three months on and keeping well

Keeping well MS wise at least! I've succumbed to the winter coughs and colds doing the rounds, but in a funny way it's good to feel bad like anybody else. It's part of being "normal" again.

So here's an update of how my symptoms are:

Bladder is stable and medication not required to keep it under control. Pre-operation I took tolterodine (Detrusitol XL) but this is definitely no longer needed. My bladder functions completely normally.

Mood is much better. Again, prior to my angioplasty I took citalopram, but having gradually reduced the dose, I find I am OK without it.

Balance is about 90%, but even without MS it was never perfect, and my hand-eye co-ordination was so-so. Most of the time I'm OK, but if tired or as recently when running a temperature, it is a little bit off. I can stand on one leg and walk heel to toe without falling over. Couldn't do either pre-angioplasty.

I'm still not 100% confident/comfortable going up and down stairs, but I don't know if that is more mental than physical. I used to use some of the spasticity in my leg muscles to help me stand and I still have some residual stiffness and soreness which is especially noticeable on getting out of a chair and using stairs. I don't know if this is permanent or will gradually wear off.


Walking is good. My gait is not perfect, and I need to stop every so often for a rest, but I can go places. Before my operation, from the house to the car, or across the road felt like the height of my ambition, but now a stroll in Kew Gardens is an option again, even if I have to pause for a sit down now and then.

Best of all is the cog-fog. My brain is clear and I can hold a thought in my head. I don't struggle for words like I did. MS fatigue is a thing of the past, and I no longer need modafinil just to get through the day.

My own estimate is that I have regained about 80% functionality compared with pre-MS. So do I consider my operation a success? Oh yes! Would I go through it again if my symptoms return? In an instant.

I know that MS can grant remission, but I have not been like this for years, so in the words of the Mythbusters, CCSVI is plausible.