MRI

What Is Multiple Sclerosis


I am sure  most of you know that I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  I was diagnosed when I was 15 or 16.  I know that many people don’t know anything about MS so I am going to write a little bit about it in order to help raise awareness to the disease and to open peoples eyes to what this disease is.

  • Multiple Sclerosis is what they call an autoimmune disease.  This means that the persons immune system for some reason decides it is going to attack some part of the body instead of only attacking viruses and things like that.   In MS the immune system decides it is going to attack the nerves of the CNS (central nervous system).  The CNS includes the brain and spinal cord.  They are not sure what triggers the immune system to think that part of the body is a invader and needs to be attacked.
  • MS symptoms happen when the immune system attacks the myelin around the nerves.  If you think of your nerves like a wire the myelin would be the protective covering around the wire.  If the nerve underneath the myelin gets hurt that is what causes the symptoms and some times causes permanent disabilities.
  • The body tries to repair the damage that is done but it is never the same. Once the nerve is damaged it won’t ever function the same again.
  • There are a lot of different symptoms that go along with this disease.  I am going to list some of the most common ones: Fatigue, problems with walking, numbness, tingling, slurred speech, tremors, stiffness, problems with vision, cognition, speech, and elimination.  Every person with MS has different symptoms. Which makes some people wonder if everyone that has MS actually has the same disease or if it isn’t a few different diseases that just get grouped in with MS.
  • Anyone can get MS.  Women are more likely to get it than men and so are people with a lighter pigmentation to there skin.  So Montel Williams who has MS is a real rarity.
  • They think MS has a genetic link but they aren’t sure what it is.  In my case there is no one in my family history of it.
  • You usually get diagnosed between the ages of 20-50.  I was a rarity and was diagnosed at age 15 or 16.  Although younger patients are now getting diagnosed because doctors are starting to look for it at a younger ages.  I have noticed though that I have had lots of activity show up on scans but I haven’t had many flare ups that people could see.  In fact if I didn’t tell you I had MS and what symptoms I do have you can’t tell I have it all.
  • MS is rarely fatal.  Most of the time people with MS with get a common cold of the flu and that is what will end up taking their lives.
  • There are several treatments out there that each do things differently.  I am on one called Tysabri and it is the most expensive and most dangerous of the drugs.  All of the current MS treatments are expensive and it makes it hard for people who don’t have insurance or even with insurance to afford.
  • It has been shown that treating the disease helps  to stop the progression of the disease but since all the treatments are so expensive there are many people who simply can’t afford to treat the disease.
  • There is always new treatments in the works and exciting things happening in research that hold so much hope for future generations.  They came out last year with the first pill you can take once a day for treatment.  Up until the pill came out all the treatments were either shots or an infusion.
  • There is currently no cure for MS.

I think I  covered most of the major parts of the disease but if you have questions or want any more information please let a comment and I will answer your questions!

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Multiple Sclerosis Update

It has been a long time since I have written a post about Multiple Sclerosis and I really want to keep everyone in loop on what is going on with my health and all that fun stuff. Most of you know that I have an infusion once a month for my MS treatment. I take a medication that is called Tysabri. It is super expensive and can be dangerous but that is going to be another post. I was supposed to receive my infusion on the 23rd of September. That didn’t end up happening because the company I work for changed health insurance companies and I had to wait for a preauthorization to come through before I could get my treatment. So I show up on the 23rd and they send me home because of the whole insurance issue. For those that know a little bit about my job and what has been happening the the last 4 months or so you know that I can only take one day off a month because they have no one to cover the phones since they let go Misti who used to be my boss. So I knew I was going to have to wait a few weeks before I could take time off to go in and get the treatment once they got the approval that they needed.

My next infusion is on the 21st of October, which means that I have missed a whole month. Let me just tell everyone I have no idea how I used to live like this because I feel like crap. I always knew Tysabri was helping but I had no idea that it was helping so much. For the last 6 months or so I have had headaches and I also haven’t been in pain. Well since missing one month I hurt I have headaches and am exhausted. I literally slept almost all of Saturday because I was so exhausted from a normal week of work. I had to call my doctor and have her call in more pain pills because I was out and hadn’t need them so I didn’t bother getting a refill when I saw her last time. I feel so bad for people with MS that fill like this all the time. I am so glad that I have found an MS treatment that works for me and allows me to be a somewhat normal 26 year old. Also my hands are super numb right now and I am not sure if that is because I missed my treatment or just how the disease is acting right now.

I can’t remember if I wrote about my last MRI and doctor’s appointment so I am going to do a quick recap of all that information. I had my latest MRI in August and also saw the doctor after the results came in. According to the scan I am still stable and have been for about 2 years or so. They haven’t scanned my neck in a few years so when I go for my next MRI in February they are going to scan my brain and neck areas which means that it will be a super long and super expensive scan. I am interested to see if there have been any changes in the neck area. If there hasn’t been any changes that means I have been stable but if there are charges that means that I really haven’t been stable all this time. I hate the not knowing that goes along with having MS.

That is all there is for now. If anyone has any questions please leave them in the comments and I will answer them for you.
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Latest MRI

Last Thursday I had my latest MRI.  I get one every 6 months because of the Tysabri.  Lets just say that I know why they do it but it is a waste of time and money.  I could see if you where having problems but I haven’t been having any problems so it is just a waste.  Anyways lets to get back to the topic at hand.  I had it done Thursday and went to the doctor on Monday morning to get the results and see my neurologist.  We according the MRI it shows that I don’t have any new lesions on my brain but I am having more issues with balance lately.  Since we weren’t sure what is causing the balance issues she is having me get my necked scanned along with my brain the next time.  I hate MRI’s and adding the neck will just make it even longer!!!  It is so hard to stay still for that long.  My back ends up killing me and I always move a ton when they are doing the neck so they have to keep rescanning the same area.  Oh well it has to be done!

That is all I having going on right now.  I hope that everyone is having a good week!!!!!

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Fursday’s With Elinore & Sylvia. . . But First An Update On The MS

It is Fursday and that means it is time for me and Sylvia to post our thoughts and rants on what mom and the rest of the humans have been doing.
This is Sylvia speaking.  I was ready to kill mom the other night because she kept bugging me when I tried to sleep.  How hard is it for her to get that when I am sleeping I expect to be left alone!  I guess mom is “slow” because she doesn’t seem to get the fact that when I hiss at her that I don’t want to be bugged.  Last time I checked I thought it was pretty straight forward but maybe I am just smarter than the humans are.  Oh well at least they feed me and the gray haired man plays with me all the time.  I even get to supervise him while he is working outside in my yard.  It is a great life!
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I had my doctors appointment yesterday to get the results of my MRI that I had in February.  Well right when she saw me I got a lecture and was basically told to get over the issues with the new infusion site and go.  I asked her about what the MRI I had said and for the first time since I have been diagnosed I am totally stable.  There were no new lesions on my brain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is huge for me because I have always had a very active disease and I always have had new lesions.  So after hearing that I am going to suck it up and do what I have to do to stay on the medication.  Even if that means jumping through hoops for the stupid drug company.