Happy Something Today.. Isn't It?

Oh yeah, Happy World MS Day to you. If you can be happy about that.. meh..

So, anyhoo, I approach the 5th anniversary of my 29th birthday.. I have to say, this year has been pretty damn amazing so far! I love my family and friends, I have the best dog ever, I'm taking on more responsibility at work, WITHOUT the stress, and everything just seems to finally be falling into place!

I had my neurologist appointment recently and everything is good there too (as always, knock on wood!). I'm good on my MRI for another year, so  I just need to get blood work done and I'll be all good!

I'm still tired ALL THE TIME! But I've come to just accept that as my natural state of being for now. I don't like it, but I accept it. Blergh...

On a happier note, I'm really looking forward to the summer! I wish I could handle the heat better... It can be a little hard to see all the "normal" people laying out by the pool on a nice sunny day when I'm stuck in the air conditioning. It can suck covering up Rebif bruises because warm weather calls for less clothing... But, I do love the great things that come with the summer! BBQ's, swimming, the sun staying up late and making me feel less tired. And the beach- even if I'm under an umbrella!

And then there's fireworks on the 4th! One of my friends has an in to the Happiest Place on Earth! Mickey Ears! Another one of my very favorite friends is getting married! Another one is expecting twins! TWINS!!! Holy crap!!! Busy, busy summer!

So, I know it's yet again been awhile since I've paid attention to my blog.. but that's actually a great thing! It just means that I've had so much to do out in the great, big bustling world! So, I'll try to write this summer, since I do love my faithful readers. And it's always so awesome to see people from so far away actually care enough to read my blog in this little sunny, chill corner of the world! But, if it's been awhile between posts, I'm laying by the pool, reading a good book. Probably getting a few new freckles!  So, as always, keep your head up. No tripping when it's sundress weather!

Happy 8th MS Anniversary to Me!!!

Okay... so technically, it's tomorrow. February 2nd. Groundhog's Day. Can you believe that bulls$#*? Of all the days that you want to not pull a Groundhog's Day... that would definitely top the list.

What's that, Punxsutawney Phil? 8 more years of MS? Oh, and also the rest of my life? Are you sure you saw your shadow? I think that was just a play of the lights... get back in the hole and give me another damn reading.

8 years of shooting a painful medication into my body and having weird bruises because of it. (Side-note: they actually called to schedule the next shipment as I was writing this. Their ears must have been burning) 8 years of my best friend Stephanie covering up said bruises when went out to a concert, bar, club, beach and then had to leave. Usually because I ended up puking because I got too hot. (Thank you to Steph and all my amazing friends and family who have willing left amazing places because of me) 8 years of trying to date guys and figure out when to tell them that I have MS and not get that "pity" look. Screw your "pity" look, boys who gave it. And you were boys, not men. Thankfully, you were few and far between. 8 years of MRI's and seeing how they've evolved. 8 years of me learning and getting stronger.

Seriously though, I've been really lucky. No relapse in those 8 years. Knock on wood. Seriously. Stop what you are doing right now and knock on wood for me. Tingling, migraines, fatigue, all those lovely side effects, but nothing too terrible. Now go knock on wood again....

When you're diagnosed, you feel as if the world is upside down. Sometimes literally. I was so damn dizzy, everything was spinning. Then your life is thrown upside down. Slowly but surely, it returns to normal. Well, an MS normal.

My life is almost back to normal. I barely even blog anymore. Which sucks, but it's kind of a good thing for me. I've been so busy actually living, I haven't actually had time to fill you all in on my life. I promise I'll try to do better on staying current.

I actually went out for New Year's instead of staying in with Ryan Seacrest. I'm going out this weekend, which is why I'm writing right now instead of tomorrow on the actual anniversary of my diagnosis. So I still love writing and staying in touch... but it is so nice to feel somewhat normal again.

If you don't feel good at the moment, it will get better. I felt like crap for so long. I also stayed at home for too long. I'm not saying that you also need to get a part time job. But getting out the house really helped me. Having a reason to wake up and get ready made such a difference in my mood and health. People around me that I barely knew commented on it. So don't make the mistake of staying on your couch watching Law and Order SVU marathons all the time.

Looking back this 8th anniversary, I can say it's made me mentally stronger. I've made a lot  of new friends. I know that there is a great community out there that supports each other through all the good and bad times. I still wish I was perfectly healthy, but as someone with MS once told me when I was first diagnosed, "Everyone is disabled, everyone gets sick. They just don't know what they have yet. We do.". So at least we're ahead of the game.

Cheers to you all.

Till the next time, keep your head up, otherwise we trip!!!

I Feel Great!! I Can Conquer the World!! Wait, Can I Do It Tomorrow?

I hate MS. I loathe it. Give this calm, peace loving gal a chance in a gym with MS in a punching bag and I would beat the shit out of it. Or at least I would try. I'd get a few good jabs in there before I got tired.

I have the best intentions in the world. But you know what they say about good intentions....

