Round up

I’ve been meaning to do this since the beginning of January, write a post which summarises the last year for me. A year that has been so hard yet also so wonderfully good!

It all started in January 2007, the 6^th to be precise, when I met B for the first time in person for lunch in a pub. I talked the whole time and I think he only spoke to ask me what I wanted to drink!

So things went from there, we met for dinner and then again for lunch and we carried on. At the end of January I got a strange feeling in my right hand, my little finger and finger next to it were feeling slightly numb. I put this down to having driven a strange vehicle the weekend before. After that the numbness moved to my feet and lower legs and gradually moved on up. To begin with it wasn’t bad. I could feel almost normally, then one morning after a hard couple of shifts I woke up with much less feeling all the way from my feet to my bum and poor balance.

I thought back to two periods of numbness to the left side of my torso which included an episode of a very strange sensation down my spine. I had decided that week that I was not safe doing my job as an ambulance technician and therefore made a Drs appointment. I was thinking referral to an osteopath/chiropractor for my back but no referral to a neurologist.

The wait for an appointment on the NHS was too long so my very kind parents paid for me to get one privately. Around a month later I was sat in a very nice room at the Capio hospital in Reading with a nice lade Neurologist. She did lots and lots of little tests and said that the problem I had developed with my right eye was also related to what was going on. She said that they had to bear in mind Multiple Sclerosis and cancer but that it may be an isolated incident of inflammation and was going to send me for an MRI. To be honest I went away from that appointment unconvinced and still assuming they would find a problem with my back.

I had a quick look at the MS Society website but decided to leave the research until someone told me what my problem actually was.

In the intervening time I had a few different symptoms including optic neuritis and the involvement of my left arm. I then had my MRI on the 16^th May 2007. My neuro had kindly rung before hand to let me know that she was in x-ray the next evening so would look up my results and give me a ring. She did and said that there was inflammation on my scan and that she would like to see me on the Monday (21^st) around 10am but that her schedule was full so couldn’t say exactly when I would be seen.

So at 10am on Monday the 21^st May 2007 I was seen and told that I have MS. I held it together for the majority of the appointment but Mum was there (as she was at all my appointments) so took some of it in as well. Mum had to ring B and tell him because every time I thought about telling him I burst into tears! I went to work for a few hours the next couple of days but in the end I decided that I felt terrible (probably because of the steroids) and I would take the last two days off.

I had an appointment with the MS specialist and had VEP/SEP tests done. I also saw my MS Nurse very quickly and was on DMDs by the middle of August. Looks like West Berkshire does a reasonable job!

Throughout all of this B was there for me. I gave him the opportunity to get out of the relationship on the day I was diagnosed but he said no. He had told me he loved me the month or so before; I had said it back some time after. Having never said I love you to a boyfriend before it was a bit of a scary and unknown quantity! His view was that you never know what is ahead and lets just get on with things!

Since then things got better, I went back to work at the end of July and apart from a bit of tingling in my feet and legs when they got too hot I was back to normal. Unfortunately a month later I started relapsing again. It involved my torso and left eye initially. I had a week off when the optic neuritis was at its worst but other than that I just about managed to work. On the 17^th December the relapse took hold of my legs properly and I had a mini-melt down at work before having to go onto light duties again. Over the next couple of days my hands started to go numb and I started getting slight pains in my right hand during the night and when typing. Nothing horrendous.

I am still off the road, although a lot better. I have worked full time throughout and have managed to have a life outside of work, which I haven’t really had since going back on the road.

B and I got engaged on the 5^th January 2008 and we are in the process of moving house. He doesn’t seem at all phased by any of what has happened over the last year or so and says he loves me more and more.

So as I said at the beginning of this post, it’s been a horrible year it really has but I wouldn’t go back. I’ll take B and the MS rather than not having either. May sound strange but that’s how I feel!

That's a terrible summary but it would go on forever.......

The reincarceration of Plum....

