no jinxing!!

as most of you know, i've been going through a relapse that was spearheaded by a nasty flare of my TN (trigeminal neuralgia). i was immediately hooked up to the juice, and the high powered steroids were flowing through my veins. meanwhile, i was praying this would work- hell, i would even have settled for "taking the edge off."

i've been bursting with the good news to share with you guys, but i've been hesitant in case my bragging would be a huge jinx. so i held my breath, and waited... friday, ...saturday, ...sunday, and monday. now today. THE STEROIDS WORKED! (for once) my TN is down to a pain level 3 out of 10- something that hasn't occurred in months. now i can have mature, adult conversations without wanting to throttle the person smacking her jaws in front of me! but i do have 1 request- everyone reading this posting must IMMEDIATELY stop what you are doing and knock HARD on the closest piece of wood you can find. if i wake up to my face throbbing and the size of a pumpkin, you will be blamed for jinxing my TN triumph. (remember, i know where you live!)


did you do it? (and no, julie, hitting "one of your designers" up side the head doesn't count!) i'm not writing another word until i hear some knocking people!!!

whew! i'm breathless from the excitement! but now i'm going to bring it down a level, because i have to vent about the searing, humid, sweat-dripping, sizzling, disgusting heat that has started a reign of terror in october. if i didn't have a PA driver's license i would swear i'm back in high point, north carolina. and have i mentioned it is october? there are 2 things that lead to the downfall of a person with MS- one is stress, the other is heat.

side note- back in the day, before neurologists had legit medical instruments and fancy MRI machines, they confirmed MS diagnosis by the "hot bath test." i know, i know, it sounds like a total quack job, but it's true- they would immerse a suspected patient in a steaming hot tub of water, and observe the appearance of neurological symptoms, or their worsening,as evidence that the person did have MS.

the short version answer as to why heat is so bad for ms patients is that nerves have a harder time conducting messages at higher temperatures. in my case, i already have faulty, jacked up nerves, so this means my nerves will have 2 or 3 times harder of a time conducting messages if it's hot outside. it's like a casting call for all of my symptoms to come to the surface- i get weak, dizzy, ac achey, numb, nauseous, confused, exhausted. and it's not just 80 degree weather that is to blame- anything that increases your body temperature, be it hot showers/baths, strenuous exercise, hot tubs, contracting an illness, even getting emotional. your doctor's rule of thumb will always be to avoid such situations as much as possible- sunbathing and hot tubs should be out of the question!! (there are those lucky bastards that are not affected by heat, and we hate them.)

so that's my sharing of good news today- no facial pain! but if it's one thing, it's another. so now i am dealing with this lovely humid heat that has been seeping into my body, settling around my bones like sand, and keeping me from movement. in fact, this morning was so difficult that i was tempted to strip down to my underwear in the kitchen, so i stuck my head in the freezer instead. i will leave you with that memory. good night!