The big house move is now complete and it’s amazing. We’re out in the country in our own wee patch of paradise and I swear the new atmosphere is a tonic for my mood.
Every day I race home from work – inside the speed limit of course – and an impulsive smile crosses my face as I pull into our drive – especially if my husband is there before me! It’s a whole new era for us as a couple and a complete lifestyle change too. And I never thought a house could become a home so quickly.
We have all our photos up, the painter is in giving the rooms a fresh lick of paint and we’ve had a constant stream of guests up to see us settled. I love having my family and friends around me and the new house is simply made for entertaining.
That said, I have this tendency to go at a project full pelt and not stop until everything is exactly how I want it but that was the old me, pre-MS, and the new me, with-MS, needs to slow down – mainly because my feet are feeling the pinch. But I’m learning more about my limitations every day and forcing myself to curl up in our new conservatory looking out across the hills isn’t exactly a hardship!
Monday, 2 August 2010
Friday, 16 July 2010
Time for celebration
This wonderful city in which I have the huge privilege of calling home has been named as the first ever UK City of Culture - and it's a title I feel we, as locals, richly deserve. Derry is steeped in culture - artists, writers, actors, singers, poets are in abundance - and with our past history seemingly overshadowing everything that is good about us lifting this title is a momentous day in which we can now move forward with a renewed sense of hope and expectation.
If you're still doubting our greatness then this fantastic video showcasing the city will surely make up your mind - and maybe encourage you to come and visit - if not in 2013 then sometime in the future. I guarantee you will be taken aback by the welcome and generosity of everyone who lives here.
If you're still doubting our greatness then this fantastic video showcasing the city will surely make up your mind - and maybe encourage you to come and visit - if not in 2013 then sometime in the future. I guarantee you will be taken aback by the welcome and generosity of everyone who lives here.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Pregnancy and MS
Everyone has this perception that during pregnancy MS symptoms disappear. It was my hope that that would be the case but it hasn’t been my experience so far.For starters, the second I found out I was expecting I had to come straight off my bladder regulating drugs – and it wasn’t something I relished. For a start, they had given me back some semblance of a normal life and I wasn’t delighted at the thought of giving that up – but, the baby comes first and there was no doubting that I had to stop taking them.
So, with the drugs out of my system and the baby playing havoc with my bladder as in most normal pregnancies it was no surprise to find myself frequenting the bathroom more often. For me, going during the day wasn’t the issue, it was losing so much sleep at night. There have been nights when I’ve been up 4-5 times and it has to be said that the lack of uninterrupted sleep definitely contributed to the meltdown I talked about last month. But, that said, I keep thinking it’s nature’s way of letting me know that a full night’s sleep is going to be the exception rather than the norm in the not too distant future!
Aside from the bladder issues my feet haven’t gotten any better either. There is still some residual numbness coupled with a burning sensation and intermittent pins and needles – which I recognise is leftover from my relapse last December – but which I hoped would disappear in some miracle pregnancy side effect. But it was wishful thinking.
However, in recent weeks there is no doubt that I have been feeling better - I have much more energy and there have been nights when I haven’t had to get up at all to go to the bathroom – so it looks as though I’m entering the phase everyone talks about. It’s only taken me 22 weeks to get here!
PS. I’m not one to bore people with baby scan pics but these ones are just too cute not to post – the top one shows our baby face on, it’s blowing bubbles in the second one and in the third it’s showing off its dexterity, holding its feet with its hands! Cannot quite believe we’re going to be parents soon - cannot wait!
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Coming out the other side
Two Fridays ago I had what can only be described as a meltdown.
Maybe it was the un-inspiring consultant appointment that did it, or perhaps the simple fact that I was trying to squeeze too much in (again) but basically I fell into a black hole for a few hours and it wasn’t pleasant.
It all came off the back of a pretty intense week at work when the entire city was waiting on the historical release of the Saville Report which investigated the tragic events of Bloody Sunday in Derry some 38 years ago. When it happened, it was an emotional day, and we were all flat out trying to get all angles covered for a special edition of the paper.
