Day 2 Low dose steroids blog number 1! Fact: Low dose steroids still cause me insomnia!

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And this is only the low dose steroid to tide me over until I see my MS nurse!
Fingers crossed I don’t need the real relapse Prednisone when I see her on Tuesday

Look forward to tomorrow’s blog! I’ll have to turn up to humour dial me thinks!
01:25… oh wait, this could be classed as tomorrow’s blog I guess!
Let me change that title!

Until, well, later! Stay happy!


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The things I’m grateful for that may seem odd to others

The things I’m grateful for that may seem odd to others

  • I’m grateful to my MS Nurses even though they still haven’t returned my calls 2.5 weeks later
  • I’m grateful to my GP even though ‘he’ was the one that compared me to another MS patient regarding my inability to work AND has just prescribed me what I like to call ‘Satans Smarties’ aka Methylprednisolone – Steroids
  • I’m grateful for all my wonderful friends & family that notice when i start to walk a bit ‘odd’ – actually I’ll correct that, very ‘odd’ even when i don’t notice it myself! If it wasn’t for you guys I’d still be happily walking along like I’ve lost my horse or had a very unfortunate accident in my underwear!
  • I’m also very grateful for all my wonderful friends/family that will have to endure me for the next week or so as I begin my course of Oral steroids! (yes, I said Oral! Who sniggered?)
  • I WILL be grateful if all of my wonderful friends/family could resist the temptation to bring cakes, biscuits, sweets & most importantly chocolate round if you come to visit whilst I’m resting at home. No matter how many times I beg, plead or even if I bribe you to bring me treats, please resist!

Thanking you kindly, Vix

The blogger that can’t write, the artist that can’t create & the Pilates advocate that can’t practice

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This is where I am now but I can’t walk well and definitely show the pain!

I’m quiet because it hurts. Everywhere hurts so much, it’s a pain like no other and nothing stops it completely.
My mood is the lowest it has been in a long time, it’s expected when I’m struggling to manage my pain.

Normally I would be using exercise to help with my pain but I’m having to take some time off that.
I started to experience funny sensations in my feet which, over 2 weeks have crept up both of my legs.
Around the same time this happened I found my legs were getting weaker, I have now adapted my walking ‘gait’ to suit how my legs feel. My feet are now wider apart for stability & my legs although weak are also a lot like I imagine wooden legs to be, stiff!

So after speaking with my Neurological Physiotherapist I have been advised not to exercise at the gym & no pilates classes for a while.
It’s time to give my body a rest & not make it harder for it to recover. It seems more & more likely that this is a relapse!
Like my Big Sistaaah of the MegaSpecial variety says: just when we get our lives back on track our MS flares up & reminds us it’s still there!

The 'Foot ups'
The ‘Foot ups’

I have to wear my ‘foot ups’ full time now as well, even in doors! They help me to lift my toes when I walk, this problem that I am having is called ‘Dropped foot’

Foot drop

Foot drop, or dropped foot, is a symptom experienced by some people with multiple sclerosis. It is caused by weakness in the ankle that means the foot drags along the ground or hangs down when walking. People with MS with foot drop are more vulnerable to tripping and falling. Walking also uses more energy and people may alter their gait to compensate, commonly lifting their leg higher.

Foot drop can be treated using functional electrical stimulation (FES). This uses small electrical charges to force the foot into a more natural position for walking. An ankle splint (orthosis) can also be used to hold the foot in a rigid position.

These are the days that are the longest! I can’t exercise, blogging is extremely hard as I’m lacking concentration & can’t do my art without falling asleep!
It’s a good job my artwork is digital otherwise I’d be waking up with paint all over my face! Instead I just wake up with ‘qwerty’ across my forehead!

I’m the blogger that can’t write, the artist that can’t create & the Pilates advocate that can’t practice.

*It has taken me literally all day to do this short blog!*

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#invisibleillness #iiwk15 #invisiblefight

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I haven’t posted anything on my blog for a while, for those that follow it I am not giving in with it.
I am having a little confidence knock which I believe to be a part of my anxiety/depression & my MS.

It is becoming increasingly harder for me to cope with a lot of technology and so I am trying to have a cut back & a ‘low tech’ time!
This is proof that even us happy, cheery people aren’t always what they seem on the outside!

This is my #invisiblefight to get me back!

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Rediscovering a MegaSpecial me

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Oh my days! This was my post, this day FOUR years ago! Counting down to the firewalk fundraiser we organised for the MS Trust!
I never thought that night would have such a massive hit! All I wanted to do was prove to myself ‘if I can walk on fire then I can be stronger than MS’

I didn’t realise then what an amazing journey I was about to go on in rediscovering myself!
It’s taken along time but I think I’m finally at a place in my life that seemed so unreachable so many times!

I know there will be difficult times ahead, this is my life & I have MS! I’m in such a better head space now than I ever was before! As long as I stay this way, this focused then I hope I can handle anything thrown my way!

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#MyInvisibleFight #3 Bored of being bored!

