MS Walk Monday

To date we have raised $695 towards our $1000 team goal! Lou had some very generous donations this past week-so thank you to everyone who donated on his behalf! :) I came across this post while looking around online. I don't experience all of these-but you have to realize that SOMEONE does! Your donations count!!

When We Say We Can’t do Something Because We don’t Feel Well, Put yourself in Our Shoes By Using The Examples of our Symptoms Below…


- Painful Heavy Legs: Apply Tightly 20 LB ankle weights and 15 LB thigh weights then take a 1 mile walk, clean the house, go shopping and then sit down – how ya’ feeling now?


- Painful Feet: Put equal or unequal amounts of small pebbles in each shoe then take a walk, if we are mad at you we would prefer needles to pebbles.


- Loss of Feeling in Hands and/or Arms: Put on extra thick gloves and a heavy coat then try and pick up a pencil, if successful stab yourself in the arm.


- Loss of Feeling in Feet and/or Legs: Ask a doc for a shot of Novocaine in both of your legs and then try and stand up and walk without looking like the town drunk. Hopefully you won’t fall down.


- TN (Trigeminal Neuralgia): Take an ice pick and jam it into your ear or cheek whenever the wind blows on it, or a stray hair touches it. If you want something easier to do, get someone to punch you in the jaw preferably daily.


- Uncontrollable Itching: Glue or sew small steel wool pads to the inside of your shirt, pants and undergarments wear them for an entire day.


- Tingling: Stick your finger in an electrical socket – preferably wet.


- Tight Banded Feeling: Put 12 inch wide belt around you and make is as tight as you can and leave it there for the entire day. How ya’ breathing?


- Shots: Fill one of our spare needles with saline solution, saline won’t hurt you, we would love something worse but don’t want to end up in jail. Give yourself a shot everytime we do our shot.


- Side Effects From the Shot: Bang you head against a wall, wrap yourself in a heating pad, wrap your entire body with an ace bandage tightly then finally treat yourself to some spoiled food or drink.


- Trouble Lifting Arms: Apply 20 LB wrist weights and try and reach for something on the highest shelf in your house.


- Spasticity: Hook bungee cords to your rear belt loops and rear pant leg cuffs then for your arms hook bungee cords to your shirt collar and cuffs on shirt sleeves then go dancing.


-Poor Hearing/Buzzing in Ears: Put a bee in each ear and then put a plug in each one…Bzzzzzzzz


- Balance and Walking Problems: Drink 100 proof grain alcohol and then sit and spin in an office chair for 30 minutes, now get up and see what happens.


-Urgently Needing to Pee: We put a .5 liter remote controlled water bag and drip tube in your pants, we point out 2 restrooms in a crowded mall, then we tell you that you have 30 seconds before we activate the water bag (by remote control) to get to a restroom. Just for spite we may make that 20 seconds without telling you.


- Bizarre and Inexplicable Sensations: Place tiny spiders on your legs or arms and allow them to periodically crawl around throughout the day, heck all day would be good too.


- Pins and Needles: Stab yourself repeatedly with needles all over your body or better yet….Get a very large tattoo in your most sensitive area.


- Dizziness (Vertigo): Get on a gently rocking boat all day and all night and take several walks around the deck with your eyes closed.


- Fatigue: Stay awake for two full days to induce incredible fatigue and then cook dinner, clean the house, walk the dog and see how you feel. Please do not compare MS fatigue to you being tired from only a few hours of sleep – it’s not the same at all.


- Cognitive Function (Brain Fog): Take a liberal dose of sleeping pills but stay awake. Try and function properly and think clearly. To make it even more real without killing yourself of course, take the sleeping pills with a small sip of wine.


- Bowel Problems: Take a 4 day dose of an anti-diarrhea medicine followed directly by a 3 day dose of stool softeners for a minimum of 3 weeks, at the end of 3 weeks sit down on a hard uncushioned chair and stay there til tears appeared.


- Burning Feeling: Make a full pot of boiling water and then have someone fill a squirt gun with the boiling water and shoot it at yourself all day long. However, you can give us the pleasure of shooting you instead…optional of course.


- Intention Tremor: Hook your body to some type of vibrating machine try and move your legs and arms…..hmmm are you feeling a little shaky? You are not allowed to use anything fun for this lesson.


- Buzzing Feeling When Bending Our Heads to Our Chest (L’Hermitte’ s): Place an electrical wire on your back and run it all the way down to your feet, then pour water on it and plug it in.


- Vision Problems (Optic Neuritis): Smear Vaseline on glasses and then wear them to read the newspaper.


- Memory Issues: Have someone make a list of items to shop for and when you come back that person adds two things to the list and then they ask why you didn’t get them. When you come back from shopping again they take the list and erase three things and ask why you bought those things.


- Foot Drop: Wear one swim fin and take about a 1/2 mile walk, nothing else needs to be said for this one, you’ll get it.


- Depression: Take a trip to the animal shelter everyday and see all the lonely animals with no home. You get attached to one or more of the animals and when you come back the next day you come in while they are putting her/him asleep.


- Fear: Dream that you have lost complete feeling in your feet and when you wake up wiggle your feet, just so happens they don’t move. Think about this every night wondering whether something on your body won’t work the next day when you wake up.