I feel like every day I make a promise to myself: tomorrow I'm gonna work out and blog. Or, tomorrow I'm gonna clean the house and maybe clean out that closet. Maybe even the ambitious: tomorrow I'm going to actually go visit friends in the "real world" rather than post something on their Facebook page letting them know that I am in fact still alive and really do love them and care about them. Then "tomorrow" comes. I end up watching my Netflix movie and I'm lucky if I paint my toenails.

I shouldn't bitch. I'm feeling really good. I just hate being so damn tired.

Okay, enough bellyaching. What have I been up to, you ask? You are all so kind! I've been busy working. It's going really well. It's hard, at times, to get my butt up and get in, but I'm lucky that I only work part time and they are really good with letting me call out if I'm not feeling well.

Like last week. I got my flu shot and was expecting to get the flu. In true Allison fashion, I did something unexpected and got the cold from hell instead. A week of walking around with tissues stuck up my nose looking like some freaky tissue walrus. My nose is just now healing from the peeling that it did. Eek.

Before that, I had gotten my hair cut. I love it. It's sooo nice to not spend half an hour under a hot blow-dryer every morning drying my thick hair (no bueno for people with no heat tolerance, ya know?). One co-worker said I looked like Kate Gosselin, but all my other co-workers, as well as my family and friends, assured me that I do not. I think she might have thought she was complimenting me in her own strange way. She is a strange one. I have posted a pic so you can decide for yourself. Strangely enough, when did I get hit on? Not when my hair was long and all done. Not when it's short and done, but the other day when it was 97*, AGAIN, and I had my hair wet and down, looking a mess, old clothes and Converse, walking from my car to the store. Some strange man yelled "You are beautiful!", not once, but TWICE!! Apparently, that's what I have to do to get hit on? I should write a book. The way to get hit that you would NEVER believe. Seriously. Who would've thunk it?

Other than that, not much else is new. I have to go to the podiatrist to see what they can do about my plantar fasciitis. Don't get old, kids. It's not for wimps!

I have to decide what to dress Sid up as for Halloween. Yay for dressing up your poor loving doggy!! I will consider your suggestions, but ultimately buy whatever I think he'd look cutest in. I'm thinking along the lines of the Cowardly Lion.

I leave you with a beautiful picture/quote. Enjoy!!!

Portrait of the Author as an Exhausted Girl

 Which is what I always am. Except I am 33 now, I guess I am officially a "woman". That just sounds so old! Even though I am always exhausted, I still feel young. Does that make any sense? I hope so. I've been so busy. And tired. Just the normal MS tired on top of working, and the preparations and then celebrations of my Nana's 90th birthday. She puts me to shame. She has 57 years on me and that woman has twice as much energy as I do! I love her dearly and the party was a TON of fun. Lots of family members were able to make it and she really enjoyed it. She decided instead of turning "29" again, she'll finally be "39". She said she has to stay a little older than her grandchildren. Below is a picture of (from left to right clockwise) my mom, my brother, my dad, my Nana and me.

Forget about having my Nana's energy at 90, I just hope I have half of it at 50!

Everything has been going really well. I've obviously been too busy to blog lately. Work is good, but sometimes I feel like I'm too good at my job. I need to adopt the attitude like some others and just say, "I don't know how to do that and I cannot possibly learn how to.". Or they have the attitude that can't do anything other than 2 things that are specific to their job. "You want me to open the mail? I don't couldn't possibly, I don't know how." Since I have a fairly intelligent brain (even on Topamax), and I know how to do a lot of things there, I get stuck covering for a lot of people who call out sick. But, at the end of the day, I am part time and they do let me call out sick and just basically work whenever it's convenient for me, so I am lucky in that aspect.

Health wise, I'm pretty good. I say pretty good because I've really been slacking on my working out. It's also been pretty hot here, in the 90's this week, and that just wipes me out. Damn you sun! Don't you know that I don't like the heat!! I had a week off from my Rebif, thanks to my insurance wanting a prior authorization on it and that delayed it. It's okay by me though because that's fewer bruises on my body. And since it's so hot, tank tops and shorts are required, so that's a good thing!

I've also been trying to read up on supplements in my spare time. Does anyone have any suggestions on what they take, what helps? I have been having pain in my hips. It's in the front of my hips where my hip meets my thigh. It seems to be a muscle pain, but it could be a joint pain. Does anyone else get that? I've had it before...

Here's hoping that that the heat will cool off soon. Then maybe I can leave my air conditioned apartment and have an exciting blog for you! In the meantime, the UPS guy is supposed to deliver my Rebif today. Fingers crossed that it's the old guy, the cute one! I don't know if he quit or switched routes or what; but I haven't seen him in forever. My co-worker nicknamed him Thor after I described what he looked like to her. He does look like Thor from The Avengers. But he's a bit older and has short hair. I miss him delivering my shots. Fingers crossed!!!

Not Much Ever Happens In My Boring Life...

Or does it....?

Haha. I guess it's actually extremely boring to the average Joe, but to me, it seems like I'm Sisyphus; forever pushing that damn rock up a hill only to have it roll back down.

