Newbies Lounge Check-in, March Madness 2014

[gomer]

Welcome) to your Newbies Lounge
for MS newbies, newbies at heart, or just want to help.

Come on in and stay a spell. Share your ups and downs, even vent away on our super virtual soap-box if you wish. Being a newbiecan be just as scary and lonely as being in limbo. When I first got my formal MS dx, I felt lost, alone and tossed into a sea of hungry sharks.

Unwind in our Newbies Lounge, no polar vortex in here.
Feel free to share your ideas, experiences and support to your fellow newbies. Relax, you are among friends, friends that understand. We have a virtual soap box, feel free to vent anytime.

We also have fresh cookies, (big Chocoholic here) and red velvet brownies, fresh baked PACZKIs in more varieties than you can imagine, even fresh coffee, just follow the fresh aroma or just hang around visit and enjoy our company.

PLEASE.... Let US know how YOU, a member of our MS newbies family is doing.

Have a QUESTION? Please don't be shy........
The only dumb stupid question........is the one NOT asked.

Any Dr. apts tests etc coming up?
.

Doc Gomer Sir Falls-a-lot
........(just slightly imperfect).....

Mod-Note: this replaces previous newbies sticky

[gomer]

Deafening Silence?

Where did everybody GO?

Did Dave kidnap all the newbies?

Since Dave was recently un-diagnosed (MS) he has faded away and not even called me. His Dx had flip-flopped a couple times and had been thru the wringer of sorts. He was a valuable asset to this forum. I have not even spoke to him on the phone lately, is I do not know what's going on.

Early yesterday morning I went to ER, after several days of pain & the muscle relaxer was not working. The ER doc jumped on the must be MS bandwagon, saying I must have been right thinking it could be a MS or shoulder. BS BS BS ... My MS hugs do not last for days on end w/o any let-up or relief, and it has NOTHING to do with my shoulder. I can move my shoulder all I want to no effect.

One thing they did right was give me IV morphine for the pain. I was still a bit under it when they let me drive myself home from the hospital... (IDIOTS). I had to take it slow and extra careful to get home OK. At least I was able to grab some sleep (not a wink that night).

I tried to get into my fam doc, he knows me far better than anyone else, and knows when I say XYZ problem, he knows I more often right than most docs. He is on a spring break vacation, just my luck!

To top the ER trip off, the ER doc gave me Rx for 2 scripts when I was released. It seemed odd so I looked them up. both are pain killers and one is CONTR-indicated when taking the other one. The ER doc was a resident and under supervision, or was his supervising doc a (*&^^&*)???

There are also a couple other minor thing in my Hx that also not quite compatible with his 2 drug Rx.

MY thinking is my heart valves are acting up. I have 3 leaky valves and my cardiologist says its from rheumatic fever when I was younger. She has not tested my valves for several years. In theory they were supposed to be checked every 6 - 12 months, but the thinks they are stable?

For now I am taking extra Coreg to try and mitigate things until someone steps up to the stethoscope and does something positive.

REMEMBER! Just because a person has MS, does not mean everything that happens medically is due to MS! They used to blame my neurological issues on my being diabetic. That delayed my MS Dx for decades!

... taking it kinda easy till I see a nurse in the morning.

GOMER

[MarySunshine]

Old drug with a new patent

My metaphor for life these last 9 years. I just keep getting re-patented. I am certainly not new to MS, but to keep the dust from settling on the "Newbie" thread, I will add my story (cliff's notes style).

3rd time diagnosis here. I will be heading to my neuro-opth on Friday to discuss treatment. I will likely be choosing Copaxone, as it "cured" me before (along with my awesome european style diet). Wish I had never gone off of it, but my MRI was clear and, well, it could've been a post viral thing with a co-existing rheumy disorder. Now we know differently.

I have been struggling with mood a lot more this time, than with any other diagnosis, but I am also losing more function and it is adding up and not returning. Bladder likes to let loose when I'm overheated or tired. Muscle weakness is worse and have additional proprioception disturbances. Curious, I am, to see if this is progressive-relapsing. (Yoda) ...MRI spots have always been really small and mostly spinal, brainstem and corpus callosum. ON has barely shown up on MRI, but grossly abnormal VERs...abnormal OCTs...yadda yadda yadda...


I haven't looked much into MS research in a few years and I had a good hard laugh when I saw they are throwing money into research regarding exercise and how it is beneficial to build up muscles prior to atrophy and to build up muscles adjacent to weakened ones. I've been doing this for years. Haven't we all? I know some go to PT for it. I was once a dance teacher, so i create my own PT (and then get labelled as "non-compliant to treatment" when I do my own routines rather than pay $40 per PT session....LOL). Of course, then I cried about the research, because they should use that money to buy us all treadmills (or whatever) and quit wasting it on useless research. Dang! I'm moody today


How is everyone else doing?

[Kaitar]

Huh?

Gomer,

What is the usual thing for this? Does everyone give an update or something? Is that why you commented on the silence?