Tag: fatigue

Invisible

Invisible (adjective)
not perceptible or discernible by the mind

Multiple sclerosis, for many, falls into the category of an invisible disease. Meaning that you can’t see the symptoms that someone has, though it doesn’t mean they don’t have any.

I have symptoms EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Am I fortunate that they are mostly tolerable after nearly 12.5 years of living with them? Sometimes yes, sometimes I just want to tear my hair out. And other days I literally try to will or blow the symptoms away.

So it’s kind of ironic that I have an invisible disease, because at this point in my life I also FEEL so incredibly invisible. A couple of months ago I noticed that I constantly had to move aside on the sidewalk to let people go by.

The first few times I thought wow those people walking together were really in their own world. A a few more times and I realized, I’ve become a “woman of a certain again.” That age where not only people don’t see you, they don’t even necessarily consider you.

From the start of the pandemic, the phrase “we’re all going through this together,” became really popular. And working in communications I knew that we might all be going through it, but it definitely wasn’t together or nearly in the same way.

I didn’t have responsibilities that would take me to the front lines of any field (healthcare, retail, warehouses, etc.). I was cocooned in my own little (VERY little) space. I wan’t even particularly nervous that I would get it since I didn’t have anyone coming or going who worked on the frontline, no kids to be concerned about either.

While everyone I knew was for sure going through it, it’s been in VERY different ways. I had a few friends say and write that they envied their single friends with no kids who could do video chats for happy hour while not having to worry about virtual school. That said, I also didn’t have anyone touch me for three months.

I realized this when I went to finally have my hair done, and teared up because my hair dresser was the first person in all of that time to put her hands on me. And while I couldn’t have imagined sharing a small space with someone else for all of those months on end, there were some days where I wish I hadn’t felt so invisible.

I also see this with many other women I know. We are single, no children, careers (though not CEOs or curing cancer), financially secure, and yet it’s still not enough to see myself reflected anywhere. Not in print, not on TV, not on expert panel discussions, really nowhere. In the media, etc. you see either women with partners and kids or they’re CEOs, or they’re curing cancer.

Articles are about how women with kids are penalized in their career, which is 100% true, but I have for SURE been at the end of the misogynistic stick and not had the same opportunities as men for different reasons. Which is largely why I created my own nearly five years ago.

While I wouldn’t change some of those things for anything, I would love not to feel invisible just because I don’t have them. And for the love of…pay afuckingttention when you’re walking side-by-side with people and go single file so others can get by.

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Rest

Banksy - relax don't quit

Rest (noun)
the refreshing quiet or repose of sleep

The last few weeks I’ve been going non-stop with work (a good problem to have), but last night MS said, whoa Nelly, no can do, shutting ‘er down. So while I got a good night sleep, this morning my body still had other ideas.

At the beginning of this long distance marathon a day like today would make me hate myself. But now, now I know if it takes a few hours of recharging to keep going, no one is calling me to the OR, so I’m ok with it. Please don’t feel bad, because I’m not sick, just temporarily out of order.

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Travel

Travel

Travel (verb)
make a journey, typically of some length or abroad

Lately I’ve been traveling (by air) extensively again, both in the U.S. and abroad, for fun and business. I thought these days were behind me. Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis I didn’t think I could handle the hours needed to do it. Not only do I do it, but I excel at it once again. I think the exhaustion is more about being older, than having MS.

That said, some tips and tricks how I make air travel easier for me.
1) I slowly pack the day before. This has been true since well before the MS. If I pack too far out, I take too much.
2) I take a car service instead of public transportation. This helps to preserve my energy to deal with the airports and flying, which are both exhausting.
3) I arrive early for domestic & international flights to allow for loads of time to get through security. I have both TSA pre-check & global entry. If you need help, ask for it. If you need a wheelchair, ask for it. There is no shame in preserving your energy.
4) If the lines are long I ask to go to the front for medical reasons. Each airport and security line has their own ideas of what sympathy looks like. I find TSA to be short on it for sure.
5) I ask to pre-board due to medical reasons. While I don’t need help walking, not having to board in a crowd cuts down on anxiety, which also reduces stress levels. Anything I can do to tell keep calm, makes a huge difference to getting to where I need to go and being able to function at 100% when I do.
6) If I’m going to be away for more than a night or two, I take one of my own pillows. Sleeping in a hotel, however nice, is precarious as best. Weird noises, varying mattresses, errant digital lights. Anything I do to help sleep better, keeps the MS symptoms at bay. Plus as a Taurus, I much prefer creature comforts. And if it doesn’t impact anyone else, why not!

