Two Week Check-up

It's been two weeks on study drug, and I had the first of several check-ups required for the first three months. It was also the first time for me to drive myself down there like a big girl. Traffic was exactly as expected and there was only one . . . no, TWO near-accidents. I can proudly report neither one was due to my driving though! Atlanta drivers, for the most part, are just assholes.

Anyway, vitals were fine. I asked to pee in a cup because I've been thinking I could be developing a UTI (love those. not) because I've been hesitating a lot. Well, my bladder hesitates a lot anyway. So the stick did have elevated white cells in it so they sent my deposit off to the lab and will call me in a few days. Meantime, lots of water and cranberry juice. Really? Duh.

The best part was this, and maybe other MSers will understand why this was so exciting. As I was leaving the building I was heading toward an unfamiliar level of the parking deck. I had my head up, looking for my car like a normal person. Unfortunately, I did not see anything notifying me there was a step down off the sidewalk. I hate that because I can't count the number of times I haven't been able to recover from an unexpected change in terrain. I shudder just thinking about it actually.

Anyway, the heel of my right foot caught the edge of the sidewalk, while my toe landed on the deck about 3" below it and guess what? I didn't freak, didn't teeter, didn't stumble, nothing! I just recovered without incident and kept walking! That was a very, very big deal and I'm still grinning!

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.