As a part-timer I flipped my hours and did a late evening shift rather than start first thing and work flat-out for 13 hours straight like the rest of my colleagues - a move I thought wouldn’t impact on my fatigue levels too much - how wrong can you be!
That late finish, followed by an early start and then another long day when I barely lifted my head, finally hit me - hard. I woke on Friday morning completely zonked out, with not an ounce of energy left in reserve. And, blame it on the pregnancy hormones, but I just crumpled.
And I cried. Not just a few tears but a breath-taking sob-fest that ended with me hurled into my husbands arms blubbing about the injustice of having MS.
And I hated myself for doing it. There is no good that can come from self-pity, it just makes you feel worse than you did before. But, in my defence, once I was done crying, I was done crying. So, while I was berating myself for being so self-indulgent at the time, in retrospect I recognise that these moments are part and parcel of living with MS.
It’s not an easy illness to have. It’s a chronic one. And as such I’m not supposed to, or expected to be, happy-go-lucky all the time. That realisation is one I’m glad to have finally hit upon because pretending to be something you’re not all the time isn’t healthy either.
Maybe it was the un-inspiring consultant appointment that did it, or perhaps the simple fact that I was trying to squeeze too much in (again) but basically I fell into a black hole for a few hours and it wasn’t pleasant.
It all came off the back of a pretty intense week at work when the entire city was waiting on the historical release of the Saville Report which investigated the tragic events of Bloody Sunday in Derry some 38 years ago. When it happened, it was an emotional day, and we were all flat out trying to get all angles covered for a special edition of the paper.
As a part-timer I flipped my hours and did a late evening shift rather than start first thing and work flat-out for 13 hours straight like the rest of my colleagues - a move I thought wouldn’t impact on my fatigue levels too much - how wrong can you be!
That late finish, followed by an early start and then another long day when I barely lifted my head, finally hit me - hard. I woke on Friday morning completely zonked out, with not an ounce of energy left in reserve. And, blame it on the pregnancy hormones, but I just crumpled.
And I cried. Not just a few tears but a breath-taking sob-fest that ended with me hurled into my husbands arms blubbing about the injustice of having MS.
And I hated myself for doing it. There is no good that can come from self-pity, it just makes you feel worse than you did before. But, in my defence, once I was done crying, I was done crying. So, while I was berating myself for being so self-indulgent at the time, in retrospect I recognise that these moments are part and parcel of living with MS.
It’s not an easy illness to have. It’s a chronic one. And as such I’m not supposed to, or expected to be, happy-go-lucky all the time. That realisation is one I’m glad to have finally hit upon because pretending to be something you’re not all the time isn’t healthy either.
Monday, 21 June 2010
To drug or not to drug
It was back to the hospital last week for an appontment with my MS specialist. Technically though he might as well not even have bothered seeing me.
Firstly, I mostly spoke to the MS nurse. She is fantastic and asked me lots of questions that I gave honest answers to. And to her credit, she made lots of notes as I spoke. In short, I told her that since my relapse at Christmas I have been relatively well. There is some residual pain left in my feet, and that varies from hour to hour, never mind day to day, but generally I’ve been ‘grand’ - as we say here in Derry!
J and I also got the chance to ask her about the drugs again, and express our wish that I remain on the waiting list while pregnant. There is currently a three month waiting list for drugs so I want to be right at the top of that list as soon as I choose to start the treatment.
That’s something else we will have to talk frankly about. I’m not sure I want to give birth and start injecting myself with drugs straight away when I have no idea what sort of reaction they will have on me. Ideally, I will give myself a few months to settle into a routine, get myself acquainted with being a mum (eek!) and then think about moving forward with treatment.
There is also a very real chance that I have a relapse straight after the birth. This is not true for every mother with MS but I have been told very succintly that there is a higher risk. So, it’s very much a wait and see process.
