging. It’s been years since I’ve exercised regularly & it feels great. Jogging was something I had never really done before & I was amazed at how much I was enjoying it. But like I said, Sky wasn’t very consistent & we’d go from jaunting for a bit & then back to a casual wander. So it wasn’t too intense of a work out, but at least it was something. It was better than sitting on the couch, which is what I’d been doing for the last year or so.

It was towards the end of these walks that I started questioning something w/ my left leg, or foot. I wasn’t quite sure. You know how when you’re walking in tennis shoes & the rubber grips a bit on the carpet? Well I was walking on gravel, but it was like that. But it seemed to be happening to my left foot only. I really just thought it had been my lack of exercise & after awhile I’d be back on track. 

In the meantime, we went to Mexico over Thanksgiving. We are usually “go, go, go” on a trip; snorkeling, kayaking, sailing, etc…, but I was just looking forward to relaxing on the beach & feeling the sun on my face. We did one tour, which included Mayan ruins, cave snorkeling, zip lining & repelling. I was nervous about repelling & didn’t think much about how slow I was walking up the very high structure. Again, I just thought I needed more exercise. I did make it & I did repel!! Other than that I did have a pretty relaxing trip w/ 2 great spa days & lots of tequila shots delivered to our private pool.

Back at home & walking w/ Sky one day through Pony Creek, I was feeling weirdly exhausted, like nothing I’d ever felt before. I had to sit down on the ground & rest & I barely had the energy to hold on to Sky’s leash. He didn’t feel the same about resting as I did. Eventually I was able to get him home, but it was a struggle. I was still having the issue w/ my foot so I decided to see if it was the gravel or me. I got on the treadmill to test things out & sure enough, my foot was clearly dragging after about 20 minutes. I did a test afterwards by bending my knee & lifting my right leg up. It went all the way up. I did the same test with my left leg & it would only go about 90 degrees. I think this is when I knew.

I didn’t want to say anything out loud just yet, not even to Fletch. I did not want this to be true. So I kept walking hoping it would go away.

Now it’s Christmastime & I’m having Christmas Eve dinner at my house so that week was very busy & stressful, especially with my Mom’s usual antics, getting mad & threatening not to come. I’m at the grocery store & all of a sudden I get these shooting pains in my head for about 30 seconds at a time, and then no pain at all. It happened several times & that was it. I get migraines but I’d never had anything like that before. Had to pick up more groceries the next day & the same thing happened. Someone said I should stay out of Walmart & I tend to agree, but I needed a lot of food at a good price so I made an exception.

It’s now Christmas Eve & I got up early & spent all morning cooking. I was starting to feel exhausted & felt the sudden need to take a bath & relax before everyone came over. I used relaxing bath oils, put on relaxing music, lit some candles & got into a very hot bath. That’s how I like ‘em. After I felt completely relaxed, I tried to get out of the bath. My legs didn’t want to lift me into standing position so I basically had to crawl out & over & onto the bathroom floor. From there, I tried to lift myself up w/ my arms & I collapsed back to the floor. I laid there for a while, thinking once I cooled off, I would be able to accomplish this task. Not so. I had to call out for Fletch & he basically had to carry me to the bedroom where I could rest & cool off. This was when I thought I might have to cancel. I eventually was able to get dressed, but I didn’t waste any energy doing my hair & make-up. I was determined to make it through this dinner that I had spent so much time on. I was making a Prime Rib Roast & Crème Brule for the first time, I had new Christmas dishes and my table & tree looked perfect! I may have felt like death but the meal was awesome & I made it through the evening.

In the middle of January I had a similar experience so I went to the doctor. They gave me some shots but I was too dehydrated for them to draw any blood. I went back on Monday after drinking lots of water, they were able to draw blood, ran some tests, checked my hormone levels & said I’m in great health!