December 9, 2008 |
Breathe. Relax. Don't panic! |
Last night my feet were really bothering me. It was late and I have been trying to catch up on paperwork and emails and other stuff that needed to get done since coming home from Costa Rica. I started to freak out just a little. It was about 11:30 p.m. and I was having tingling in my hands and feet, but not good tingling. It felt like when I was first diagnosed a little. I started to think about when will I decide that I am not getting better, but getting worse. At what point do I feel MS symptoms and call my neuro so that he can help stop any flare up or exasperation. I'm not on any medication right now and I am realistic about my MS and how it can affect me and when I really need to take steroids to stop a flare up. Is a little numbness bad after having such great results? How long do I let the numbness go before calling the doc? Why am I stressing? I did panic for a few minutes and then decided it was time to lay down. Maybe sleep would help. This morning I felt much better. I did my physical therapy and swam a little. The numbness wasn't bothering me and I was feeling good. Again, I sat quite a bit today at my desk and tonight the numbness started to creep back. I paid attention and got up and walked around. I know that movement is extremely important for the overall effectiveness of the stem cell treatments I have had. I know that stress is bad for MS and can trigger exasperations. Tonight I am focusing on changing my work routine and not stressing about what is happening inside my body right now. I haven't been home even a month and I know this is going to take time. I am not going to be able to sit hour after hour at my computer without getting up and moving, really moving. I need to keep myself in check and not let stress take over. We all know how bad stress is. I am going to be patient before calling my doctor. I know he will treat me aggressively to stop any flare. He is a great doctor and really only worries about the here and now and treating the problem at hand. I just don't want to overreact, but I also don't want to wait to long to make important decisions regarding treatment that may be needed sooner than later. If I am having more numbness problems over the weekend, I will call the clinic on Monday and see what they say. That's my update for tonight. It's time for bed. Goodnight and have a great weekend.
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