Life with MS 01/2013

Today I realize how my life has been different with the long fight with MS. With the help of the MS Center, I have been able to have the best MS Neurologist in the country as my doctor and also enter a class call MS 101 with other people who learned they have to live as a person with MS.

First the doctor - Dr. Vollmer is at University of Colorado Hospital. He participates in teaching resident doctors about neurology, holds MS testing groups on trying to find a cure for MS and is the President of the MS Center. I have seen him once, however, P.A. Melissa always tells me he looked at my file. I feel like the people there actually care, which I rarely feel in a medical environment any more.

Second is the MS 101 class - This course answered a lot of questions about what MS is, what to expect in life, what drugs are out there to slow down the process, what groups are available to participate in and what kind of help is available for a person with MS. Pretty sweet.

In July, I finally started a MS therapy (which is just a fancy name of a drug that has proven to slow down the process of MS) called Copaxone. This is a daily injection drug that is supposed to slow down the worsening of MS by 33%. I am no longer afraid of needles as this is something I have to do to myself on a daily basis. I am not sure if the medicine is working at all as it doesn't make you feel any different then before you take it. Here is hoping it is working.

It's Real

Kind of a late update on things going on in my life.

Late August came around and Noel informed me she was pregnant. HOLY CRAP!! Not in the plans and something that has made me not think about myself so much, which is a nice change. The first feelings of being scared and nervous have changed since then. Now I feel both of those plus excitement.

Every little step forward we take, the more real everything seems to be. Numbness in my legs and Noel's morning sickness. Weakness in my hands and the baby kicking Noel's stomach. Going to the doctors and seeing the ultrasounds, finding out it is a boy, and putting my hand on Noel's stomach so I can finally feel the baby kick....all adds up to a rush of excitement and a little dash of HOLY CRAP.

More doctors appointments coming  up soon. I am hoping to be able to keep adding more and more on here about the life with MS, my baby boy and being a father with MS.