Where Did My Day Go?...

My last day off before I begin a 5 day stretch of evening shifts (about 50 hours total), and I seem to have frittered it away like a kid with pennies in a candy store. HoHum...I can account for some of it, but not all. I know what I DIDN'T get done today, but I'm not all that sure what I DID accomplish.

I have finally discovered what has been waking me up at exactly 7:25AM each morning, rain, shine, or if I've only had a few hours of sleep. It happened AGAIN this morning, which set the tone for a very "cwabby" CHEESE head! It is my neighbor's gate...or better put, my neighbor's ANNOYING driveway fence that he opens and closes EVERY morning at 7:25AM on his way to work. The sound is louder than fingernails on a chalkboard, but just as blood-curdling disturbing in content!! I found myself up and out of bed with a spray can of WD40 in my precious mitts, dressed only in my pajamas and slippers, waltzing (OK, more like stumbling, but who SAW me anyway?!?) up the driveway incline in pouring rain, to SPRAY THE HECK OUT OF THOSE DARNED FENCE ROLLERS. I did feel some minor sense of vindication, but not so much...I realized spraying WD40 on metal that is already dripping wet from monsoon seasonal rains *probably* did nothing to resolve the real problem as it will most likely just wash off. But at least I DID something...

And that seems to be about ALL I did accomplish today. Oh, I took a shower...that should make the CNN headline news. LOL There is still a mountain of laundry attempting to engulf my feet, dishes piled high from a wonderful "picnic" lunch that was brought to me on Tuesday by a former colleague (it's only been TWO days ago...should I REALLY be concerned?!?), and a host of other chores on that good, old *To Do* list, which is actually collecting DUST itself at this point. **Heavy sigh** I'm going to have to write a note to myself to dust my To Do list.

With all due respect to this MS body (which I rarely pay), I AM having my post Tysabri infusion *experience*. I say *experience* because I've only read one other blogger who TALKS about post infusion side effects, and that is Kim over at Sunshine & Moonlight. It's as if saying, "I'm having post infusion side effects" is a provocative statement! Or maybe we are the only TWO people out of some 30,000 Tysabri users who HAVE this *experience*...whatever.

My post Tysabri infusion *experience* includes fairly moderate to severe joint pain...as if someone drilled holes in my joints and poured cement in. They ache. My knees and hips don't work right. It HURTS to lie in bed or lie down too long. My neck feels like my head has taken on 10 pounds of extra weight. I feel an increase in fatigue (if that is even possible at this point?!?). My stomach feels "yucky"...not nauseated per se...just "yucky". Like I've taken on too much of some kind of caustic food or spice. I have a mild to moderate headache. And just to add some extra spice to my *experience*, today I have a sore throat and my teeth hurt on one side of my mouth! I've been secretly holding meetings between my rational and irrational mind, wondering if this drug is really WORTH it for me? Since I DID just have a relapse while ON it...hmmm.

I finally consented to another MRI that Dr. SWWNBN has been nagging me about (because I think she gets an insurance cut!), which has to be done at a place within Club Med that I...how do I say? DESPISE! Why? (Not "why do I despise them", but "why do I have to go THERE?") Because this particular place has some kind of new-fangled 3T machine (whatever THAT means) that provides clearer pictures. WHATEVER. They also can't get me in until the 20th in the afternoon, which is AFTER my Tysabri follow up appointment. I argued this *might* be a waste of time to do AFTER I see Neuro & Company, and X, Y, and Z place could probably get me in quicker so Neuro & Company would have a recent MRI BEFORE seeing me. Obviously I lost this battle. I didn't try that hard. :-) I'm hoping this scan will GIVE me some reason to believe the Tysabri IS working (aka, no new or old enhancing lesions)...just crossing my fingers at this point.

Well, it's completely dark outside now at all-of-6:30PM...gotta love fall/winter. Nothing like these two Seasons to say, "Simmer down now and go to bed earlier!" And, since my DW40 trick may have left the joke smeared all over ME, I can plan on my outside alarm clock going off at all-of-7:25AM tomorrow! Maybe this rain and darkness really IS trying to tell me something? Too bad I can't hear the message over the screams that are emitting from my laundry pile, demanding I DO something about this problem, too...