Oh Crap!

I feel a cold coming on. I have sneezed non-stop for two days now and my nose is just running. My nose is so sore from constantly blowing. Don't know if it's allergies from the mega house clean I've just done or if it's a damn virus. There's absolutely nothing green about it, just clear water. Driving me nuts, though. I want to take my Airborne and my husband thinks that it will impede my Avonex. I don't think it will. Crap, I haven't had a cold in over a year! I guess this is my welcome to immune suppression! Yeah! Goody! I've just decided, I'm taking my Airborne.

Upped My Dose

Well, I upped my dose of Avonex on Sunday morning to a half dose of 15mcg. Only thing I noticed is as I did get out of work a little later than usual after my friend gave it to me is that I was a bit nauseated driving home. I did wake up early and did a few chores, fed the goats and horses in the afternoon, but I really struggled with weird random spasms most of the evening. Nothing jerky or horrible just deep upper leg and foot spasms. Just enough to make you notice and say, "ahh, yeah that hurt a bit" I'm lucky, I have a very high tolerance for pain. I pride myself in that I gave natural birth to Zoe without so much as a Tylenol. No drugs what so ever. The only time I really require pain meds is when I torque my lower back or get thrown off a horse. I never had a back issue until I was rear ended in Chicago at stop light by some *ss going 55 miles per hour on a city street. I was in the back seat. Since then, about 15 years, every now and then, if I lift just wrong, I'll torque it and hobble into the Doc twisted like a pretzel. Flexerol and Vicoden work very well! It's usually the spasms that get me. It was a year and half ago last time, when I got pitched off one of my horses, about 11 foot in the air before I landed, says my husband, That hurt, and required an ambulance ride, I just couldn't move. Six hours later and boats loads of Demerol, x-rays and a CT scan, I was able to hobble out of the ER in a doubled hospital gown and cowboy boots. Made for a rather humorous picture and story. That big giant horse got sold! I get along alot better with girl horses.

Yeah Two Holidays!

Being a nurse in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and being a nurse in the hospital setting for nearly 20 years hasn't allowed me many holidays off and this year I hit the jackpot. Not only to I have Thanksgiving off, but yesterday, my Supe called me at home and made a deal and I ended up with both X-mas eve and X-mas day off. Of course I'll have to work the three 12 hour nights before X-mas eve, but that's ok. I'll be shot on the eve's morning but I'll get up in the afternoon and become a human again. And this way I'll be fresh for X-mas day! Sometimes, it's the Holiday shuffle I hate most about being a nurse.

A Round About

Nothin' Like It

Nothin' like a new "do" (long awaited) , a little Christmas shopping, a very nice dinner at a very expensive fish market and I won't say what the topping of the night was, but you can guess. Just puts it all in perspective. Now it's back to the daily work grind and got my first paycheck with my decreased hours. Boy does that suck! Guess I'll have to try and pick up some overtime. That'll be hard on me. I love getting my X-mas shopping done and out of the way. I'm excited this year because we'll actually have some of our children with us and their significant others and we'll get back to buying toys for all. We are really big kids. And one of the funnest I discovered last night on our way to the mall, is that with the new road construction on our exit to the mall they've built a "round about". YES! Just like in England, with my British husband and all, the littlest things excite me. A real round about. Was tempted to go around a few times before getting off of it. They're fun, if you've never experienced it.

So Tell Me More.......

Oh wise and experienced MS sufferers. I'm coming to the realization that my short-term memory really sucks and I can't think of certain words I want to say. That's been going on for a couple of years. And this last shot, the third, I snuck up the dose ever so slightly and crap it knocked me out, but I felt better once I warmed up and started moving about the house. I think what I find most disturbing, is the memory and word fishing expeditions. The stiffness I can usually make it through. As I keep moving and ibuprofen does wonders.

Whole New World

Not that I want to promote myself or anything, but this is not my only blog. My main blog is that of MidWestHorse, because horses are one of interests. And that was the first blog I started in January of 2007. If you need a chuckle, might I suggest an occasional read over there as I've mentioned, A British city boy husband, a small farm with 16 animals in the middle of Wisconsin, a state my husband had never heard of before, can make for some humorous moments including my latest post over there entitled "Playin' Possum". It might just make you smile.

Wild Hare?

I must have had a wild hare up my arse today. My husband and I are planning to get a pool table this year for Christmas as a family gift. The problem is where to put it as we have a finished apartment on the ground floor which equals a basement as we live in a converted barn, but the area down there that's is designated for a rec room is not finished. So instead, we've decided to put it in the extension which is our entry way. In order to do that I have to move some furniture. I decided to put the love seat on the third floor loft where my office area sits next to the media room, but I had a pile of crap in the corner for 13 years and I needed to finish painting the walls and beams in this room, so I did it. I am pooped, but boy what a difference. I am really stiff now. I'll probably really feel it tomorrow. Next week to finish clearing out the extension and making this pool table work. If I can still move.

The Second Dose

Well, it wasn't so bad. Had a fellow nurse, Cindy give it to me just before I needed to give report and leave. Worked out fine. I can always count on Cindy, she has a bit of a mean streak. Was glad to do it for me, while others I had asked were too chicken to do it. I went home and slept , woke up with a bit of a headache, more sinus like in the evening, but all and all, not too bad. I'm hoping as I increase the dose, I'll still be able to tolerate it. I'm hoping so anyway. Had fun last night did a little pre-Christmas scouting for gifts and went out to dinner. Today, after my bath, since it's a nice day, think I'll go out and clean up my dusty horses. Maybe even do a little riding, while I have the weather on my side.

A Good Day

Yesterday, I was still wiped out from the shot and travel over the weekend and only managed to accomplish a load of laundry. Today was much better, I loaded and unloaded 10 bales of hay, two 50 pound bags of grain, some grocery shopping and I made dinner, although it was a weak dinner at that, none the less, dinner. This is the first day in a long time I felt good enough to get-er-done! Tomorrow, clean the goat and horse troughs and fill them and tidy up the house before work on Friday and Saturday nights(12 hour nights). I think this new schedule will work for me. Now to pop on my jammies and curl up in front of the telly.

Well I Did It

Well, It's done. I only did a quarter dose. I'm supposed to titrate it. I froze the hell out of the side of my thigh first. I hope I got it IM. Not sure, now that I've done it. I went straight in with a one inch needle. My legs are my least fatty. And I managed to make myself bleed. I'm terrible at IM's anyway. Always make my patient's bleed too. Payback, I guess. Freezing works. Didn't feel it at all. That makes me wonder if it hit the muscle. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now , anyway. Now I'll just wait for the side affects.

It Arrives.............

Kind of sounds like the title of a horror movie, but I did receive a personal phone call from my neurologist. I really like him. Every time I've had a question and left the message with his secretary, he has called me back personally rather than his nurse or someone else in the office. I think that's very cool. And I wanted to ask him which type of MS he thought I was and damned if one of those brain holes took over and I lost my thought train. So anyway, I get to titrate the drug over some months. Although I'm not sure how I'll get a quarter dose out of a full dose that equals only one half milliliter. Well, I'll figure it out somehow. Anyway, won't start until Sunday.