Sorry for the platitude, but this is the day for them.To my on-line friends - I'm still a unicorn free zone, though.
At 6am in the hospital, one of the surgeons came round and checked with everyone that they had no problems after their angioplasty, issued their documents and CDs of their treatments and a prescription for whatever medication they were going to need as a follow-up.
Throughout, all the medical staff have been scrupulous in not discussing what the surgery may or may not do for your MS. Just what your tests showed, what they did as a result, and the results of your surgery. No raising of hopes and expectations. Vascular surgeons, carrying out a vascular procedure.
But for us, the patients, things are different.
Last night, sensation returned to my feet, and I was able to get into my pyjamas without leaning on the wall for support. That may not seem much, but to someone with MS, it is a big deal.
Today, I am standing and walking without my cane. For the first day in a longtime, when I did that system check on waking, to see what is or isn't working today, and things were better than they were yesterday. It is hard to explain the sheer joy of that feeling. Instead of the insidious decline into the darkness, I have taken a few leaps towards being normal again.
Of my cohort of five patients:
1. (me) balloon angioplasty - walking without cane, balance back, head clear.
2. balloon angioplasty - walking without rollator, balance back, head clear, hands and feet warm, speech no longer slurred.
3. balloon angioplasty - still mostly wheelchair, but increased mobility in arms and legs, hands and feet warm, head clear
4. one stent - whellchair bound, speech back, hands and feet warm, head clear
5. jugular blockage reduced from 90% to 40%, may need further surgery, no change in symptoms.
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