The road to diagnosis
It was a cold, dark February morning and once again, my eye and facial pain were back. The antibiotics my GP gave me the week before did not work at all, and he seemed clueless about what could be wrong with me. I had been on several rounds of antibiotics, I had seen a dentist, went to the Eye & Ear Clinic and I had seen a homoeopath, yet nobody was able to give me a clear answer. The only person somewhat clear on what was wrong with me said that I needed to have my immune and central nervous system checked out. Fast. She was an intuitive healer and turned out to be 100% correct. Go figure. On my way to work that morning, sitting next to a cold…
The sorry state of neurology in Ireland
On Tuesday evening, I received a late invite to join a lobby group of the NAI (Neurological Alliance of Ireland) and the Irish MS Society to protest in- and outside Leinster House, the seat of the Irish government. I was quite happy to do so, because, after being an MS Society spokesperson last year relating to new MS medication being denied to Irish patients, I more than wanted to put my shoulders under a new campaign to highlight the state of neurological services in Ireland.
The road well traveled
It’s always nice when people see positive changes in you, especially when they took a long time to manifest. A famous quote goes that “happiness is a journey, not a destination” and there is definitely some truth in that. Despite a few minor setbacks on a health level, I’ve sailed through my main illness this year without hospital stays or urgent medical care. As I’m writing this blog post I am balancing an ice pack between the back of my head and the couch to numb a headache and eye pain, and aside from a few bouts of major fatigue and nerve pains throughout the year, I am now, I believe, in the best physical state since quitting my job in December 2009. The fatigue, neuropathic pains, forgetfulness and tremors…
Central Nervous System
© Willeke Van Eeckhoutte and Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me, 2011-2012. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
My tired is tired
Yep… right now I am one hell of a great example of how MS can just snap you right back to when you were first diagnosed, hence the large picture stating that very fact. Remember the days where you were just bed-ridden with lots of symptoms not making sense, and pain that kept you up day and night, no matter how tired you were? How so? Well, last week my body was half-fried under the sun in temperatures of 35°C. Microwave temperatures sizzling my body from the outside in, although it felt like I was roasted from the inside out. I still feel like a walking advert for Kentucky Fried Chicken… minus the Kentucky mind you. And the chicken.
A new dawn, a new season
September 1st… There is some security in hearing those words. September 1st reminds me of my first days in school, of the start of autumn and winter, of the coming of Halloween and Christmas, of curling up on the couch under a blanket and with the candles and the open fire lit… There’s something in those last few months of the year that make me long for them all summer long. I am glad the warm or hot summer temperatures are gone again for another 6 months or so, and even though I love summer… the temperatures are my biggest enemy. My reasons for loving autumn and winter have nothing to do with being a negative person, because I am not. Physically, my body cannot take anything more than 17°…