MS & Me
A New Altered Life, Post Diagnosis
Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, in 1786, penned the now famous lines “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley,” translated from ancient Scottish it loosely means that the best laid plans often go awry. And so it happens in life; we may not have an exact plan laid out for our lives and we may not know exactly where we want to go or how to get there but one thing for sure is that our plans do not include Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Emotional Challenges and MS
One of my favourite quotes by Lewis Carroll is “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
Reporting to Your Healthcare Team
Something I haven’t thought about in a while is the importance of accurate reporting to my healthcare team. I'm not saying that I tell blatant lies or misleading information but I often find that when trying to remember six or eight months of information, I get it all mixed up. The average clinic visit is about 12 minutes- that is a short amount of time to fit in all the information you need to share with the team! How long do your clinic visits usually last? How long do you wait between clinic visits?
Waiting on Tests Results!
A few months ago, a letter arrived from the hospital. I ripped it open- “an appointment has been arranged for you to attend the Ocular Toxicity Clinic. In this clinic, potential ocular side-effects you may have from the medication you are taking will be assessed”. I know that they are checking for Macular Oedema, which occurs when fluid and protein deposits collect on or under the macula of the eye, causing it to thicken and swell. Yikes! First my noggin and now my peepers?????