Bumpy start to 2020

How are we already at the end of February?? It was New Year a minute ago??

2020 started with a bit of an uphill scramble for me

Initially, my eyes were still giving me trouble but my second ophthalmologist appointment showed nothing once again. He told me that there is nothing wrong with my eyes. A relief to not have another thing to add to the list but at the same time puzzling nonetheless. His suspicion is optic neuritis, MS-related, but showing up in an unusual, non-typical way. I’m pleased to say that shortly after the appointment I suddenly got much better. It just kind of lifted and I am almost completely back to normal.

Great, I thought but my head was already somewhere else

I came down with my usual winter cough, a regular feature now. Nothing unusual there. But then I suddenly felt all tingly on my left side, along with nerve pain and altered temperature sensations that make touching cold things feel hot instead, and painful. When symptoms pile up like this, it’s hard to stay clear-headed. Thoughts come rushing and it’s hard to stop thinking about the catastrophe that a patient with MS lives with: Could this be another relapse especially because of all my vision problems?

Then the questions and doubts pile in, is my treatment no longer working? Did I cause myself too much stress lately? Did I eat the wrong stuff? Should I have tried harder, been stricter with my meditation and exercise?

I was about to ring my MS nurse before I took a step back. The first thing she’d want to know is if I was well otherwise. And well, of course, I wasn’t! Once I realised that I’m probably just having a flare because of that annoying cold, I calmed down and decided to give myself some time to recover and see how I got on.

It took another three weeks, tonsillitis thrown in, to get better. Wouldn’t be another month without another dose of antibiotics, eh? It’s almost funny, almost. But better I did get.

Just in time for Noodle’s birthday weekend and the half-term holidays just gone.

Phew!! My flare is mostly gone and I am thoroughly looking forward to Spring and getting back to normal. I need some sun on my face, some warmth in my bones and, after a serious dry-spell, I need to dust off my camera!!

Well, I hope you’ve had a better start to the year and I leave you with some phone pics from our recent adventures to Bristol and Bath. Onwards and upwards!