#MyInvisibleFight #invisibleillness #invisiblefight #iiwk15

*THIS IS IN NO WAY A ‘PITY PLEA’ AND I’M NOT BEING NEGATIVE, I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF HOW HARD IT CAN BE FOR PEOPLE WITH INVISIBLE ILLNESSES*

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After seeing the post on Facebook (shown above) I have decided I shall take part & so every time I see a photo opportunity of #MyInvisibleFight I shall post the picture on instagram & here on my blog site which will then share to Facebook & twitter!

If you know me, are close to me & think this will be too upsetting for you then please stop reading now.

My intention isn’t to upset people, nor is it to make people feel sorry for me or others with Invisible illnesses. We don’t need a ‘Pity party’ we just want people to understand & realise how hard it can be for us! How incredible we are! How strong we have to be!

To be honest, this is quite a good ‘pick me up’ for me as I often forget the challenges I have & still do overcome!

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My 3rd picture is so terribly boring! No no no, not the picture! The picture isn’t boring, it shows boredom!

Everybody at some point experiences boredom but I suspect it’s short lived? What if you experienced boredom everyday.
What if you were looking forward to the weekend, only to find out you when you wake in the morning any plans you had that day would have to be cancelled! That’s right, cancelled!
I didn’t have many plans for today, Saturdays are usually my days off from exercise especially when my partner is off work so that wasn’t a problem for me, what was a problem was my pain levels! Far too high!
It was then that I was asked if I wanted to go clothes shopping! Seriously! But we went shopping last night, I hadn’t anticipated going today as well!
That was it, left home alone! I can’t stop my partner from doing things because I can’t go! I bet it’s as hard for her to go alone as it is for me to say ‘I can’t go’
The fear then is not knowing how long I’ll be cancelling plans for! Is this going to pass soon? Temporary, it’s only temporary? Please let it only be temporary! Oh man, I’m bored already!

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‘Ping’ goes my phone, I reach for my phone & smile! This is when the fashion show begins, yey! I have always love clothes shopping so this was perfect, I didn’t feel as though I was missing out at all!

I’m very lucky in that I have wonderful friends who I get to chat with most days via the wonderful world of technology that we live in today!

That wasn’t the case for me 5 years ago when I was suffering badly from acute Multiple sclerosis relapses. At this point I didn’t have the amazing network of friends that I have now! I didn’t have the knowledge or the understanding of my 2 illnesses (Multiple Sclerosis – MS & Fibromyalgia) as I do now & I certainly didn’t have the ability to say ‘you go, I should really stay here’ What I did have was a lot more days when I had no choice but to stay in bed because I didn’t ‘look after me’ and because I didn’t have all my Internet friends I had a tremendous amount of boredom!

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#MyInvisibleFight “How do you open yours?”

#MyInvisibleFight #invisibleillness #invisiblefight #iiwk15

*THIS IS IN NO WAY A ‘PITY PLEA’ I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO BE AWARE OF HOW HARD IT CAN BE FOR PEOPLE WITH INVISIBLE ILLNESSES*

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After seeing the post on Facebook (shown above) I have decided I shall take part & so every time I see a photo opportunity of #MyInvisibleFight I shall post the picture on instagram & here on my blog site which will then share to Facebook & twitter!

If you know me, are close to me & think this will be too upsetting for you then stop reading now.

My intention isn’t to upset people, nor is it to make people feel sorry for me or others with Invisible illnesses. We don’t need a ‘Pity party’ we just want people to understand & realise how hard it can be for us! How incredible we are! How strong we have to be!

To be honest, this is quite a good ‘pick me up’ for me as I often forget the challenges I have & still do overcome!

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My 2nd photo is something as simple as opening the post!

I love to receive mail! I no longer get bills in the post, come on people, we’re in the age of technology! Everything is now email, text, apps, this is our world!

“Your EE bill is now ready for you to view online
“Your E Newsletter is now ready to be viewed online
“Your now due your next eye examination “

How exciting is it to hear the letter box rattle, knowing that someone somewhere has thought of you! Either that or its a flyer from the local takeaway! No thank you! We don’t want those here!

Off I go to collect my mail, I sit down with whatever hot drink I’m partial to that day, post on the table in front of me & then I remember!

Oh no, my hands aren’t working today! I can’t keep a tight grip of the letter & coordinate my other hand to work at the same time! Oh, oh…. no! I’ve torn it! I hope it’s still readable!

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Yes there is such a thing as ‘letter openers’ I’m just not sure it’s a good thing on days like these for me to be holding something with a pointy end!

Imagine, gawd forbid if I ended up at A&E with a puncture wound somewhere on my body & having to explain to the nurse how I did it! I’m sure they’ve heard worse!
“It was because of the letter & a letter opener, actually nurse, the letter opener is still in my tummy”

Now please don’t stop sending me good old fashioned snail mail because I may not open it to perfection, where there’s a will there’s a way!

megaspecial.me
megaspecial.co.uk