Friday 6 April 2012

only connect

I'm writing this on a grey Bank Holiday, at the arse end of two weeks off work.

Actually, I say that but it's not strictly true. I had one week off and for the second week I was able to do some work from home.

Now I'm a bit of a nerd and I love me some technology. I remember the first time I used LinkedIn to control my shitty work PC with my much sexier Mac Mini was mind-blowing. Especially when I used it in conjunction with cloud storage from DropBox.

(by the way, if you sign up by clicking that link, we'll both get a bit of extra space!)

But however great all this stuff is, it does mean that you're not really ever off work. Which when you're trying to recover from a MS relapse without steroids, probably isn't amazingly clever.

I've been pretty lucky, though. The weather last week was unseasonably warm so I could sit in the garden with Evie and Emma.

(as an aside, a couple of days back it was snowing...)

The main thing that's been bothering me this relapse has been how it has affected my time with Evie.

Now I always knew that Emma would make a fantastic mum. But I wasn't totally sure about me as a dad.

Over the last (almost!) year, I've got more confident and relaxed. But this relapse has taken all the strength from my right-hand side. Which means I can't do my usual dad stock-in-trade moves - wrestling, tickling, roughhousing, etc. I even (seriously!) miss changing her nappies - just because it's one of the ways you take care of her, y'know?

This means the last couple of weeks have put a lot of pressure on Emma and our amazing families. Which doesn't make me feel all that great, obviously.

By the way, the Oxybutynin tablets almost work a little too well. They give me major DRY MOUTH but they do seem to calm things down a bit as far as urgency is concerned. One week in, I'll keep you posted.

I'm also going to be trying some Gabapentin tablets for nerve pain, presumably due to walking heavily on one side.

Also waiting for referrals to the Physiotherapists and a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist.

At this rate, I will soon be on my way to becoming NORMAL, if not a FULLY-FUNCTIONING MEMBER OF SOCIETY.

Which could be good news for everyone.

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