steroids day 1: the drugs do (appear to be) work(ing)

thank you, friend

After a fairly dispiriting night (business as usual - totally immobile, unable to get out of bed without assistance, plus a couple of 'accidents' - nice), I woke up at my parents' house to find that not only could I still not get out of bed, but i was also unable to hold a drink or feed myself. My dad had to feed me breakfast and count all the bits of medication I would be taking, including my first day of this second round of steroids.

As I took the first one, I remember focusing all my strength on thinking "This WILL work".

I just chilled out in my room for about an hour (I say chilled out, I watched an episode of 24). And then I stood up and walked across to the bathroom.

As I type this (and the very idea of that would have been laughable yesterday), it sounds ridiculous. But I swear it happened like that, it was that rapid.

For the rest of the day, things continued to improve, I was able to look after myself without assistance and also do some regular physio exercises. Perhaps most surprisingly, after settling in bed with a few podcasts to listen to as the steroids put the kibosh on any idea of sleep, I nodded off within five minutes. I woke up earlier than normal but it was a good chunk of kip. And my legs and hands were still working when I got out of bed.

I'm not naturally the most positive of people (see blog title and ask my wife), but one thing I got from reading George Jelinek's Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis book was a section about the importance of Hope. Unfortunately I don't have the book with me otherwise I'd quote a bit of it but y'know those people that we've all seen at MS events who play Competitive Disability Bingo? Or people who talk down the achievements of people with MS who run marathons (Hi Swisslet) or climb mountains because they've ONLY got Relapsing Remitting MS, and anyway I've had it longer and you don't know how bad I've got it? I think they've given up hope.

And I think it has to be a conscious decision to abandon hope. I'm not saying this is going to help full-time wheelchair users rise up and win Ninja Warrior (or whatever) and it has to start with a good dose of Stoicism and an acceptance of what you're dealing with. But if the only thing you can hope for is that this is as good as it gets then that might be start.

I'm hoping that these steroids will help me get back to how I was before this relapse. And after that I hope to carry on getting a bit more control of my body and improve my fitness (I'm neither a marathon runner nor a mountain climber).

I had no idea that this blog post was going to end up so sappy when I started writing it, and I hope it doesn't come across as patronising or insulting to people who are dealing with worse situations than mine.

FULL DISCLOSURE: things were so bad yesterday morning that I was genuinely thinking of the best method to end it all. Sorry but it's true. My Dad displayed our family brand of gallows humour by saying that I wouldn't be able to hold a knife steady, and anyway I'm taking so many tablets that it wouldn't make a difference.

But I do think there must be something in the idea that having some kind of hope in medication and treatment - something with a basis which is tangible, scientific, provable - then it will be more likely to have a positive outcome. It's like when I was doing CBT all those years ago - a psychologist friend said that if people go into CBT expecting it not work for them, then it more than likely won't. I went expecting it to help and it did.

All I did yesterday was take a dose of steroids believing they would work. And they are.

FOOTNOTE
When we spoke to the Neuro on Tuesday, we talked about the OMS diet and asked him his opinion. A vegetarian, he said that his advice would always be to eat a balanced diet. He would also like to view the evidence for any diet, as he had seen patients who had gone down this kind of route while also spurning drugs. "And they always end up back here eventually."

So although I'll take other parts of the lifestyle - meditation (270 days unbroken), Vitamin D and Flaxseed oil supplements, Hope - I'm going pescetarian from now on. Less of a mental strain for everyone involved. If we're out and the Vegan option looks good I'll probably choose that over anything else. And I genuinely love some of the things I've been eating while following the diet.

But at least I'm not a Reducetarian - for fcuk's sake, this is an actual thing and we're surely in the End Days.