Treatment has begun!

Hi guys :)

I said in my last blog post that i would let you know how i had gotten on when i went to see my ms nurse, that was mid march and i have only just really had time to write about it after downloading blogger on to my phone :)

The meeting went very well and i chose the treatment i wanted to go on after a lot of intense research in to all the different treatments, i chose copaxone, although copaxone is an injection that has to be taken daily, unlike the rest of them it was the one that i felt best suited me.

The process of beginning the treatment took just over a month due to all the paperwork that had to be filed and all the different people who had to be notified about my treatment. It was a very intense time and felt like i had waited a lifetime to get my injections because i so desperately wanted to start.

April 23rd was the day i started my injections. As the day dawned i got extremely nervous, i think the thought that i would be injecting myself everyday actually sunk in and i was terrified! Would it hurt? Would i be able to do it myself? I had all these thoughts going through my mind but i just had to remember i was not alone! I had a nurse coming to my house on the day to train me to inject and my mom and boyfriend were there too. My boyfriend seemed happy at the thought of stabbing me with the needle lol! The training took just over an hour then it was time to actually inject myself i was scared and didnt think i would be able to do it but i went straight in for it and done it! It hurt and had a spotting of blood but that is expected when you are piercing your skin.

I have now been on my treatment for just over 2 weeks and have managed to inject myself almost everyday. I find it difficult to do my hips on my own so my mom and boyfriend do it for me. The injection still stings and sometimes bruises my skin but so far so good! Considering i never thought i would be able to do it i have done very well and feel very proud of myself.

If anyone who reads this blog is on copaxone for their ms then please feel free to message me with any info or just to have a general chat :)

Thank you again to all the people taking the time to read my blog i do appreciate it :) i will be writing again very soon not always ms related it may sometimes be for a bitch and a moan so keep a look out! Lol

Bye guys xxx

progress

firstly i would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read my first blog post, all the kind people who commented and to everyone who retweeted my blog on to their own twitter pages. it really means a lot to see individuals taking time out of their own day to do something for someone else, and a complete stranger at that!

i know it has been a few months since my first blog post and a lot has gone on in those months! but i would like to just point out that whatever i write in my blog posts about how im feeling is not in any way a plea for sympathy, that is not the kind of person i am, i just want to help raise awareness and let people know you are never alone!

these few months have been pretty crazy, ive had days where i cry and just feel down and other days where im happy and laughing, im still trying to fully come to terms with the fact i am unwell but i know this is something that isnt going to happen overnight, but i still have the support of my amazing family to pick me up when im feeling down and also a great boyfriend who keeps me happy on a daily basis so it cant be all bad!

back in december and through january i had a pretty bad time, i was having trouble sleeping, was suffering pretty bad with anxiety and my fatigue was getting me very down, i visited the doctor who gave me some tablets to help settle some of my symptoms and to also help me sleep better at night, they were only temporary and did help me for the month or so i was on them.
i finally got an appointment with an MS nurse who gave me lots of advice and information and helped give me a better understanding of what MS is and the symptoms. she gave me some tablets called amantadine for my fatigue, she did warn me that there was a chance they would not work as they did only work in 1 in 3 MS sufferers, i was grateful to be given the opportunity for some help and left the appointment with high spirits.

i was taking the amantadine for 6 weeks and just recently have stopped taking them as unfortunately they did not help my fatigue, i am still suffering very bad with it and always feel like i havent had a nights sleep and find work at times a great struggle, i am still trying to find a way of getting a better control over my fatigue as it can be extremely debilitating.

not only do i suffer with fatigue but also get tremours and bladder issues where i am always needing to go for a wee, at first these didnt bother me but they seem to be getting worse and more obvious. i have an appointment with my MS nurse on the 13th march to discuss my treatment option and when i will be starting the treatment, whilst there i will speak to her about getting some kind of medication that can control my other symptoms.

i am feeling nervous about starting treatment but also very excited, this will help in reducing the relapses and is something i am looking forward to beginning.

when i first found out i had MS it made me feel like i had to put my life on standstill and made me think that i wouldnt have much of a life as my illness would take over, but i have come to realise that is infact not the case, i can still live my life as i was before and still have a smile on my face! i am moving forward and trying to stay positive, i am going on holiday with my sister and some friends in june and am planning on moving in with my boyfriend come july which are things that i thought i would never be able to do.

