Week four after the Big A

Such is the saddo that I am, I am constantly surfing the web looking for new information about MS and possible treatments and I just happened to be reading something on the Big A when it reminded me that I need to have monthly blood tests to check my blood count.
Then I realised I was now in the fourth week after having the treatment so I hot-footed it to the day unit at the hospital and got my blood done. Why I need to get my blood checked monthly has been explained to me but I can't remember why it needs to be done although I suspect it has something to do with the possible side-effects the drug can bring on.
So week four has been, again, very uneventful.
We are all still fighting off the cold that my very thoughtful family member decided to share with us the weekend before last but it hasn't been too bad. My baby son is worst and on antibiotics but I seem to have got away with it - touch wood!
And hopefully this uneventfulness will continue.
Merry Christmas x

Week three after the Big A (and I'm moaning)

If things had been going to plan and I had stayed away from people with the lurg, this week would have been fine. I am sure my energy levels would have continued to rise and I would have been feeling back to my old self.

But things haven't quite gone to plan. 

A weekend visit to family resulted in me catching a disgusting cold thanks to the thoughtfulness of a certain family member who failed to tell me he was ill before we arrived (knowing my immunity was compromised and giving me the option of staying away) and so I had to socialise with him and his filthy germs. 

Despite his insistence that my immune system would be back to its full strength now, after all it has been all of three weeks since it was obliterated, and the doctors were just being over-zealous in their warnings to stay away from the ill, I caught the bug.

It was not a surprise to be honest - the way he was sneezing, I'm surprised he didn't infect the entire village.

All week I have been feeling rotten. The fatigue has been at an all time high and I generally feel really run down and under the weather. 

To prove I am feeling run down, a HUGE spot has erupted on my chin. It seriously is like a parasite and has a pulse and everything...! I fear it is going to be here for the duration of the Christmas festivities.

I digress.

So I can't really tell you what the Big A treatment has left me feeling this week because I have this cold and it has taken over everything else.

I have finished the anti-viral pills issued to me after the Big A though so that is one piece of Big A news but apart from that, I really am just doing my best to get over this cold. *cough cough, sneeze, sniff*

Let's get moving

I've just completed my first bit of exercise since I had the Big A - and I've gotta say, I feel brilliant!
It was 45 minutes of (light) weight bearing aerobics done in the comfort of my living room in front of the telly with a very nice American lady (Erin O'Brien's Strong Body Ageless Body if anyone is interested) telling me what to do. My heart was beating fast, I was pink cheeked and had a sheen of sweat and it has really cheered me up.
Since being told I had MS, I've been nervous of doing exercise because if you read everything I've read on MS, you start believing that getting hot will bring on symptoms. I used to enjoy running - ok jogging. Oh ok if you want to be pedantic about it, fast walking, but I've been worried about going out on my own for a run in case I get a spasm or my feet go numb or my balance goes weird and I am stuck on the streets of north Cardiff  miles (alright, I'll admit it - just a mile) away from home with no way of contacting my husband to come and rescue me.
So I thought I would see how I coped with a fitness DVD and you know what - it has cheered me up no end. For one thing, I could do most of the moves despite months of idleness and also that my old friend MS was happy enough not to join in!
So bring on tomorrow when my muscles decide to punish me for getting them to work - I can't wait for the ache. It's been too long.

Week two after the Big A

The last week has been a tale of two halves.
Week two after the Big A started off okay. I actually felt pretty normal and then mid-week came and it was downhill from there.
To say I had a lack of energy would be a complete understatement.
There were a few moments when I actually didn't think I had the strength to get through the day and the longing to phone my husband to come home from work and take over babysitting duties so I could just curl up on the sofa was almost overwhelming.
Being the brave little soldier I am, I resisted ringing him and forced myself to get through the day feeling light-headed, weak and altogether pathetic.
Headaches have been a source of irritation. Usually coming on during the night and waking me from my slumber, they have been pretty intense but I was able to get them to subside about half an hour after taking a couple of paracetamol.
The weird thing about the intense fatigue I've been getting is there doesn't seem to be any trigger. I either wake up feeling great or I wake up feeling like death. There doesn't appear to be any reason for the fatigue or any reason for why it disappears.
In terms of avoiding bugs, well so far so good. I have been shunning places where I know there will be lots of people. Christmas shopping has been done online as has the weekly 'big shop'.
I've also avoiding hugging and kissing visitors to the house and haven't been apologetic about it either!
And my hands are starting to get quite sore because I am constantly washing them.
I'm still taking the anti-viral tablets but as I enter week three post-Big A, I'm feeling positive that my immune system is rebuilding itself and that I may well have gone through the worst now.