- Swallowing: Try swallowing the hottest chili pepper you can find.


- Heat Intolerance or Feeling Hot When it’s Really Not: You are on a nice vacation to Alaska. It’s 35° outside and 65° inside. Light a fire for the fireplace and then get into it. Once you have reached about 110° tell me how you feel, even a person without MS would feel bad, now add all of the above symptoms


Welcome to our world

Show Us Your Life-Ministries

I wasn't planning on using my current situation as a ministry but if anyone can take comfort in my words or feel a connection then I am more than happy to share.

I have recently been diagnosed with both RRMS (relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis) and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). If you'd like to know more about what's going on with me, please just read my prior posts. I had planned to write much more-but unfortunately woke up feeling pretty lousy-I think I caught my son's cold!

Thanks for stopping by!

MS update/PCOS

I just wanted to pop in and update everyone on what's going on. I received a phone call from Shared Solutions yesterday and my Copaxone injectables will be able to be picked up (along with a Sharps disposal container) within a few days. Copaxone runs about $2000 a month-I am SO grateful that we have awesome insurance and only have to pay the copay of $25 a month---I thought--while on the phone yesterday, the nurse from Shared Solutions told me that I qualified for an assistance where they pay up to $30 of our copay AKA we.don't.pay.anything!!! I was so relieved. A part of me has been feeling VERY guilty for all of these medical expenses lately. Last night Lou and I watched the most boring DVD ever about my treatment and I'll be scheduling with the nurse soon as well to come and show me how to inject myself.

A lot of people have been asking when/if we are planning on having more children, especially now with the MS diagnosis. The answer is yes....someday..we hope. And here are the reasons why:
1) I cannot be pregnant and be injecting myself with Copaxone. In order to get pregnant I have to be off treatment for 3 months prior. At this time, my neurologist told us that it is more important for me to take care of myself and begin treatment as soon as possible to prevent further damage. She advised I be injections for at least one year.

2) I also found out this week that I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and multiple cysts on my ovaries. PCOS is one of the leading causes of infertility. I have ovulated ONE time in the last 2 years (yes ladies, you know what that means-lucky me! haha!)...and I have ONE child..get the picture. Dominic is a miracle in every sense of the word and I believe that I was destined to be his Mommy. So with that being said, I talked to my doctor and when the time comes for us to expand our family I will have to use fertility treatments to conceive. Most likely I will immediately go to the Clomid route-but we're just not sure when this time will come. We want to limit the time that I am off treatment.

I know this is more TMI than I usually share but it's something that breaks a bit of my heart every time I get asked the question or find out people are having more children. I don't have baby fever by any means (Don't worry Lou!) but I guess I envy the fact that they are ABLE to. I don't have a choice or control of what is happening right now and it's a bit hard to swallow. Everything is happening so quickly that I don't believe I've had a second to really let it all soak in before I'm diagnosed with something else! haha! Maybe that's why I am putting off that dental checkup! hahaha! :)

Thanks for letting me vent! In other news-we are going to Sesame Street Live on Sunday!!! I won tickets on the radio and we have great seats! This way we also don't feel like we wasted $ if Dominic doesn't like it-but he LOOOOOVES Elmo so I'm super excited!!! Have a wonderful weekend! :)

-Brooke

ATTENTION!!!

Hey you, yeah YOU! Do you see that cute little boy on the right side of this page? Click on it and vote for Dominic to win the Silly section in the Morning Journal's Cutest Kid contest! Voting ends at midnight tonight! Thanks so much! You can also vote by clicking the link below. Registration & voting are easy, painless and much appreciated! :)

http://tinyurl.com/y9pn698

MS Walk Monday

There are 54 days until the 2010 Cleveland MS Walk!! We have currently raised $390 of our $1000 team goal! Thank you this week to some very generous donations from friends/family of Becky. *Thank you!* Please go here to donate, join, or learn more about Multiple Sclerosis.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?team_id=173779&fr_id=12300&pg=team

As for me, I received my Auto Inject last week in the mail. This is a device that I will put the glass syringe into and use to automatically inject myself without having to actually see it. I also got a call from the nurse who will be coming to our house and instruct & inject me for the first time. I haven't received the actual drug yet-but I've heard it takes some time to go through insurance etc. I'll keep you posted.

Thank you to everyone involved in any way! It really does mean a lot! :)

3 Words Thursday

Simple Pleasures

I recently saw on Kelly's Korner that she did a post about simple pleasures. Simple, little things that bring a smile to your face. I find myself being thankful and grateful for little things throughout the day-so here are a few of mine.

Having my coffee brewed,hot and ready for me when I come down in the morning!

When someone offers to take the cart from you and bring it back to the store after you've unloaded groceries with a toddler!

Watching Dominic eat Goldfish crackers, it's just so sweet watching him maneuver the fishes and such a big boy thing to do!


Our electric blanket, and getting into a nice, warm bed at night!

Hearing the garage door opening at or around 5:15 Monday through Friday. (It means Lou's home!)

There are so many simple pleasures in my life, these are just a few. I am grateful for SO much in my life-and feel incredibly blessed! :) I hope this post encourages you to think of the little things that make you smile! Have a great day!