Well, my doctor doesn't want me to get an X-ray as a CT scan would be better
to really see what the heck is going on in my lumbar. The problem is the waiting
times. The hospital that is literally 2 blocks from our house has a 4 to 5 month
wait time, so I opted for a 45 min drive to another hospital with a one month
wait time. I haven't yet heard from them on when they are booking me, but I
plan to do everything possible to get it moved up. I've already told my work
that I may need to leave with a moments notice and go straight there as I'm
going to tell the hospital that I only need a one hour notice. Now, if they
would phone.... I didn't really realize, but I can bend forward and touch my
toes with no pain. But if I try to arch backwards I feel like a thousand hot
searing pokers have entered my lumbar. What the heck is going on! Anyways, I'm
still thinking it's my degerative disc and not MS at this point. I'm not sure
if I should phone the MS clinic to talk to them at this point anyways. I do
have two numb legs and I get this floating burning sensation on my right especially.
Hmmm... Does any of this sound familar to anyone else?

CT Scan done!

2006-05-05 12:41:45

Ahhh.... the power of cancellations lists. The uneventful procedure happened
today. They phoned and Tod woke me up so I could call them back and low and
behold, they took me at 1. I showed up at just after 12 (totally underestimated
the drive) and I was back in the car and done by 12:45! So, anyone who tells
you there's a wait of 5 months or even one month just doesn't know how to work
the system :) On Tuesday I should have the results. The tech that did the scan
was really nice though. She was keen to find out a little more about my MS and
such... curious about meds and past attakcs. Cool chick.

If you need to laugh today...

2006-05-07 14:09:37

You have GOT to listen to the latest episode of the Ouch
podcast. Tod and I were listening to it in the car last night laughing hysterically!
Talk about pushing political correctness to the limit! I wonder if they could
guess MS on their Vegetable, Vegetable or Vegetable segment. Dave,
I say you should phone in! It's in your neck of the woods! ;)

Estimated Number of Canadians with MS Re-Examined

2006-05-07 14:56:00

Estimated
Number of Canadians with Multiple Sclerosis Re-Examined "The Multiple Sclerosis
Society of Canada, in consultation with Canadian experts in the epidemiology
of MS, has announced that the oft-used "50,000 Canadians with MS" needs to be
revised. The MS Society now estimates that there are likely between 55,000 and
75,000 Canadians living with this unpredictable disease. Release of the revised
estimate coincides with the start of May, MS Awareness Month."

Let Bear season 2006 begin!

2006-05-07 17:58:27

Argh! Last night a bear decided it would be fun to rip out our screen. Doesn't
he/she know that those screens are only meant to keep bugs out and not bears?!

Time to phone the screen guy to come back and remeasure our windows for screens
I guess.

Is it a wheelchair or dune buggy!?
2006-05-07 22:19:27

This new wheel chair reminds me of a road trip my family took down the Oregon
coast and we went dune buggy riding. Fun times.
So, would you get one of these?

And look who's come back tonight
2006-05-07 22:40:27

Bugger. He's a little guy. Looks like he's in rough shape too.

Copaxone Study Showed 92% of MS'ers Were Still Walking Unaided After 10
Years on Treatment

2006-05-08 11:37:37

Long-Term
Copaxone(R) Study Showed 92% of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Were Still Walking
Unaided After a Mean of 10 Years on Treatment Great news coming in from
some good long term data on Copaxone. "Data from a 10-year long-term study showed
that 92 percent of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients in
the study who remained on COPAXONE(R)(glatiramer acetate injection) were still
walking without assistance despite an average disease duration of more than
15 years. These results were published in the June 2006 issue of the journal
Multiple Sclerosis, which was mailed today. This study represents the only prospective,
open-label follow-up of more than 10 years' duration designed to evaluate continuous
immunomodulatory therapy in RRMS patients. The study has been extended to 15
years."

