Jinxed...

Okay, I totally jinxed myself! When I posted yesterday I told you I would update you today. I had planned on telling you guys how it's been over a week since I've had a really painful injection. I must have jinxed myself because last night I had one of the most painful injections I've had yet!

Before last night, my injections were getting so much better (I'm sure the tequila shots I take prior to injecting help though;)....j/k!) I've been having only a little pain at the injection site and very little swelling and redness....now this is compared to say a month ago when it was REALLY painful, so I'm not saying they feel great now. I'm still lumpy and bruised feeling at all of the injection sites, but I think I must be used to it by now because it's not as bad as before.

I'm coming up on the end of my third month of injections which means I have to have a MRI done. The MRI will be of my brain, cervical spine, and thoracic spine with and without contrast (that means one complete series of films for each section and then they do each series all over again after injecting dye into my veins). The films with contrast allow the doctors to see my spinal cord and nerves. The doctor is looking for any change (hopefully a decrease) in the lesions I already have and he wants to make sure there aren't anymore that have developed. The purpose of my injections is to keep the lesions I have from progressing and hopefully make them inactive, as well as slowing down the progression / formation of any new lesions. So, basically the MRI films will show if the medication is working or not. The doctor also wants to keep an eye on the syringomyelia, which is the syrinx I described in my post on March 28, 2007 under the subtitle "The First Neurologist." He wants to make sure it has not expanded or changed since the last MRI.

Overall I've been feeling a lot better. I'm learning what my body should and shouldn't do now. So far, I'm living the same life I was living before I was diagnosed. The only differences now are a few things I've had to make myself more aware of: I really try to rest when my body tells me to (which is more than before), I must take my vitamin, I try to stay away from sick people because I catch a cold much easier now and it's a lot tougher to get well than before, and I must stay out of the heat as much as possible.

Before I go, I'd like to give a special thanks to all of you for reading my blog. You have no idea how touched I am each time I see a friend or family member that tells me they've been reading my blog. I said from the very beginning of this blog that my goal is to raise the awareness of Multiple Sclerosis and how it effects peoples lives. So, every time you read this blog, I'm fulfilling that goal! Please keep reading...

Quote on Happiness:

"Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections."