Moscow Journey -December 14, 2015

     This is what happens when you began to get better. I forget to post in my blog.  So now I just been almost 2 months since I last posted and I continue to improve.  My last post was about vacuuming, mopping, and, ironically, that is my post today.  On the 11th, I again vacuumed and mopped.  That sounds very minimal, but our dining room is about 20 feet long so it takes a lot of energy, and NO it hasn't been two months since I mopped!  I am remarking because I noted that I was extremely sore when I resumed cleaning but this time I had no after-effects.  Also, pre HSCT I would get fatigued if I made a bed but now have the stamina to clean house in 30 minute blocks.  I see improvements weekly and will try to remember to post them.  We went to a small holiday party last night, and I remembered that I was in a wheelchair (remember the fractured pelvic bone?) when we went last year and this year I walked in with a cane and John's arm.  Now, that's progress.

Now journey October 28, 2015

    Who knew Mopping and vacuuming could make your butt hurt? On Friday, the 23rd, I undertook doing more housework that I have done in four years!  The lady who cleans for me is taking leave which means that I must resume cleaning house!  For the last four years I have not been in physical shape to do much around the house.  Since having HSCT in Russia, I am regaining some lost abilities. That means I am using muscles I had forgotten I had!  Some of you women are thinking I am crazy to regain the ability to clean house;-). Yes, it has made me sore: buttocks, waist, abs.  And to think I am paying a personal trainer to MAKE me work those muscles!  I am grateful and celebrate the ability to do those things which I had been unable to do, but I think I'll take it slower from now on.  One room at A time!  John says he thinks I am now in better shape than I was before going to Russia.  Now, he doesn't mean I have a better shape;  he is referring to my physical capabilities😉

  I am grateful for improvements.  Remember, I went to Russia to stop the progression of this monster, MS, and that has happened and I am improving.

Moscow journey July 27, 2015

   Since my last post, I have been able to put the rollator in the car and take it out which means that I can go places by myself since I am now driving. I see small improvements in my physical ability, but I do not think that I am where I was before I left for Russia. I notice slight changes in my ability to maintain my balance while I perform certain tasks around the house for which I am very grateful.  Unfortunately, I have regained 10 of the 31 pounds that I lost. My plan is to take those 10 pounds off again.  Sometimes, I make smaller advances and later realize that I have done something without the fatigue that I used to have. Prior to going to Russia, if I made up a bed it took me 15 to 20 minutes, and then I had to lie down and rest afterwards. Last week I took a shower, washed my hair, Got out of the shower, and dressed and dried my hair. I was not tired when I finished. That is another small step for most of the world but a giant step for Judi.

Moscow Journey-March 6, 2015

Well, I'm kind of down today.  My physical therapist said she doesn't think HSCT worked for me!  Why would an uninformed person choose to say something like that?  I've been having more leg,pain and trouble walking the past few days, and I attribute that, in part, to the negative input.  I have to push myself more to exercise and be more aggressive in walking and doing all the exercises they have given me. It's so easy to sit and not get up and deal with the pain, but I know if I do that I might as well resign myself to a life of NOT walking!  I admire my HSCT friends who have been so aggressive in their exercise programs.

Moscow journey February 26, 2015

   Well, I'm obviously not very good at blogging since I'm confident I posted in January and once in February and cannot find either post.  That means I need to catch up on what has happened since December.  After being told I have a recent fracture in my pelvic bone and that I could not go to physical therapy, I was given permission to start physical therapy in the third week of January.  I feel I've made progress since I started therapy with Dawn and Marjorie.  I am still having problems with spasticity in my left leg which affects my agility and flexibility.  Dawn suggests that I have a Botox injection in my left hip to reduce the tone in my leg.
    I am pretty mobile around the house and have resumed some cooking and clothes-washing but am not able to get out of the house by myself.  John has constructed a temporary ramp with which he helps me get outside on my rollator.  My immediate goal is to regain independence and be able to get outside by myself, put my rollator into the car, drive to a store or someone's house, get the rollator out of the car, and walk into a store or house alone.  That sounds so simple, and I was doing all of that before we left for Russia in June.  I was regaining those skills but my fall in November threw me back into the ditch.  I am attempting to get back to the place where I was in October physically.
    I can see Dawn's skepticism when I told her about HSCT, and I told her today that I will print out some info from George Goss, the knowledgeable man who has spread the word about this procedure, to convince her that HSCT is a proven process.  She stated that she isn't convinced that it has been effective for me.  I told her that the effectiveness doesn't fully manifest itself until 8-12 months after HSCT.  She then indicated that I should work hard at my exercises to use this window of opportunity to its best advantage.  I agree with her on that issue and need to get busy!