Double Cell Day

It's Friday so I get more stem cells today. I will get the spinal injection of donated cells plus the IV of my own cells. Speaking of my own cells, the lipo bruising has nearly gone away, but the strange sensations haven't. It's hard to describe, but your side and stomach area feel like they are not part of your body - you can feel pressure but you can't feel touch. Those areas are also very sore on the inside especially when Ivan at PT has you doing Ab's and core work - he doesn't seem to remember you had lipo or just doesn't care - Jillian on TV has transformed these trainers!

My improvements are very small right now, but it's still great to feel like you have made a step forward. Here's another one that you normal folks won't understand - I got up this morning and put my coaching shorts on while standing - haven't been able to do that in at least a year. Because of poor balance and the inability to raise my left leg, I just couldn't stand and put on a pair of shorts. Another positive change is the tingling in my legs has disappeared - at night if I tried to sleep on my side, I would get tingling from my calves to my feet - I have been sleeping on my side here in Panama with no tingle.

I share these small improvements because when I return, you may think "he doesn't look very different." Well that's the ugly and difficult part of this disease - many of the things that it is doing to you no one can really see until it gets to advanced stages. Many people will say to MS sufferers, "well you still look good." What other people don't understand is that what you see is not what it's like. (Remember that saying "You don't get MS until you get MS") Here are some things you wouldn't normally see - can't sleep at night because of tingling, can't use the restroom normally because your bladder doesn't work right, can't put your clothes on normally because of poor balance and coordination, can't walk without thinking hard, can't make it through a day because fatigue jumps on you, can't pick up your leg to get into a car without lifting it with your hand, can't find the right words because of mental cloudiness, and there are others. I don't share these with you for your sympathy, but just to give you an idea of how small, unseen improvements seem big to us with the disease. And to tell you that your kindness and generosity are HUGE to me and lift my spirits daily!