I'm Just Not As "Bright" As I Used To Be...

It's true...the MRI proves it! My noggin is not as BRIGHT as it was in November 2006. Seriously...this is a GOOD thing!

I just received "official" word from Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named that my recent MRI showed no new enhancing lesions. Our email conversation went as follows:


SUBJECT: Verdict...

ME: Any MRI pix sent your way and/or a radiologist report? I'm thinking things look improved (at least not as enhancing) and I'd like to commence with the happy dance. Novantrone dose #2 is on for Friday...

Dr. SWWNBN: It looked ok.(none worse for the wear.)

ME: Mkay...could you be just a "tiny" bit more forthcoming with some information?!? What exactly does "none worse for the wear" mean? Impress me with some of that highly trained neuro knowledge...if you dare.
Don't make me have to smuggle my own records out of Club Med...LOL

Dr. SWWNBN: It was a stable exam with no enhancement, no change compared with 11/06 study.

ME: HA! Which one of us gets to take credit for it though? You or me?...LOL

Dr. SWWNBN: Me of course


And so it goes...I'd like to think the Blue Dye #24/Novantrone may have something to do with this good news, but who knows. It's probably still too soon to tell. The important thing is, I currently have no NEW ACTIVE DISEASE attacking my brain...this is a wonderful thing to hear, having gone through a year of HELL with this disease.

The other good news is the fact I am actually FEELING better overall these days as well. When I return to my symptoms journal from the beginning of last year through January, I realize just how badly I was feeling back then and I can compare it to how I feel physically now...there's really no comparison!

Sure, I still have residual symptoms of past relapses that are bothersome...but I can and DO adapt to those changes over time. Like remembering not to look up above my head at airplanes, lest I cause my world to spin in vertigo. If I create that sensation enough, I eventually remember NOT to do it! Or reminding myself to stretch my calves each morning before trying to leap out of bed...if I Swan Dive enough to the floor, I CAN retain the idea I must do this before walking (of course, if I keep hitting my head every time I forget, I might have some "retention" difficulties I suppose...LOL). These are just a few of the things those of us with Multiple Sclerosis "adapt" to...and, it unfortunately or fortunately becomes the NORM.

Whatever the culprit is behind my better health today, I don't really care. SOMETHING is working...whether it is Dr. SWWNBN's "voodoo" medicine, changes I have made in my lifestyle (I AM still without caffeine, too...pray for me!), or the planetary alignments...I will take this stabilization any way I can get it. Well, maybe not "any way" I can get it, but at least HOW I am getting it right now.

Have any of YOU seen changes for the better or stabilization of your MS? Is there other "good news" out there I should be reporting? I'd love to hear from you about this...what helps, what works for you, where you are at with your MS...