Okay, I give up

2006-05-15 19:02:41

I thought if I didn't post about what's happening with my health, the time
lapse would make it go away? Nope. I give up and will update finally :) CT scan
results showed a big fat nothing. Well, a 2mm slipped disc and a slight bulging
disc all of which the doctor said is nothing. I disagree based on my pain level
and lack of ability to sleep through it, but anyways, I sent that off to my
massage therapist who also disagrees. He does think based on updatd research
that the outer several mm in a disc does have nerve endings and therefore would
cause pain. In the mean time... I called my MS relapse nurse as I was not happy
with my family doctor just saying that it was nothing. She got me in to the
MS clinic within 24 hours and I was seen by a new Neurologist that I haden't
seen before. She was FABULOUS. (Dr. Smythe) The whole MS clinic experience was
fabulous really. The fact that I was seen so fast did make my spidey senses
come up though. Hmmm... am I relapsing and thats why they want to see me so
fast? And it's true. I am having an MS attack. I have a floating burning sensation
crawling my right leg. I have L'hermittes Syndrome which is just plain ole'
weird and annoying. For anyone that hasen't had it, it's this jolt of electricity
that you feel somewhere in your spine when you look down. And hey, what I didn't
know is when you look down, you are stretching Larry the Lesion and it's his
reaction to the stretch that causes the jolt. That bastard. Anyways, and lastly
I have radiating lumbar pain which is likely from a lesion too. So, I've been
given Amitriptelene to take at night to help with the pain a bit and help me
sleep. So far, I get all wierd and tingly after an hour and get a half ass sleep
over the 1/4 ass sleep I was getting before I guess. I'm hoping it just takes
a few more days to kick in properly and do what they told me it would do. We'll
see. So, thats me in a nutshell :)

Happy Birthday Avonex

2006-05-20 19:46:12

Avonex turned 10 years old on May 17th. Biogen news releases are saying that it's the most prescribed med worldwide. Perhaps that's becuase it's only a once-a-week injection? What do you think?
DSC_1324.JPG
2006-05-22 19:27:19

It's been a week of Amitriptalene
2006-05-22 19:28:51

Well, I think after about 5 days the effects of the drug were starting to
work a bit. I'm definately sleeping a bit better and my lumbar doesn't hurt
all night long. I think what's starting to happen is the drug is lingering in
my system for a good amount of time. I'm thinking taking it on a "school night"
(okay, work night) is not a good idea. Maybe tonight is a good way to test it
and see if by getting some solid sleeps I'm a bit better at night now. We'll
see... Podcast show 22 is up now for those that want to listen. We have a survey
up too now to see what you think about me taking steroids for this attack. If
you get a pop up when you log in to either this blog or the mspodcast site,
let me know what you think! Oh, and I shot this today. I'm pretty happy with
it. :) It really is spring!
This is a Rufous Hummingbird for those that are curious.

Multiple sclerosis risk influenced by childhood environment

2006-05-28 20:58:06

Toronto, May 24, 2006 “ The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada announced
findings from a Canadian study that shows the risk of MS may be influenced by
place of residence during childhood rather than ancestry. The study results
were published in a recent edition of Neuroepidemiology. The study puts into
question the belief that MS is a disease targeted primarily at Caucasians or
those with ancestral ties to areas north of the equator such as Northern Europe.
The study involved 44 children and 573 adults from the paediatric MS clinic
at the Hospital for Sick Children and the adult MS clinic at St. Michael's Hospital,
both located in Toronto. 'By comparing study results with census data, we found
that the MS population has become more multicultural as immigration to Ontario
has increased,'explains Dr. Brenda Banwell, director of the paediatric MS clinic
at the Hospital for Sick Children and principal investigator for the study.
'This adds great credence to our theory that childhood residence, more than
ancestry, is a major determinant of MS risk.'

The adult MS clinic population examined showed most of the patients, upwards
of 90 percent, reported European heritage. Data from the 1971 census, obtained
when most of the adult MS patients were growing up in Ontario, showed 84 percent
of residents of Ontario were of European ancestry. Meanwhile, paediatric MS
patients were more likely to report Caribbean, Middle Eastern or Asian ancestry,
accurately mirroring the population shift as detailed by the 2001 census.'The
common thread in all of this is that 100 percent of the paediatric population
and 79 percent of the adult population grew up in Ontario,'says Dr. Banwell.'This,
combined with the ancestry data, suggests a prevailing influence of environment
on MS risk.'

According to the MS Society, this is an important study because the relative
contributions of ancestry, country of birth and residence as determinants of
MS risk have never been explored in the paediatric MS population. “The change
in immigration patterns, and the presence of well-established paediatric and
adult MS programs, provided researchers with the unique opportunity to evaluate
these factors as determinants of MS risk,' says Dr. William J. McIlroy, national
medical advisor for the MS Society of Canada. 'The more complete a picture we
can paint of MS and its risk factors, the closer we will be to finding the cause,
and ultimately, the cure.' The study was funded by the MS Scientific Research
Foundation which receives the majority of its funding from the MS Society of
Canada.