Day 2 - Bad Things or What Can Affect Our MS

Today I want to talk about external factors that can affect MS and then I'll discuss my own experiences with these lovely things that we have no control over (smile). A general note Fatigue, which I will talk about in a future post, is related and is exacerbated by all of the things I'm going to write about in this post. We'll get to that though, we have five more days (smile).

Let's talk about heat first. 

Heat usually affects those with MS. I say usually because I know some people don't have a problem with heat at all but they seem to be the exception. I don't want to exclude them though, so you never say the horrible world ALWAYS (smile).

When someone with MS gets over heated a multitude of things can happen. One of the scary things can be a pseudoflare. This word literally means fake flare. This is when old symptoms rear their ugly head. For me this unfortunately usually means my eyes. Which really is a pain if I'm at work trying to read something on a computer screen, or ya know drive. Now, when I say overheated most people think of extreme heat. This isn't the case. Research has shown that even a 1 degree change can affect people with MS.

The good thing is usually once you've cooled down your symptoms will go away. There are also other things you can do to stay cool. Having ice water around helps tremendously. I don't believe most thing of that. The ice water cools you down faster and it was a great tip from my physical therapist. You can also do the normal things. Try to plan ahead, go inside or to a cool area to cool off, or use a cooling vest. These are vests that carry ice packs. Really awesome little thing.





For those that don't know I run. That's me to the left. The sad thing? Yeah, that's probably what I look like. Living in Florida and having a problem with heat this presents a problem. So, this is what I do.

• I wear really breathable light clothing. I also wear the least amount I can get away with legally (laugh). 
• Stay close to home so I can jump in the shower and cool off instantly (I do this after a run no matter what)
• Have ice water with me or put ice water along my running route
• Plan my route if I get to hot I will stop at a local business like a book store, peruse the books, cool off, and then run again. 

Now lets talk about stress. 

Stress is bad that is all (smile). Actually, stress does the same thing heat does, psudoflares and all that loveliness. I personally have a recent example of stress messing someone with MS up. Myself.

Right now I am sick and on the order of my doctor at home not working. Why you ask? Stress. Now, I don't believe that stress normally does this to people with MS. I believe that overwhelming long term stress does and how you deal with stress. Personally I've had over six months of constant stress, job discrimination, changing jobs, layoffs, not to mention normal life stress and my body finally called a timeout. 

I wont bore you with the normal stress relief techniques that you can read about on hundreds of websites (and probably have). I will discuss my big stress reliever exercise. 

I am an advocate of people with MS exercising. Yes, yes (holding hand up) I do realize that not all of us function at the same level but everyone can exercise. Even raising your arms above your head can be considered exercise it just depends on your level and what you can do. 

This is my cork board. All of these races were completed after I was diagnosed with MS and these aren't all of them. 

This is a  link (CLICK HERE) to an article about my good friend Patrick Finney Not only does he have MS but he has run close to 80 marathons and has done ultra marathons and two marathons a day! Read about him he was in a wheel chair and weighed 300 lbs at one point. 

Don't let the stress or the heat keep you down. Everyone with MS can live a productive life and you can modify things to allow you do keep accomplishing what you want to accomplish. 

MS Awareness Week!

Yes ladies and gents it is that time of year again. It is MS awareness week (round of applause).  This week I am going to post information about MS every day. Today it will be very basic overview of what MS is. So if you've had MS for awhile you might be bored (smile). I hope that some of my information will be helpful to someone on the interwebs. 

MS is an autoimmune disorder. This means that our immune system gets angry at things it shouldn't. Usually a healthy immune system only attacks bad things like bacteria but for some reason our immune system gets confused and attacks parts of our nervous system. 

The Myelin sheath covers the neurons within in each nerve bunch. Well for those of us who have MS our immune system decides that this sheath is the enemy! The sheath is like the insulation on an extension cord. When it's damaged the electricity can't get through or goes slower. Sometimes it stops all together which causes all of our symptoms. Since every neuron has this sheath you can see why MS can be different for everyone.

The resulting damage is called a lesion. These lesions will show up on MRIs. When damage has occurred it can do a few things, get better, stay the same, or just die off. When it dies off it's called a black hole. Look at this MRI for an example. 

I have black holes personally and it doesn't stop me from functioning. It all depends on where the lesions and black holes appear. Placement is very important. For example if they develop in an area such as the spine it can effect your mobility. I also have spinal lesions and I have no problems with mobility. I am going to have to attribute that to exercise. Maybe that's not what is keeping me mobile but I'll take it! As well 70% of people with MS will never need a wheelchair. So, that image of us wheelchair bound and just accepting our fate is not true. 

I will talk more about MS as the week progresses and I hope it's informative and helpful. At the very least I want to dispel some of the myths that surround MS, like the fact that we will all lose the ability to walk. 

Monday Bloody Monday

Does anyone else know that U2 song (they say Sunday)? If not then people may think I've lost my mind and have taken to singing about bloody days of the week (not my intention).

My veggie garden was put on hold because Florida decided to have a slight fall and it got into the 30s. Not a huge deal but I'd rather not kill my tomato plants. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and after I check the weather I will see if it's safe to get the bed going. I will then post some photos of the project using my brand new SD Card (while round of applause)!

Once that gets going I'm going to try my hand at canning. Yes, I've become 100 years old. I was knitting last week too! I made a baby blanket and a scarf! INow 'm working on a second scarf  and next will be a bag to go famers market shopping with. I think I'm either becoming a hippy or a dead hippy's ghost has possessed me.

The baby blanket was a huge success. I really enjoyed making it and it was just a normal stitch over and over. I put material on the back of it because the knit was too loose. I could see the baby just having all it's toes and fingers tangled. Here is the end result! 

