new MRI data
Well, the NYC trip for L'arc is over now, and I'm still recovering. My throat doesn't feel raw anymore, but my voice is still shot. Still taking cough stuff for the expectorant. Report of trip and concert will follow within another week I figure.
There was all kinds of kerfuffle with my Copaxone for this trip. I was looking forward to seeing how traveling with medicine was going to go, but it looked dicey after the pharmacy refused to send me more since March is my 1-year mark and my prescription was technically over. They said that maybe they could see as to getting me a one-month supply in the meantime, since my appointment with Moon wasn't until the end of the month, but multiple messages left with his office went unanswered, and I still needed to schedule an MRI before the actual appointment (and in the few days remaining when I wasn't in NY). I finally got another month's supply sent to me, so I only missed two days of injections, and I finally got someone on the phone in the doctor's office to remind again of the time constraints on my appointment. Finally got a call back - MRI was the morning after I got back from NYC, and the doctor's appointment was the day after that.
Well, I was pretty darn tired that morning n_n I tried extra hard to pay close attention while driving to the MRI place in Fayetteville. I was afraid I dozed a bit on and off during the actual MRI, and I thought maybe I jerked awake (once I had been having a weird dream where I got a papercut on my finger and I felt myself jerk in the dream). When I asked though, they said they didn't notice any problems during, and later said it was an especially clear image. Being in the machine unable to move can make you paranoid that you're moving and not realizing it. But the headpiece they put over you, plus the headphones they put on me to play classic rock to be soothing and cut down on the noise of the machine, really did help my head stay in place. I noticed when I was filling out the forms that it said that it would be with and without contrast, so I asked if I was going to get a shot. Turned out to be a simple butterfly prick to put the contrast in, but still, I was groggy and simply tried my best to not jerk in anticipation of a shot. I actually felt worse for a big street thug looking black guy that was waiting to go after me - he was getting a body MRI, so he had to wear the thin gown. I just had to take off my necklace. I guess everyone's got their problems.
Stopped by the Friendly Book Store on the way home, and I picked up the dvds of Rurouni Kenshin, the old Samurai X OAVs and the new Reflection, for total $3. But then I just went home and slept. At least my doctor appointment next day was later in the afternoon, so I didn't have to get up as early. Got there just in time. They noticed that my blood pressure was high when they measured it, and it had been a tad high last time I used our cuff at home, so that's something I have to try to keep an eye on, just in case.
As to the MRI, when Moon came in, he mentioned that the new image was actually BETTER than the old one. I had simply been hoping that there had been no change, that it hadn't gotten worse, but he said that two areas that had been a bit acute in the old scan (one in the cerebellum, another in the left hemisphere) were actually barely noticeable now. I know that it used to be thought that brain damage was permanent and never repaired itself, but this has been proven definitively untrue in recent years. It's certainly nice to get personal confirmation of this! I really hope I can avoid it getting worse at all! I try to avoid thinking about it so that I don't get caught in a vortex, but I do worry about this MS degrading, suddenly or at all, especially to the point of real disability.
Well, naturally, in the face of this, he's renewed my prescription for another year. A follow up appointment six months from now, unless there's a development like a symptom episode. I feel I can breathe a bit easier, but I still just try to hold steady. I don't like the idea of letting myself get giddy just to fall later. But this is good. It's really good news that takes away one worry for right now.
There was all kinds of kerfuffle with my Copaxone for this trip. I was looking forward to seeing how traveling with medicine was going to go, but it looked dicey after the pharmacy refused to send me more since March is my 1-year mark and my prescription was technically over. They said that maybe they could see as to getting me a one-month supply in the meantime, since my appointment with Moon wasn't until the end of the month, but multiple messages left with his office went unanswered, and I still needed to schedule an MRI before the actual appointment (and in the few days remaining when I wasn't in NY). I finally got another month's supply sent to me, so I only missed two days of injections, and I finally got someone on the phone in the doctor's office to remind again of the time constraints on my appointment. Finally got a call back - MRI was the morning after I got back from NYC, and the doctor's appointment was the day after that.
Well, I was pretty darn tired that morning n_n I tried extra hard to pay close attention while driving to the MRI place in Fayetteville. I was afraid I dozed a bit on and off during the actual MRI, and I thought maybe I jerked awake (once I had been having a weird dream where I got a papercut on my finger and I felt myself jerk in the dream). When I asked though, they said they didn't notice any problems during, and later said it was an especially clear image. Being in the machine unable to move can make you paranoid that you're moving and not realizing it. But the headpiece they put over you, plus the headphones they put on me to play classic rock to be soothing and cut down on the noise of the machine, really did help my head stay in place. I noticed when I was filling out the forms that it said that it would be with and without contrast, so I asked if I was going to get a shot. Turned out to be a simple butterfly prick to put the contrast in, but still, I was groggy and simply tried my best to not jerk in anticipation of a shot. I actually felt worse for a big street thug looking black guy that was waiting to go after me - he was getting a body MRI, so he had to wear the thin gown. I just had to take off my necklace. I guess everyone's got their problems.
Stopped by the Friendly Book Store on the way home, and I picked up the dvds of Rurouni Kenshin, the old Samurai X OAVs and the new Reflection, for total $3. But then I just went home and slept. At least my doctor appointment next day was later in the afternoon, so I didn't have to get up as early. Got there just in time. They noticed that my blood pressure was high when they measured it, and it had been a tad high last time I used our cuff at home, so that's something I have to try to keep an eye on, just in case.
As to the MRI, when Moon came in, he mentioned that the new image was actually BETTER than the old one. I had simply been hoping that there had been no change, that it hadn't gotten worse, but he said that two areas that had been a bit acute in the old scan (one in the cerebellum, another in the left hemisphere) were actually barely noticeable now. I know that it used to be thought that brain damage was permanent and never repaired itself, but this has been proven definitively untrue in recent years. It's certainly nice to get personal confirmation of this! I really hope I can avoid it getting worse at all! I try to avoid thinking about it so that I don't get caught in a vortex, but I do worry about this MS degrading, suddenly or at all, especially to the point of real disability.
Well, naturally, in the face of this, he's renewed my prescription for another year. A follow up appointment six months from now, unless there's a development like a symptom episode. I feel I can breathe a bit easier, but I still just try to hold steady. I don't like the idea of letting myself get giddy just to fall later. But this is good. It's really good news that takes away one worry for right now.