Challis

[Guest guest]

Would you please make sure your Mom knows that I answered her about the breast cancer group. She emailed me last week I think it was and I replied and got an email yesterday or the day before asking if I had gotten the original one. I replied again to her with the info but just want to be sure she got it.

Hugs

nne-- Breast Cancer Patients Soul Mates for Lifehttp://breastcancerpatientssoulmatesforlife.bravehost.com/

Anxiety Depression and Breast Cancerhttp://health.group.yahoo.com/group/AnxietyDepressionandBreastCancerAngel Feather Loomer

www.angelfeatherloomer.blogspot.comThe Cancer Clubwww.cancerclub.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Challis,

Thanks for asking about my mom. Today is Day #37 in ICU for Mom. She is still

on a respirator with a trach. She pulled it out a few days ago because she is

so frustrated. It seems that for every step forward, she takes three back. But

I know my mom is feisty and a fighter !!

I hope that she can get out of ICU soon

and start the rehab process. My husband and I are going to try and bring her

here to live with us when this is all over. We just have to work out the green

card and insurance issues.

On a good note—my son, is

getting married this weekend in Mexico

at a resort outside of Cancun. We are all

flying out tomorrow. It will be great to see him and say their vows. It

will also be great to get a break away from stress. I love my new job as

a Special Ed Inclusion Support Specialist—love the fancy title? but I am

exhausted learning the ropes. I have great students and wish I could just teach

them instead of going to trainings, trainings and more trainings!!

Hope all is well with you and your mom,

Connie

From: MSersLife [mailto:MSersLife ] On Behalf Of Smyelin groovy

Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008

4:30 PM

To: MSersLife

Subject: Re: Connie --

Newcomer

Connie! There you are! How are you? How is

your Mom?

HUGS,

Challis

Newcomer

Hi!

I’m

, and I’m new to the list – and pretty new to the idea that I might

have MS. I have not seen a doctor since I was in the Air Force (1986,

goodness I’m getting old!), except for “spot repairs” like

stitches and getting my eye “rebuilt” a couple of years ago.

I am 51. Something has been a bit “off” since my late

twenties – loss of coordination, unexplained aches and pains, memory

“blips”, all things that come and go. Sometimes worse than

others. Then about 4 years ago I had what I think now was my first really

bad attack – for over a month I was in so much main I almost couldn’t

move, was “frozen up” like the Tin Man without his oil can,

staggered around like a drunk, couldn’t follow a conversation or a show

on TV, had to go “potty” what seemed like every hour on the hour,

all day and night. This roughly coincided with Lent, and we were

trying hard to be “vegan”, so I just put it down to the change of

diet. When all the symptoms went away (practically overnight) I was just

relieved and didn’t think any more about it. There were occasional recurrences

of weird stiffness or stumbling or whatever, nothing more than a day or

so.

The

beginning of August this year, one day my right hip “gave out”

under me, and when I tried to walk there was a burning weak feeling in the

muscles on the front of that thigh. By the next day, all the muscle

spasms, weakness, etc were back, with very strong cramps in the back of my

right thigh and the top of my right foot. If I was still for more than a

couple of minutes everything “froze up”. Had all the same

symptoms as that first bad one, and added tripping over nothing with my

right foot, and a weird buzzy-tingly feeling all over. Was so exhausted

that I couldn’t do any chore all in one go – had to keep going to

lie down in the air conditioning…

This time we were NOT “fasting”, so I didn’t understand what

was going on – went online to AARP, WebMD, several other “symptom

checkers”, thinking there was some vitamin or something I was short

of. Two results kept coming up – a stroke (I don’t think I had

2 just the same!) and MS. When I did a little reading on MS, everything

suddenly started to make sense… Talked to a couple of RNs I know,

and they think the same.

I’ve sent off paperwork to the VA to try and be able to use the local VA

clinic and hospital; I’m covered by TriCare (my husband is retired USMC)

but there’s no way we can afford co-pays on MRIs and all the other

testing required, not to mention meds. So now I’m waiting to hear

back, and happy to report that my symptoms are mostly gone again-

Except the buzzy

feeling, which is a little annoying but not too bad.

I found this group while searching out more information – hearing other

people’s actual stories and so on seems more helpful to me than all the

medical jargon. Hope you don’t mind I’m here without a diagnosis

or even a suspicious Doctor..

About

me – have been married to Himself for 26+ years, have 2 grown children, 3

grandchildren, 10.5 housecats, 3 dogs, and 10+ acres of Wyoming not far

from Devil’s Tower. I like reading, sewing, embroidery, knitting,

cooking, gardening, so on, and I spend way more time than I should hanging

around on the Net.

Thanks for

having me!

in WY