Additionally, I have an ideal senario in my head in that we will add to our family quite soon after our first baby arrives. I’m not talking a few months later but maybe ten or twelve months later - my idea being that we ‘get it over and done with’ - which sounds very clinical but I’ve always been a practical type and I figure that once you get into the way of changing nappies and making up bottles you might as well keep going!
Anyway, the crux of the conversation is that both the nurse, and the specialist (once he deemed me important enough to talk to) say that I should really give myself at least twelve months on the DMD’s for them to have any worthwhile effect so it’s looking as though we have another choice ahead.
The first option is to have baby one, stay off the drugs and take what’s coming on the chin (which may of course be absolutely nothing) and then proceed to have baby two pretty soon - as I outlined above.
Option two is to have baby one, give myself a few months breather, take the drugs for at least a year, giving them a chance to have some impact, then come off them for the required three months before we try and conceive baby two.
At the minute I’m concentrating on staying as well as I can throughout my pregnancy and with my husband being the ever constant voice of wisdom in my life, he has made a very sensible suggestion that we have baby one and then make a more informed decision once it’s here safe and sound - he’s never been one for looking too far ahead and at this juncture I think his wait and see approach is one I’m going to take.
Before I sign off, I should go back to the specialist - he really was with me for all of 2 minutes and my husband and I both felt that his demeanour gave us the impression that each of his seconds was very precious and could we please just hurry up and let him get back to his job.
I understand that the NHS is at breaking point, and that he probably did have a massive case load to get through that day, but I am a human being, not a number. It would be nice if he could remember that sometimes.
Firstly, I mostly spoke to the MS nurse. She is fantastic and asked me lots of questions that I gave honest answers to. And to her credit, she made lots of notes as I spoke. In short, I told her that since my relapse at Christmas I have been relatively well. There is some residual pain left in my feet, and that varies from hour to hour, never mind day to day, but generally I’ve been ‘grand’ - as we say here in Derry!
J and I also got the chance to ask her about the drugs again, and express our wish that I remain on the waiting list while pregnant. There is currently a three month waiting list for drugs so I want to be right at the top of that list as soon as I choose to start the treatment.
That’s something else we will have to talk frankly about. I’m not sure I want to give birth and start injecting myself with drugs straight away when I have no idea what sort of reaction they will have on me. Ideally, I will give myself a few months to settle into a routine, get myself acquainted with being a mum (eek!) and then think about moving forward with treatment.
There is also a very real chance that I have a relapse straight after the birth. This is not true for every mother with MS but I have been told very succintly that there is a higher risk. So, it’s very much a wait and see process.
Additionally, I have an ideal senario in my head in that we will add to our family quite soon after our first baby arrives. I’m not talking a few months later but maybe ten or twelve months later - my idea being that we ‘get it over and done with’ - which sounds very clinical but I’ve always been a practical type and I figure that once you get into the way of changing nappies and making up bottles you might as well keep going!
Anyway, the crux of the conversation is that both the nurse, and the specialist (once he deemed me important enough to talk to) say that I should really give myself at least twelve months on the DMD’s for them to have any worthwhile effect so it’s looking as though we have another choice ahead.
The first option is to have baby one, stay off the drugs and take what’s coming on the chin (which may of course be absolutely nothing) and then proceed to have baby two pretty soon - as I outlined above.
Option two is to have baby one, give myself a few months breather, take the drugs for at least a year, giving them a chance to have some impact, then come off them for the required three months before we try and conceive baby two.
At the minute I’m concentrating on staying as well as I can throughout my pregnancy and with my husband being the ever constant voice of wisdom in my life, he has made a very sensible suggestion that we have baby one and then make a more informed decision once it’s here safe and sound - he’s never been one for looking too far ahead and at this juncture I think his wait and see approach is one I’m going to take.
Before I sign off, I should go back to the specialist - he really was with me for all of 2 minutes and my husband and I both felt that his demeanour gave us the impression that each of his seconds was very precious and could we please just hurry up and let him get back to his job.
I understand that the NHS is at breaking point, and that he probably did have a massive case load to get through that day, but I am a human being, not a number. It would be nice if he could remember that sometimes.
