What's New on November 23, 2002

NOVEMBER 23, 2002

I had been smelling smoke, for days, without stop. I assumed it was an MS thing but whatever it was, it was annoying. And embarrassing as it is, I have to say, I had had a couple episodes of incontinence too... bowel incontinence. I know, yuck! But if you are to get the full picture, you have to know the whole thing, and that means this too. It's not that I don't make it in time. I don't receive the message that it is time to go until after the fact.

NOVEMBER 6
Anyway, at my quarterly appointment with the neuro dudette, I brought these two things up and he decided I needed an MRI.

NOVEMBER 13
MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a type of x-ray that creates images of the body using the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance. I was to have the test with and without 'contrast' [a radioactive substance given intravenously]. Once on the table, the table moves so my head was inside this tube shaped machine. It is painless, except for the IV insertion but extremely noisy. Some people have problems with the claustrophobic nature of the test. That has never bothered me and apparently neither did the noise. I feel asleep. The test took about 30 minutes.

NOVEMBER 20
Follow-up appointment with neuro-dudette. He looked at my MRI and considering I am still smelling smoke and have other new symptomology agreed I was in an MS exacerbation and ordered
an IV of SoluMedrol [steroids] for 4 days.

Usually, this can be given at home by home health IF you have any insurance other than Medicare. But since I have Medicare I had to go to the hospital and have the IV put in and have the IV ran. I will have to go back each day for the next three days as well. The IV meds only take a bit over an hour to run through so except for having this hickman catheter in my hand I am OK.

THIS has not been a good year for doctors and hospitals. I have had years where I have been in the hospital more though I guess. In fact I had one year where I was in the hospital over 100 days. lol... My last year in nursing school. lol... Can anyone say stress?

But would have preferred that this be one of the years where there was no hospital stays. lol... but I guess that is not to be.

NOVEMBER 23
My IV is out. Had my last dose of IV SoluMedrol. Except for the weight gain [12 pounds], I can't say that it did anything. I still smell smoke though at this time nearly a month later, it is not constant. And the accidents, well, I can't say I haven't had another but I can hope I have had my last. They come out of the blue and often leave much the same way.

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You are listening to Memories from the musical Cats, written by
Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S. Eliot. I felt this song was a perfect selection
for this site because of the affiliation I feel with Grizabella. Although for her,
it was age and not health issues that changed her, neither of us are who we
were before, on the outside, and it can affect how we feel on the inside.

Disclaimer:
The author of this page does not promote, support, or recommend any
particular treatment or medication for any medical condition. The opinions
expressed in stories or links are the responsibility of their authors.
No treatment should be undertaken without the supervision of a physician.