The First Treatment

Well, we made it through Turkey-day without a hitch. I was a little tired the day after Thanksgiving, so I just sat and edited photos all day to catch up on my energy. It was great to have both kids home for the holiday, although I use the word "kids" loosely since they are actually both adults. Today I will take Britt back to school and try to mentally prepare for tomorrow.

Tomorrow begins my first treatment of IV Solumedrol (steroids). My new Neuro feels that I have enough residual effects going on in my body from the enhanced lesions to justify at least a good effort at putting them into remission. I totally agree. It may not help, but then again, I may feel almost brand new after the side effects of the actual treatment are gone.

An in-home healthcare nurse will come to my house for the next three days to administer the IV medicine. They will put in an IV port and leave it there for three days. I hope they are able to put it in a location which least affects my mobility. When I was in the hospital, they put it on top of my right hand. That wasn't a great spot for a right-handed person. Of course, as my husband would say "What makes you think it is about you?" LOL, he is so right. It is not their job to consider my inconvenience. It is their job to get it done!

There is a huge list of possible side effects from the IV Solumedrol, hopefully most of them are temporary. I'm a little freaked out by the unknown aspect of the treatment. The needle thing is no big deal at all. I have no fear of needles, of blood work etc. My fear is of the medicine itself and the effects it will have on me.

I had to take oral steroids in 2000 for a horrendous case of poison ivy and they were no fun at all. They totally altered my personality and led to tremors in my legs that warranted them being discontinued. The Neuro says that sometimes IV steroids have a very different effect from oral steroids. I can expect my heart to race, sleeplessness, weird taste in my mouth, a lot of trips to the bathroom, drippy eyes and the list goes on and on. Maybe I will be lucky and the side effects will be minimal. A girl can dream can't she?

I am a high energy person, thus far, even with MS. For those of you who know me...can you even imagine ME on steroids? It should be interesting to say the least! As if I don't talk fast enough already...

Keep me in your thoughts over the next few days as I take a new road on this journey that I was forced to travel.