It took me a long time to be able to ask for concessions, because karma is the great equalizer. I know many people living with this disease who are much worse off, and I thought that I needed to “do it like everyone else,” but then I realized, it’s just like using air conditioning in December if I need it. The more I stand in long lines, the more tired my legs become, which impacts the rest of my trip.

So in the end, I did what I tell others to do. Be kind to yourself and ask for help. It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you strong.

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Onset

onset

Onset (noun)
the beginning of something, especially something unpleasant

It was the summer of 2008. I had just turned 39 and was in the south of France on vacation (living in Switzerland) with a friend. I’d been working dozens of hours a week and desperately needed a holiday. Unfortunately southern Europe was experiencing the worst heat wave they’d had in over a decade. It was 100 degrees which made it hard to do anything outdoors. We hid in shops, movie theatres, and cafes.

We were staying at a lovely winery and while we did taste some of the local fare, by no means were we walking around squiffy. One night I went to bed fine, and the next day I woke up with a numb butt. I remember asking my friend if that had ever happened to her, it had not.

That started my odyssey for a diagnosis. Flash back to a few years earlier and I did crisis work for a multiple sclerosis medicine that was removed from the market and re-released after proper precautions were put into place. In the deep recesses of my mind, I knew something was wrong aside from the everyday aches and pains we experience.

The next months would come with experiencing weakness in both legs, more numbness, and a lot of fatigue. Fatigue so bad that after sitting in a movie for two hours, I would walk a dozen steps and need to sit down on a bench.

I saw my GP, chiropractor, and acupuncturist. I knew that the weakness in both legs at the same time wasn’t sciatica since I have experience with that. Your sciatic nerve is on both sides and not connected. So it’s rare that would you have it bilaterally.

My GP did all kinds of blood work to rule out potential diagnosis, which is still currently the way you also rule IN the diagnosis of MS, including lumbar puncture. Tests for Lupus, lyme disease, syphilis (latent disease can cause neurological symptoms), and a brain tumor (more on this later).

The GP finally referred me to a general neurologist who did some basic motor skills tests and said that I was fine. In the U.S. I would have pushed for more test, and they likely would have at least done a brain MRI, though it may not have shown anything at that point.

In December I had an eye issue where my eyes had trouble focusing distance. No problem seeing up close, just distance. I saw an optometrist (no issue with my prescription) and referred to the eye clinic at the University Hospital. I spent NINE hours at the eye clinic one Saturday. It was like something out of the 1600s, literally. A few days later I met with the attending physician who said I likely had strabismus. Ok, so while my dad had it as a child, I’d just had an eye exam for my contact lenses a few months prior. So NO, it wasn’t strabismus, but rather like when you get a weird rash and the doctor calls it “contact dermatitis” because they have no idea what it really is.

I went back to the general neurologist who now thought it would be good to get a brain scan. Upon receipt of those images, his next idea was to do a lumbar puncture. Playing a doctor during the day, I knew there had to be something in between a brain scan and a sticking a HUGE needle into my back.

Between the results of the brain scan and the eye issue, this was sufficiently enough to freak me out. I was going home in a few days to have knee surgery (a story for another time). So I put my dad on the mission to get me into see a neurologist back home that could help me sort the issues. Two phone calls and 20 minutes later I had an appointment with one of the top neurologists in the U.S. who I still see to this day. I call it mobilizing the Jewish healthcare mafia. We ALWAYS have a doctor to recommend.

Two days later (NYC) I was in the neurologist’s office, images in hand, and parents for support. He reviewed the images and said he saw a few more tiny brain lesions, but nothing that would give him cause for concern. He did some motor skills tests and since I was asymptomatic at that point, he didn’t consider it MS. Phew! Dodged a virtual bullet. He gave me his card and said call his mobile any time and we were on his way.

Three months went by and all was fine. Then the last week of March I couldn’t get my feet warm at all. Warm water, double socks, heating pad. My feet were constantly cold. And over the course of the week I went numb from my feet up over my stomach. Not paralyzed, but numb. I could still walk and no one was on the wiser.

I finally called my GP and although he felt it would subside it was probably time to go to the ER. I took a shower, packed some clothes, and hopped on the tram to the hospital. In hindsight I probably should have waited to text my dad because it was 10a where I was and 4a here in NYC.

They took me back into a room and I immediately called the neurologist I’d seen in NY a few months earlier. It was really important for me to have someone back home in the healthcare system who a) knew where I was and b) could be connected into the treating physician. Turns out I was at the hospital where the top MS institute in Europe is located.

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