Whatevs.

So, I turned 33. Or, as I like to say, 29 for the fourth time. Yay!! Go me! I had an awesome party with one of my nearest and dearest friends, Steph. My fellow Gemini who had the grace to be born two days before me. Thanks for always being older my friend! It was awesome and chill. Down in Newport Beach and some of my favorite friends who I haven't seen in a long time were able to make it out. I did have to leave after we headed to the first bar, but that's the life with MS. The party started at 3:00, I can't last until the bars close like some of my friends. But that's okay. One Corona was okay for me.

Unfortunately, I did get a cold. Damn you, California June gloom! I kid. We have amazing weather and I know it! But it can go from warm to chilly pretty quickly at the beach and that tends to give me a cold.

Then I got a sclera hemorrhage. It was not pretty. Thankfully, it didn't hurt. It just scared the bejesus out of me. When you wake up and wash your face in the morning and it looks like you broke your eye:

scary, huh? It's freaking terrifying to wake up to. But, it's just like a bruise and heals on its own. It's almost completely gone. I just feel like I already have enough problems. Don't bleed, eye!!!

My Sid is all better. Still up and down the stairs like a pro. I took in my cousin's cats because she had to move and couldn't take them with her. It's been a little scary for my baby cat, Nibbler, because of that, but otherwise things are cool. Here's two things that I like:

I'll keep trying... 

But usually, I wake up and feel like this:

and why should I get out of them? Maybe it was a bad batch of Rebif. Maybe it's depression over getting older. Maybe it's because I'm a Gemini and I swing between two personalities all the time anyways. I'm fine. My blog is where I bitch. When we get sick, it seem like we have to be the strong ones for those around us. And only others who are sick can listen to us bitch and fully understand.

Until next time, dear readers, carpe the hell out this diem. ;-)

Just When She Thought Things Were Looking Up... Allison's Week Said, "No Way. You Are A Walking Murphy's Law. Don't Forget It."

Okay. So that was a leetle bit dramatic, I'll admit. But really. Can't I have one Super Awesome Week?
Just one? So, good news first. My triglycerides are down to 373. Which isn't normal yet, they should be less than 150. But they were 793, so that's still pretty darn awesome. Also, the Rebif is working! Hallelujah! No new lesions, and the ones I do have, have barely grown! Again, awesome.

 There's what my brain looks like folks, lesions and all. But, they aren't growing. Can I get an Amen?

So, week was going great. Truth be told, that's still awesome news. But then, duh duh duh.... Sid fell down the bottom two stairs. My poor baby had to have a splint on his puppy ankle. Which lasted about a day, because Allison cannot carry 30 pounds of Sid up and down the stairs. My back. My neck and my back!!

Don't worry dear readers, Sid's okay. My back's okay too. :) I'm just looking forward to a week of rest. I should be careful though. Last time I got that, I was in the hospital. Let's just say, I look forward to an uneventful week. Better? Please? Pretty, pretty please?

My birthday is on the 1st of June, so if I don't blog, it's because I'm ringing in being 29 for the fourth time. ;-)

Happy Tuesday to you all!!!

My Stairway to Heaven... the Bathroom and the Bedroom....

I have been loving it in my apartment. L-O-V-I-N-G it! The best I've had, since I lived in a house! The best new neighbors too. They've even come over with a flower to welcome us. They are so nice. Sid and I really lucked out. No more being woken up by some crazy biatch deciding to clean at 2 am.

That being said... I have still not been blogging as often, and here's why:

stairs. My natural enemy... They are tiring my MS butt out. I go downstairs in the morning to let Sid out; make sure I have everything I needed to take downstairs. Go back up after eating breakfast; take anything I need upstairs with me. Now, I'm upstairs. Oops, forgot my phone downstairs. Another trek. No, Sid, stay.... I'll be right back..... 


And so on and so on. You can tell by the end of the night that we're pooped because he'll automatically sit at the top of stairs and wait for me. Good thing I bought a baby gate for my little shadow. His little legs give out before mine do.


I've been a little bit too pooped to get to blogging, truth be told. But overall, I'm happier than I've been in years. So that's alright, isn't it, dear followers? (I'm kinda paraphrasing Stephen King) If I'm not blogging, better that it be because I've been happy and enjoying my new place rather than being sick, eh? Another positive is that my legs are getting super buff! And I think even Sid has lost a pound or two. (He's my chunky monkey, so he needed it...) Haha.


I go in today for my yearly MRI of the brain. Finally, right? Let us see if I light it up like a Christmas tree in there or if there aren't too many lesions (fingers AND toes crossed!)

I found this picture online and thought it was a prettier image of a brain lighting up than a lesioned brain. Oops, I had spelled "bran" rather than "brain". I hope that's the Topamax and not the damn lesions....


Happy Tuesday to you all. May it find you in great health, lesions or not. Stairs or no stairs. Keep kicking some serious ass, people. I'll leave you with a quote I found and liked. 



“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs.”
 Vance Havner quotes