..... as I am sure she sees it! When I got home from work yesterday non of the chocolate drops had been eaten from around the living room. I started to worry that maybe she was upsatairs between the floorboards as B thought. B had been woken up the night before by scratching around under the floor boards in the spare room (where he was sleeping due to the loud snoring..) and had checked downstairs and heard noise above him. I was hoping that because all the chocolate drops had been eaten that night she was downstairs, but no, whilst cooking dinner we heard her above us.

My heart sank, this would involve taking the carpet up and some of the floor boards up.... Bearing in mind we have just sold this house B went up and took up the carpet and then two of the floor boards (which didn't want to come up..). I had said that there was no way I could leave her there knowing she was there and as such it had to be done.

So as B was contemplating how to get the third floor board up Plum appeared and decided she wanted to get up out of the narrow gap she was in, over the joist and back into the larger gap on the other side. B was right there and grabbed her! We got her back safe and sound, if a bit dusty!

How she managed to get up there I don't know. B thinks she either went up the hole for the waste pipes or the heating pipes. Little madam........ won't forget to put the weight on top of her cage again..! Oh and I did cry when I got her back!

As for the new owners, if you are reading this, the floor boards were cut around the radiator anyway so have gone back as they were and the carpet was just tucked under the skirting board so has also gone back fine, all is well!

The Great Escape......

..... of Plum .......

We got home from our weekend away to find Plum had escaped. It could be interesting getting her back...... I know she is around because she ate all of the chocolate drops I left lying around last night. She will be fat......

Catch up

Wow, how things move on. I don’t seem to have stopped for ever……. After B proposed we started looking at venues and getting round to telling everybody and then actually went to view a load of venues. We chose Newbury Manor Hotel, Newbury (doh) for a date in May 09, all booked and deposit paid. As soon as that was done I told everyone where it was and showed then the info and mentioned the no kids thing…. This bit went down better than expected but I can tell that my Nan wasn’t impressed. I think she was also disappointed that we are having a Civil Ceremony and not a Church one. Still people on the whole seem happy enough. I’ve had a few interesting conversations with my Mum about the guest list but we have come to an agreement, they pay for the wedding and they get to invite a few extra people. I thought that was a reasonable deal!! (Mum if you are reading this we are planning on adding money to the pot, promise!).

So after all that and the panic associated with having to wait until the next day to book it with the Wedding Coordinator and possibly losing the date we wanted, we started on the house front.

Mine seems to be coming together. The buyer is approved and all the paperwork should have gone in the post yesterday. I am definitely thinking that the end of March is possible!! Such a relief…….. B’s went on the market on the 31st January, the for sale sign went up on the 6th February and we had several offers by the end of the day on the 8th February. We accepted an offer from a first time buyer and the contract is already signed! We have been looking for the last week and a half or so. We have had several intensive evenings and an intensive weekend and viewed around 20 properties. We eventually walked into a property (that was on the market for 20k more than we could really afford) that we really loved and we put an offer in. It took all day but the offer was accepted at 5k more than we really wanted to spend but it’s a lovely house!

So after all of that I woke up today feeling really quite rotten….. B and I haven’t been in for the evening for a log time (well it feels like that) and I think my body knows it doesn’t have to do anything much today. The relief of getting those two things sorted has been immense; having said that I am assuming it’ll get worse close to completion time.

My MS seems to have behaved itself throughout though! I have the same little niggles and I guess a little more pain in my hand than I had before but nothing has got significantly worse. I count this as a bonus! I think as a result of having a very busy life I have been forgetting my date with a needle occasionally. I forgot Mon a few weeks ago and I forgot Mon this week as well. Still not a big panic as I just took it Tues, Thurs, Sat instead of Mon, Wed, Fri. Any other news for this catch up post? Nope don’t think so, I haven’t heard from Occi Health re my fitness for my job yet so I am still working at HQ.

That’s about it! Oh, feeling better and happier overall (ignoring today) than I have an a long time!!