Week 22

My last blog came across as mildly melancholic. I do apologise. I suppose I shouldn'tbe listening to Nirvana or Lana Del Ray when I'm writing. Oh well.

Don't worry, MS hasn't managed to get inside my head. Depression is a very common symptom of MS, and that is one battle I fight every day. And every day I win that battle and I'll continue to win that battle every day.

My walking is slowly improving - I'm not thinking about the London Marathon just yet. Maybe next year, but don't hold me to that. This is more than likely because I've got my exercise regime down to a tee. At first they were making me quite rough, but now I'm feeling the benefit. I had a week where I did them, regardless of how bad I was the next day. I spent 3 days where my body was ruined because of the exercising, but I've come through the other end feeling the benefit now.

Also my driving has improved. Yeah, yeah, I know, you're thinking that I'm talking rubbish because I wrote my car off before Christmas. Well let me tell you the accident was the other driver's fault, and if it hadn't been, it wouldn't have been my fault either because I've got MS!

The car(s) that I drive have been adapted. They have the 'push and pull' hand controls fitted, so that when my legs are tired and 'drop foot' kicks in (oh, the irony), I can take them away from the pedals and drive with my hands. I've been driving like this for a few years now and before I was hospitalised in June, I could drive between half a mile to five before I'd start going back and forth using the hand controls as well as the foot pedals. The last month or so, I've been driving to Chelmsford using only the foot pedals. Now that is a 25 mile journey from Southend. Is the Gilenya helping me? I dunno.

The thing is though, as my body is slowly deteriorating, my ability to do things becomes less and less, but some things have improved. My fatigue, my bladder, my bowels and now my ability to control my car with the pedals. I'm wondering if the less the fatigue, the less the drop foot - thus making me to drive the car 'normally' for longer? We all know that fatigue affects us physically so, maybe, just maybe the Gilenya is helping me as well as the exercises.

If I were a scientist, I would stop the exercises and see if it is the medication, or vice-versa if I were a physiotherapist, but I'm neither, so I won't, so you're out of luck. Sorry.

Have a good weekend, people.

Dan