$4,412.00

The MS Walk was this past Saturday, September 8th, at the Kemah Boardwalk. As I told you in my previous blog, I signed up as a team captain and named my team Nicole's Angels. Well, we had the biggest team at the Kemah Walk!!! I had just over 40 people walking with me:) I was so overwhelmed with emotions at all of the support I have. People drove from all over the Houston area to show their support. We had matching t-shirts that were a real hit! I have an unconfirmed donation total of $4,412.00 that me and my team raised!! (I say unconfirmed because some people donated at the actual walk, which means those totals aren't added into my online total yet. So, really I raised even more than $4,412.00!!)

Despite the heat and extra humidity, we all had a blast at the walk! Afterwards we met back at my tent and ate fresh fruit and re-hydrated. They had a great D.J. and cool door prizes! Thanks again to all of you who made the effort to come out and walk with me! I am so blessed to have each and every one of you in my life:)

"I would thank you from the bottom of my heart, but for you my heart has no bottom."

I'm an even number again....

So, I have this weird thing about being an even numbered age. I just feel like the odd numbers are unlucky, which obviously 25 was not a good year. So today starts a whole new, lucky year of being 26!!! Just walking to my car this morning I felt lucky, like this next year is going to be great:) I did freak out last night though because I thought I had my first gray hair!!! Doug inspected it and we discovered it's just really light brown....at least that's what Doug tells me. He's so awesome;)

That's really all I have to say today other than it feels great to be an even number again!!

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
-Abraham Lincoln

$2,200.00

Just wanted to update those of you who haven't checked out my MS Walk page in a while. My team and I have raised $2,200.00 in less than 2 weeks!! My heart has truly been touched by this outpour of support. There are people that have donated in my name that I have never even met. All of you have been so amazing and so generous and I thank you from the bottom of my heart:) You have no idea how much your support means to me and everyone else living with MS. If you haven't signed up to walk with me and you plan to, please register online. Technically you can just register when you get there, but a friend of mine is having "Nicole's Angels" t-shirts made and I'll be sending out an e-mail to everyone who has officially registered online asking who wants one and what size. If you're not registered online you may not have the chance to order my specially designed, super cool t-shirts;) If you need any help or are unsure how to register online, I'd be more than happy to help you out. Just let me know!

Keep up the good work and please pass on the information to anyone else you think may be interested in donating and/or walking. Thank you again to everyone who has donated and/or signed up to walk with me! I love you guys:)

Here's a quote on motivation:
"Life's ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want."

MS Walk - Kemah - September 8, 2007

I decided to start my own team for the MS Walk in Kemah on September 8, 2007. Our team name is "Nicole's Angels." I picked this name because the people I invited to walk are all considered angels to me because you have all helped and supported me in some way. I sent out a mass e-mail with the links to my home page and my team page so you can sign up to walk with me or make a donation. I hope all of you can find it in your hearts to make some sort of donation, even if it's $25.00. Every donation brings us closer to a cure! My team fundraising goal is $1500.00....let's make it happen!! If you are unable to make a donation then come walk with me:) There's no registration fee. The more people that walk, the more fun it will be! And I picked Kemah because it is the closest location to most of my family and friends, so NO EXCUSES. If you can't make the Kemah walk, there is one in Katy on the same day and one downtown in Houston the following day. Here are the links to get more information and register in case you didn't get the e-mail:

My personal page: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=3658802&pg=personal&fr_id=6582&s_tafId=33273

My team page: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?team_id=94903&pg=team&fr_id=6582&s_tafId=33273

Please feel free to forward on the information to any friends or family you think may be interested. There are some e-mail addresses that I didn't have, so pass it along! Please e-mail me if you have any questions, nicreagan_2003@yahoo.com

Thanks for all of your support!!

If nothing else, join me for a little exercise:)
"If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all."

It's in REMISSION...

Okay, I have fabulous news for everyone:) I saw my neurologist yesterday to get my MRI results and he had nothing but good news. One of the lesions on my spinal cord has completely disappeared and you can barely see the other one! That means the medication is working!! Which makes all of the painful injections so worth it! He wants to see me back in one year unless something changes with my symptoms before then. And no more MRI's for a while. I do have to continue my injections daily, but he said he PROMISES an oral version of the drug is just around the corner:) Doug and I are so relieved and excited! It really puts all of the medical drama we've been through over the past 8 months in the past. We're moving on now!!

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. I really feel like it wasn't just the medication that put my MS into remission, it was also all of you:) Please continue to keep me in your prayers and pray that the oral drug comes out soon!

Time to celebrate!!

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."

One step closer to a cure...

My cousin Pam e-mailed the link to an article regarding a new discovery in MS research. Not too long later a couple of other people e-mailed me the link also. Thanks for thinking of my guys:) I just wanted to share the article with everyone else because they've come one step closer to a cure for MS by discovering a second gene that increases one's risk of developing MS. The more they find out about what causes MS, the closer they are to finding a cure! There's hasn't been this significant of a breakthrough in MS research in 30 years! Here's the link to the article, please take the time to check it out:

http://health.msn.com/healthnews/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100167096

On a less exciting note....I had my MRI done last week. It was not what I would call fun, but it's over now! I got through the first part, the brain, the cervical spine, and the thoracic spine without the dye, with no problems. Then they pulled me out and injected the dye. They did the cervical spine first, then the thoracic spine. Three quarters of the way through the thoracic spine I had a bit of a panic attack. I really had to use the little girl's room, but didn't want to interrupt the MRI right in the middle. I was sweating profusely, was short of breath, and couldn't hold still. Ahhhhhhh!!! Apparently I was wiggling my feet a lot, so the woman asked what was wrong and I told her. She said hang on for 5 more minutes and you can go. They had to re-do some of the images because I was moving so much. Five LONG minutes later they pulled me out and let me go. When I came back to complete the last part, the brain, they had to inject me with more dye since I had used the facilities. I got through the brain and 4 hours later I was done:)!!!! You would think a MRI is a piece of cake, but it's a very exhausting and challenging procedure, both mentally and physically. Now it's over and I'm just waiting for my doctor's office to call me to set up an appointment to discuss the results. I'll keep you posted!

Don't forget to read the article! And please keep the scientists and all of the people who help fund the research in your prayers!

"There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere."
-Isaac Asimov

3 Month Check Up....

Just wanted to give everyone an update. It's been just over 3 months since I started my injections, which means it's time to go for my check up to see if it's working. I am having a MRI done next week, on Tuesday the 24th. They will take images of my brain, cervical spine, and thoracic spine with and without contrast. That means they'll take several images of each area and then pull me out of the machine, inject a dye into my veins, and then put me back in the machine to take more images. I'll probaly be there for a few hours. NO FUN!!! I guess the worst part is having to stay still for so long. At least last time I had a MRI I couldn't feel my legs, so it was easy to keep them still. This time will probably be tougher. Wish me luck!! Once my neurologist gets my results he'll call me to set up an appointment to go over my results and see how I'm doing. Everyone cross your fingers that everything is going according to plan. I'm feeling better, so I have high hopes that the MRI results will show the injections are working!

I'll post an update after I get the results!

On a lighter note, I would like to say Happy Anniversary to my AWESOME hubbie:) Can you guys believe it's been 3 YEARS?!! Oh, Doug is a lucky man;) We're having a romantic dinner tonight at Carmello's and then this weekend we're staying at Moody Gardens!

Today I'll leave you with a quote about love:
"Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle."

Doug and I have definitely cut new paths over the past 8 months, and they're so much stronger and closer:)