15 January 2006

I've been going to physical therapy for about two months.  I'm trying to get some strength back in my legs.  I don't exercise as much as I should, but sometimes I'm just too tired.  The therapist says I'm almost at the point of "breaking through" (getting the muscles to actually work).  The TENS unit doesn't seem to work as well as it did before and the fatigue is really kicking-in during the day.  The fun continues!

Saw the neurologist today.  I got some more "good" news.  Back in August, I had MRIs (brain and spine), which I forgot to ask him about and he forgot to tell me.  The brain MRI showed no significant progression.  The spine MRI showed no MS involvement, but did show I have Scoliosis.  For my hands, we decided to try increasing the Neurontin dosage significantly.  If that doesn't give me some relieve, I'm going to try Lyrica.  Also, finished up with physical therapy.  The therapist says there's been some improvement and gave me a page full of exercises and some bungee kind of big rubber band to exercise my legs with.  Overall the main problem with my right leg is the hip muscles.  The neurologist said most people with MS have the same problem.  I decided to buy a recumbent exercise bike.  Rather than just pedaling the bike I have now, this will have various levels of resistance built-in, so I can try to strengthen my legs (and hopefully) more. 

I had a few errands to run.  The first went fine.  When I got back into the car after the second, it wouldn't turn over.  I called my wife, who met me with jumper cables.  We hooked them up and the car still would not start.  We tried a few times with no luck.  Fortunately (because by that time my legs were exhausted), a nice gentleman came over to help.  The connection from the scooter lift to the battery was the problem.  It shorted out and caught fire.  We had to have the car towed to a Chrysler dealer who checked it out and confirmed the battery was dead.  Evidently, the scooter lift was draining the battery.  They disconnected the scooter lift from the battery, but would not replace the battery and try to start the car (afraid of law suits).  We had the car towed to the mobility center that installed the lift.  I had the mobility center technician talk to the Chrysler repair shop.  They eventually got the car running.  I then had to go back to the Chrysler dealer to replace the battery.  As a result, and after paying the towing fees, I decided to join AAA.

About all I do these days is sit, mostly in front of the computer.  I'm not sure how long that will last, because my hands hurt all the time.  It's not carpel tunnel, I was tested for that.  Anyway, I'm developing pressure soars on my butt.  Fortunately, only stage one.  The doctor prescribed Xenaderm Ointment.  Also, he prescribed pillows for my scooter and office chair to help with the pressure soars.  It seems to be working.

Had a physical and got another pill.  My cholesterol is high (Trig: 320, HDL: 320, LDL:158).  The family doctor prescribed TriCor which is supposed to bring down the HDL.  Otherwise, I'm healthy.

The neurologist took me off Methotrexate and Rebif to get ready for Tysabri.  The drug sounds promising and I'm not worried about the possible side effects (dying [1 in 1,000] - anything is better than living with MS).

I get  my first infusion of Tysabri, 29 November.  I'm hoping it can at least stop my long slide into MS hell.