I haven't given the scarf to it's new owner yet so I wont post a photo of that (yes I'm weird like that) but as soon as I do I'll show you guys. It's an easy scarf and blue. It also may swallow my friend because I made it kinda big.

Why I Dislike Montel Williams

(waiting for the shock to ware off)

Everyone ok? Yes I said it, I don't like Montel. It actually borders on a little be of hate. I do admit he has his own foundation but I have no idea what it does or how it helps those with MS. It might be doing a lot of great things so if it is kudos.

This may be the only good thing I an say about him these days. Why do I dislike lovable wonderful Montel? Why, I'm glad you asked.

1. I use to like Montel's talk show. Until he started having Sylvia Brown on there every year saying Montel was going to find a cure for MS...every year. It was pretty obvious he was grasping at straws and living in a destructive head space. 
2. The 400 infomercials he's on. I get it, you want to make money, but don't say that everything makes you feel so much better. Either you're fooling yourself into believing it is or you're lying. If copper shirts helped, then EVERYONE with MS would have one. Do you think this is something new? Your juicer isn't going to cure anyone either or payday loans. 
3. Agreeing on Oprah that the MS Hug can kill you. Shame on you Montel you know it can't! If you don't know then you need a better neurologist. 
4. Stop crying at everything. I get it you need to cry, all of us do, but it's just ridiculous at this point. 
5. Weed. OK you want to smoke weed. STOP talking about it. I don't care if you want it, stop talking about how awesome it is. No drug is awesome. I don't care what it is. 

All of this and more, make people with MS look ridiculous. You have access to things some of us with MS can only dream of. Why are you on TV whining? You know what? I have pain too but being selfish and taking myself out has never crossed my mind. I don't have to lie about what MS does to me to look for sympathy. I don't need anyone's sympathy. I don't need to smoke weed to make myself feel better and if you want to do something illegal then suck it up and deal with the consequences. 

So yes I dislike Montel. I find it offensive when a strong men turns into a blubbering idiot hawking everything but suppositories on late-night TV. What happened Montel? 

Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken for those that don't know the real name - smile)

So I used the Ghee this evening! I had lovely high rez photographs of the cooking and the food. However, someone (who shall remain nameless) dropped my SD card in water. This is the lone iPhone photo that remains. I promise next time I will keep my SD card safe!

I wanted to try the Ghee that was given to me by Pure Indian. I will say I did not buy it and that they gave it to me for free. I wanted to give it a real review and use it with an Indian dish. I made Chicken Makhani using the ghee to not only saute the veggies but the chicken.

For those not familiar with Ghee, it is butter with the milk solids and water removed by cooking it down. This ghee is even more special because it comes from grass fed cows. I have made this Makhani recipe many times (I will post it in a second post) and this ghee gave the dish a new level of flavor. The richness was unmistakable and it added flavor that had been missing from the dish.

Store bought Ghee has a tendency to be heavy and oily. I was worried that this would be the same but I am very happy to report that that is not the case. Pure Indian ghee is light and very smooth. It flavors are soft and earthy and very smooth. I tried the sauteed veggies before combining them into the gravy and they were so delicious I wanted to eat them by themselves. This bodes well for just using this ghee on top of roasted vegetables.

The undeniable fact that this ghee added depth and flavor to this dish? My Korean mother who does not like Indian food and has never eaten my Makhani before tried a bite and then I thought I was having a stroke because I saw her with a bowl of it and some rice. She has never eaten any Indian food before. Ever. The only difference this time was the Ghee.

For Pure Indian Original Ghee I give it five stars. It's a great addition to any cook's kitchen who is serious about flavor and health.

Next I will use some of their spiced Ghee for cooking. Stay tuned to see if they are as good as the original! (smile)

Gotta Love the MS

Today I had a follow up visit with my lovely Neurologist's office. Actually, I saw the ARNP and will see Doc next month. I love this office just so everyone knows. They are a real gift to me and everyone else who goes to them for MS treatment.

My appointment went well. I've been sick but it's due to stress and my body just saying enough. The office did find out that my right leg is a bit weak and that we need to keep an eye on it. No more heals for me until I figure out if I can do it without some major incident (laugh).

I also had an MRI last week to see if I were in an active flare. A flare is when your immune system is actively attacking your neurons. When you have an MRI done they give you this lovely dye (contrast dye) that shows these lovely spots. They light up and are also called a flare. Guess what? Great news! I have no disease change! This means I have no active disease and no new lesions. Now, that doesn't mean I can't be sick or that something else isn't going on but at least it seems that, for now, what I've been doing has been working. Yay for drugs, exercise, and paleo (may not be any of those but that's what I'm betting on for now - smile).

I'm still sick and she says it's going to take awhile but I'm pretty positive about the whole thing. Give it some time and everything will be great! 

Cooking with fire (ok Ghee)

I love the paleo diet and I really love using Ghee. Ghee is like clarified butter. Clarified butter is unsalted butter that has been heated which makes the milk solids separate from the butter. Ghee is one step further and left on the heat until the solids sink and brown.

The great paleo queen over at NomNomPaleo has a great DIY recipe for ghee. Just click here. BTW if you haven't been reading NomNomPaleo...what is wrong with you? They also have a great iPad app (smile).

I do make my own Ghee but because I have MS I'm trying to find some products that I don't have to make myself. I am about to go on a cooking spree with Pure Indian Foods Ghee. A review will be posted here shorty (and maybe a give away). They have six herbed/spiced ghee's as well as original ghee. I will post my review on Thursday for everyone to see!