Monday, May 31, 2010

Beginning of a Liberated Summer

It is now the unofficial beginning of summer. Mind you the weather feels like it is already July. Since my CCSVI Liberation Treatment, summer will hold a whole new meaning. I spent quite a bit of time out in the sun and heat yesterday and realized that the heat was not having an ill affect on me. I could do yard work and enjoy the outside without feeling drained, with a headache, and having to go inside, out of the heat. A Word to the Wise..... With all this new energy and stamina, be careful not to over do it. Friday, we decided to clean our small pond and get rid of the algae that had taken over. Feeling like super woman, I was standing in the bottom of the pond lifting heavy rocks, using muscles that I have not used to this degree in along time, and standing in an unnatural posture. So Saturday my body decided to remind me that I am not in the best of shape. CCSVI had given me back a wonderful quality of life, now I have to work on getting my body back in shape to go with the new blood flow.
I have found over the past 3 weeks that my memory is better and my thinking as I speak is clearer. I still see improvement in my daily activities. You don't realize what you have been missing until you find it again. It's like pulling an old coat out of the closet and finding money in the pocket. Some days it is a couple of coins, and other days it may be a 20 dollar bill.
I hope this feeling never ends.............

Sunday, May 16, 2010

CCSVI and Spreading the Word

It has been awhile since I posted anything, and this is one of those times when "No News is Good News". Last Monday I saw Dr. Bonn and had my one month post CCSVI Liberation Treatment appointment. I also had an ultrasound to see how my veins were behaving. I am happy to report that everything is doing well. I have seen improvement in my daily activities, and my energy level is high. My husband informs me that I do not snore at all anymore, and that he checks to see if I am still breathing since it is so quiet. My liberation is allowing him to sleep better.
Being liberated gives us back so much of our quality of life, but it does not stop with just the patient. It also gives the people around us back their quality of life. Michael being able to sleep better is just a small example of that. I am also able to resume some of the responsibilities that I found to be too exhausting to do before. Simple things around the house like vacuuming, washing floors, and carrying the laundry upstairs. This gives back some time to those that have had to do it for the past few years.

On to Spreading the Word.. I still find that there are so many people that I come in contact with that have never heard about CCSVI. But Everyone knows someone with MS. Last night we were at dinner with friends from my husband's high school and the subject of my Liberation became topic of conversation. It is so important to emphasize that looking local for an Interventional Radiologist is the way to go. I feel that there are many IR's that would be interested in doing this work and that we just have to contact them. It is not just through the internet, that the word is spreading, but also by just word of mouth. I talked to a couple in Delaware last week and they knew someone who know someone that was an IR. My response was to make the calls. Go to the www.sirweb.org site and look up who is in your area.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Weekend Update MS 5K Walk

It was an incredible weekend. I had lots of energy and was up early Saturday to get things planted in the yard, before the heat rose to it's predicted 90 degrees. By 9am the planting was done and it was off to the grocery store to get things for dinner. We had the pleasure of having another MS patient, still waiting to be Liberated and her husband for the evening. It was wonderful to share my experience with the CCSVI procedure and how I am feeling since the procedure. The heat of the day kept us inside, until it was dinner time and the heat was not as extreme. Then we were able to be outside in the cooler evening air. I would say that the heat still effects me, but it is difficult to be sure, since everyone was having problems with the extreme heat too hot, too soon. No one is ready for it the first of May...

It was very easy to have a full day of activity, and still have energy at the end of the day. That's right, we also uncovered the pool and opened that up for the season. Of course we did have the assistance of our almost 6 year old grandson.....

Sunday Morning started with a very early drive to Ocean City, New Jersey to meet up with two other liberated women and one almost liberated woman. This was a chance for FB friends to become face to face friends, and do some walking..... Actually we walked the 5K MS walk together. We all made it to the end of the boardwalk and back.. It was also a good chance for us to talk about the different results that each of us is experiencing since being liberated. Talking with Denise and Nasha, we could express our feelings and we knew exactly what the other person was going through. It was our own little support group. Each morning I wake up afraid that the veins have closed again and that I will be back to where I was. I found that I was not alone with these fears but we all agreed that time would tell. I look forward to my next Ultrasound to verify that things are still as good as I think they are.

After the walk I still had energy. The drive home was relaxing, even in all the Sunday afternoon traffic. I was tired at the end of the weekend, but not Fatigued, just tired from having a very full, busy weekend, and being out in the sun........