October 30, 2008

Into the Cage I Go

No, my name is not really Grace.  See, I am one of the klutziest people you will ever meet.  Now there are the klutzes who trip a lot, then there's me.  When I lose my footing, I will generally perform what I can only describe as Olympic-standard tumbling.  After I complete a fancy, complicated routine, after determining I haven't broken any bones and am not bleeding profusely, I will hop up, curtsy and announce, "Just Call Me Grace!"

I like reading blogs and am constantly amazed at how witty, moving and clever people are.  I always considered myself to be about as creative as a coat hanger - still do, really.  But I am getting ready to start something I think is pretty big.  In January I enter a drug study for an oral therapy to treat Multiple Sclerosis.

Having been diagnosed since 1998, I am painfully familiar with the ins and outs of this nasty thing.  The only treatments available right now involve needles.  Weekly injections, every other day injections, daily injections or monthly infusions.  I can't think of anyone other than an insulin-dependent diabetic who can relate to the sheer BOREDOM of self-injecting.  It just gets old, it really does.

A pill to treat MS has been a fantasy of mine - and so many others - for a long time.  So, I whole-heartedly agreed to join the ranks of other lab rats.  This is my journal of the events. Please come with me on this journey.