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Baby, baby
Way back in January I blogged about the dilemma my husband and I faced as regards having a family - the crux of the matter was, I either went on the MS drugs or we started to have a family. At the time it seemed like a huge decision - on one hand I wanted to focus on getting myself better while on the other I knew we both wanted children.
Well, I’m pleased to report that the decision has well and truly been made .... I’m 17 weeks pregnant and it’s all going great!
I have suffered horribly from tiredness and morning sickness (that lasted all day!) but in the last two weeks that has started to get easier - now we’re just really excited about welcoming our baby to the world in November.
We always said that 2010 was going to be our year - and with our wedding and a baby on the way already it’s certainly looking as though that’s going to be the case.
Well, I’m pleased to report that the decision has well and truly been made .... I’m 17 weeks pregnant and it’s all going great!
I have suffered horribly from tiredness and morning sickness (that lasted all day!) but in the last two weeks that has started to get easier - now we’re just really excited about welcoming our baby to the world in November.
We always said that 2010 was going to be our year - and with our wedding and a baby on the way already it’s certainly looking as though that’s going to be the case.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
It's not always about me
Getting frustrated about things I cannot change is something I usually don’t indulge in. I’ve always had the attitude that what’s done is done so you’re better to face it head on than stress about the stuff you can’t fix.
My approach to my MS diagnosis has pretty much followed this path and it has stood me in good stead so far.
However, there is one aspect about having MS that frustrates greatly - and it’s something I will never be able to change. And that’s the impact my illness has on those around me.
This hit me hardest when first diagnosed. While I was striding forward, convincing everyone in my wake that this really wasn’t the worst thing to happen, I watched my husband and parents struggle to come to terms with it all.
Looking at things from their perspective I would probably be the same. After all, when someone you love is hurt, whether that be a cut on the knee or a life changing diagnosis, you want to kiss it better.
But they must look at me and I think, ‘What can I do to help?’.
In truth, despite not having a magic wand to make me better overnight, they have helped massively, in all sorts of ways.
My mum helps with practical stuff like the ironing and she has this unbelievable gift of coming into my home like a whirlwind and somehow leaving 60 minutes later with a clean house left in her wake - genius!
My dad just keeps the jokes coming ... and then, every so often, we have a heart to heart where I get to off-load lots of stuff I’ve been thinking and/or feeling and I feel miles better.
And then there’s my darling husband who worries like mad and takes the brunt of any mad mood I may indulge in. He has held me tight while I’ve sobbed (which I might add happens so rarely I think he’s sort of glad I’m actually having a cry so I’m not trying to be superwoman all the time!) and told me very patiently that no matter what the road ahead brings, we will face it together.
My approach to my MS diagnosis has pretty much followed this path and it has stood me in good stead so far.
However, there is one aspect about having MS that frustrates greatly - and it’s something I will never be able to change. And that’s the impact my illness has on those around me.
This hit me hardest when first diagnosed. While I was striding forward, convincing everyone in my wake that this really wasn’t the worst thing to happen, I watched my husband and parents struggle to come to terms with it all.
Looking at things from their perspective I would probably be the same. After all, when someone you love is hurt, whether that be a cut on the knee or a life changing diagnosis, you want to kiss it better.
But they must look at me and I think, ‘What can I do to help?’.
In truth, despite not having a magic wand to make me better overnight, they have helped massively, in all sorts of ways.
My mum helps with practical stuff like the ironing and she has this unbelievable gift of coming into my home like a whirlwind and somehow leaving 60 minutes later with a clean house left in her wake - genius!
My dad just keeps the jokes coming ... and then, every so often, we have a heart to heart where I get to off-load lots of stuff I’ve been thinking and/or feeling and I feel miles better.
And then there’s my darling husband who worries like mad and takes the brunt of any mad mood I may indulge in. He has held me tight while I’ve sobbed (which I might add happens so rarely I think he’s sort of glad I’m actually having a cry so I’m not trying to be superwoman all the time!) and told me very patiently that no matter what the road ahead brings, we will face it together.
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