all i want to say to you all is to stay positive and keep smiling, somedays it is hard and you will always have the odd few days where you feel like its going all wrong but you can still pick yourself back up again and just have fun :)

thanks again to all reading my blog i really do appreciate it, i will write again after the 13th to let you all know how im getting on :)

still smiling in all my photos thanks to a great family and a great boyfriend :)

first post

im not usually one to start blogs as i can never think of anything to write, but just lately i have been wanting to blog more and more and as i have had a lot go on with me over these last few months i would like to make a blog, not only to share what has been going on but to also raise awareness and contact people who are going through the same as me or just to speak to new people. what better way to do that then to start a blog.

i have just recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (an illness that attacks the nervous system) i am yet to fully understand what will happen to me as MS is a very unpredictable illness and it affects people differently. i have relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis which is the most common form of the illness.

now at 21 years of age i never expected something like this to happen to me and i still have not let it properly sink in.
it all started back in july/august time, i was suffering with numbness and tingling in my feet which was uncomfortable but was something i put down to bad circulation.
i was in a car accident in august and about a week after it happened, i started getting tingling in my right hand and lost feeling in two of my fingers, i went to the doctors and believed it was down to nerve damage from the car accident, i was given a months prescription of naproxin which helped clear it up. i was okay for the best part of a month until i started having problems with my right eye, my vision was getting blurred and everything looked grey i was worried as i had read on the internet that it could be MS, but me being a drama queen both me and my parents put it down to over usage of my contact lenses.
gradually my eye started getting worse and after just 3 days i could not see anything out of it there was just a black smudge, i phoned around opticians believing still it was my contact lenses but after explaining what was wrong the opticians suggested i go to A+E, it was then i started to worry.
what was wrong?
did i have a tumor? was the internet right and i actually had multiple sclerosis?

after speaking to a consultant at my local hospital in redditch she suggested i go straight to kidderminster as they have an eye clinic. my mom drove me to kidderminster. after having a meeting with the consultant he suggested i have an MRI scan, having never had an MRI scan before i felt terrified i didnt know what else to do but to burst in to tears, i didnt want to show weakness but was so unsure of what was happening to me and was just full of fear.

the scan wasnt as bad as i expected it to be but it was just a waiting game to find out what was wrong with me, i had to wait an hour plus for the results, the doctor explained i had a condition called optic neuritis which in non fancy terms is inflammation of the optic nerve, i knew that optic neuritis was a condition related to MS but as an eye doctor the consultant was not able to tell me anyhting more so he referred me to a member of the neurology department in worcester.

i waited around 2-3 weeks for my appointment to come through for worcester, i was having regular check ups with the eye doctor in redditch hospital, my eye was improving but at a very slow rate and due to the inflammation in the optic nerve i was suffering from really bad headaches that were making me feel sick.

on the 30th october 2012, i had my consultation at worcester and was feeling very nervous, i had already made myself believe i had MS due to having so many of the symptoms but was told to think positively, my mom told me that it was very unusual for people the be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after just one attack so believed it would be a long waiting game, when at the hospital i was asked to explain all my symptoms to the consultant, he showed me my brain scan which revealed a lot of lesions on my brain, he diagnosed me with multiple sclerosis.
i was in shock.

i didnt really take in much after that as i was too shell shocked, it was confirmed but it just wasnt right, i didnt want to hear that i had this illness. my nan was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and unfortunately for her it shut down her whole nervous system very quickly, she passed away due to the fact her body was so weak she found it difficult to carry on fighting, i had only known my nan to have this illness and seeing how it had attacked her i dont want the same to happen to me.

i am now waiting to hear off the queen elizabeth hospital regarding treatments, i have found a very useful website www.mssociety.org.uk which has helped me find out so much information from a good diet to good exercises, i urge anyone who is suffering from MS or has a family member who is please look at this site it will really help you as it is crammed full of information.

i really thank everyone who has taken the time to read my blog as it has taken a lot for me to write it, i am still under an attack at the minute which is making me suffer from very bad fatigue but i still get up and go to work everyday and carry on with my life, with a smile on my face. somedays i find it hard but with the great support of my family and work friends it has made it easier for me.

i have not written this blog post for people to feel sorry for me because that is not what i want, i just want to raise awareness for this illness and help give people a better understanding.

thank you :) xx