Author Archives: Jen

MS and Keeping Calm

Quick tip:

 

I’ve happened upon a great website that provides timed meditations with calming visuals and musicmeditation. It’s called, of all things, Calm.com. I highly recommend!…..It can be brought up on a laptop or downloaded as an app on a phone. Such a great way to relax and put stress on the back burner for a while.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Jen

Quick MS Update

Okay, so I’m feeling a bit better. Who knows what’s going on?! Lolllll…….I need to have a sense of humor about all of this or I will go INSANE. Practicum is spread out so that I’m doing two 8-hour days with rest between them. Seems to be working at the moment and I’ll go with it……Now to head to Atlantic City overnight! Getting a break from everyday life is a great way to practice self-care.

 

Hope you are practicing your own self-care. : )

 

Jen

Multiple Sclerosis: One Day at a Time

So I was beginning to feel better for about three weeks and then recently my luck turned. Not so sure what is going on at this point, but I feel about as lousy as I did at the onset of this acute attack. I’m kinda disappointed and my energy is lagging again, and I need to feel better for my social work practicum (just started on Monday). However, I might not feel better for a while or maybe this will be my new normal, which of course frightens me. So I’m facing the fact that I need to take everything slowly and deliberately, and it might be on a day-to-day basis (or even an hourly basis, as I struggled and learned at practicum on Monday). I’m always the optimist, so I’m thinking of a way to turn this disappointment around. I just can’t allow myself to think otherwise.

 

Hope you are feeling and coping well today.

 

Jen

The Wahls Protocol Review

I recently finished The Wahls Protocol, a diet and lifestyle book for treating autoimmune conditions. The author, Dr. Terry Wahls, was able to go from a state of progressive multiple sclerosis to a state of significant remission (enabling her to resume physical activity and bicycle many miles). I definitely appreciate that she is a medical doctor (M.D.) and that she embraces alternative approaches to treating disease.

 

The book presents variations of a “Wahls” diet, giving readers three levels of commitment. The diet has some of the elements of a Paleo lifestyle, including reducing carbohydrates and increasing fruit/vegetable consumption, discarding dairy, discarding gluten, and increasing organic meats and wild-raised fish. But this is only touching the surface: there are definite differences at each level of the diet. And there are also lifestyle suggestions such as proper exercise, detoxification, stress management, and vitamin supplements.

 

I really appreciated this book for a host of reasons: I like that the author is a doctor of medicine but also a doctor embracing alternative remedies, there are three levels of diet alterations to chose from, there are supplementary lifestyle alterations, and there are scientific explanations for why these changes are good. I do feel that I might incorporate some of the basic diet changes into my own regimen: getting more greens/veggies, cutting down on dairy and gluten, and increasing organic meats/wild fish.

 

I definitely think this book is worth a read, whether you have an autoimmune condition or you just want to become more healthy in general.

Can Diet and Exercise Improve MS?

So I’m about to start a new book pertaining to MS and better health: The Wahls Protocol by Terry Wahls, MD. I hafta admit that I’m skeptical about anyone claiming to cure their own multiple sclerosis, especially through diet and exercise alone. However, I’m always open to better eating habits and exercise ideas. This woman apparently was wheelchair-bound and through her own research found a way to recover from autoimmune disease. She can now bicycle many miles….There seems to be a correlation with the Paleo diet, which touts eating more like our ancient ancestors and avoiding some of the modern day food traps (I need to actually read the book to know more about this!).

 

So here goes nothing…. I’ll have more to report when I’m finished….

 

PS: I am slowly getting better over here, too. Feeling about 80 – 85% of my “normal” self since this recent attack began last month. Stay tuned for more on this as well. : )

Quick MS Update!

Hi there!

 

I’ve been outta the loop recently because of graduate school demands, but my academic portion of the program is over so I can spend more time concentrating on this website and my MS journey (thank you if you still find yourself coming to this site– I appreciate the continued interest).

I am currently having an acute multiple sclerosis attack, unfortunately, and I’m trying to hash out things for my final Master of Social Work practicum. Yes, once again fitting MS into my life, but I haven’t had a new attack– to my own knowledge– in about five years, so I can’t really complain. Things have been good. : )

More soon to follow, but I also seem to have a concurrent urinary tract infection, since I have some permanent damage to my bladder functioning……I need to go get some rest and work on conquering this MonSter, fully-rested.

Talk again soon (and I hope this finds YOU well).

XO

Jen

MS and 15 Years In

So I’m trying to be a little more consistent with posting, but again— this graduate program IS KILLING ME. It’s a ton of writing because it’s distance education. Lots of posting and commenting on others’ posts. YIKES. But I think the end result will be well worth it. I’ll be done in about a year: end of August, 2014. And speaking of time, I need to commemorate the 15 year anniversary of my first multiple sclerosis symptom. Not the anniversary of my diagnosis. (I think that occurred, FINALLY, in 2005?) 15 years in and I’m still pretty mobile, although quite tired a lot. But my schedule of work and school is manageable at this point. I have a final practicum starting in January, and I might need to pare down my work schedule, but I’m trying to take it all in stride (SORTA!) We’ll see.

*I hope your anniversary(ies) are points of strength, too, as you battle this annoying MonSter.

MS: In Sickness and In Health

So I haven’t been on here as of late, and I wish I could keep up with the writings, but my MSW program is creaming me! Seriously: I am so glad to be going to graduate school for social work and to prepare to work with others who have MS or any of a myriad of other issues. However, I feel so absolutely drained these past few years. (The program is four years part-time but it sure feels FULL-TIME. LOL) And since my 10th wedding anniversary was this weekend, I thought of how multiple sclerosis has affected my marriage and my definition of “in sickness and in health.”

I hafta admit that certain periods have been rough. I am currently doing well and working part-time as a mental health peer, sharing my knowledge and support to other mental health consumers in an intensive outpatient program.  And I’ve also been doing this grad program. But there was a time when I was barely working and I was not earning social security benefits. My husband and I were really struggling financially, and that can take a toll on any marriage. So can being depressed because of that lack of work. But with a lot of good luck I was able to secure some part-time meaningful employment, helping my depression and anxiety.

More recently I had to say goodbye to a five-hour-a-week job helping a senior citizen. It was only one day a week, but it reminded me, again, of my physical limitations and my uncertainty about staying gainfully employed. It was my husband who had to remind me of how far we’ve come and how I still work 18 hours a week at a less physically demanding counseling job….So we toil again to make ends meet and we always worry about our outrageous health insurance costs (nearly a grand a month for the two of us!), but we seem to bolster each other up during rough times and remind one another of that vow uttered ten years ago: “In sickness and in health.”

My Gilenya Experience

….Just wanted to give an update on my Gilenya experience.  I’m past the 6-month mark and doing well. Mandatory eye exam and bloodwork are fine, and I’m having no other adverse reactions to the med. My neuro has about 100 people on it and only 1 person had the initial lowered heart rate. Not bad odds. This med seems to be best for people with moderate courses of the disease, and those who fare well on the injectables. Not the solution for all MSers, but it’s been nice to be needle-free and if you are thinking of ditching the Avonex, Betaseron, Copaxone, or Rebif, and your doctor thinks you are a suitable candidate, I highly recommend.

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