Well, my checkup went pretty good today with the Neurologist!  Of course, I am now starting to lose the strength on my left side.  He said it wasn’t anywhere close to my right side but it sure isn’t anywhere like it was five years ago.  Come on October 10th and HSCT.

He did a thorough exam and is documenting things for today and wants me back in December or when I feel up to it and he will do the same tests.  Said he was excited a little to see the results and hopes the results are better after HSCT.  He asked me what I was expecting and my comment was ‘to stop the progression of my MS, anything else that I might get back will be icing on the cake’.  He said that he didn’t want me to go in expecting a miracle, which I’m not.  But he isn’t excited enough to help me with the follow up care.  So, I have to hope that the hematologist here will help me.  They won’t answer me until I get back from Mexico.

My big problem that I have right now is- I can’t find a doctor that will fill out the Medical Professional Verification form.  Without that, I can’t get any of my money from HelpHOPELive, even tho it isn’t much.

Stopped at Glen Sain’s in Rector and got an oil change on the van, sold some rifle raffle tickets, and picked up two certificates for the auction.

All in all, had a pretty good day, hope you did too!

The following is my story about my daily battle with MS.  I haven’t listed each and everything that I can’t do anymore but the reasons I can’t do them.

I usually don’t go into this much explaining of the symptoms that I live with on a daily basis with my Multiple Sclerosis (MS) but I’m going to now because I need your help.   To start with, I’ll give a little bit of my background…..

I was diagnosed in April 1992 because of the numbness and tingling in my legs which started on Thanksgiving Day 1991. Jimmy Hanna and I were married in October ’91 and he had no idea what was in store for him and our life together.  This was my first official diagnosed onset problem which I think the first one I had was at age 6.  Woke up one morning and fell when I got out of bed because I couldn’t stand let alone walk.  Doctors said it was a cold settled in the hip joint! Really?  I spent a week in traction and a week doing physical therapy, scary for a 6 year old.  This was way before MS was even considered in pediatric patients.

If I had anything MS related between then and ’92 it really doesn’t come to mind as being a symptom. In May ’92, I had my first bout of optic neuritis in the left eye, which is my slow eye. That’s what my then neuro said was my telltale sign of MS.  Fine, it’s the main cause of my doc not letting me drive anymore!  Thanks!  That was taken away from me around 2004 but I refused to accept it, until my office moved 40 miles farther making it 60 miles one-way across Dallas which can take two hours.

Most of you can see that I am in a power chair; it’s the hidden symptoms that I’m going to tell you about. I get to see 4 things at a time when there are 2, etc.  Blurry vision in the heat is a norm so is looking to the side along with everything has a tail as I move my head until my eyes catch up.  My right side is useless and I am right handed.  Upon waking, my right leg is very spastic making it very hard to stand or just to transfer from the bed to the chair.

Now for the big deal in all this is loss of bladder control. I hate this symptom more than any of the above. It keeps me from going places because it is hard to find handicap accessible restrooms in the booneys of Arkansas.  Time to go is just about every hour and at 58 I hate having to wear a diaper!   To go along with all this is the fatigue and cognitive issues.  I’m too tired to think about it and it’s too hard for me to keep my mind straight!

After Jimmy passed, I moved back to Piggott and my parents became my chief cooks, bottle washers, and chauffeurs! I am having HSCT so that all three of us can enjoy life more and Mom & Dad won’t have to worry about me (oh wait, that won’t change).  Had I known about HSCT before 2008, I would have had the procedure done so Jimmy & I could have enjoyed our time together a lot more.

With all this in mind, I know I don’t have cancer or a child isn’t involved and MS doesn’t cause death but complications due to MS do. I have made up my mind to seek revenge on my MS and go to Puebla, Mexico to have Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) treatment at Clinica Ruiz on October 10^th.  Unfortunately this procedure has been approved in most countries for over 10 years but has been in clinical trial in the United States for that long.  I have read many testimonials and I am so ready to give this treatment a chance.  Please, I need your help!

The treatment alone is $54,500.00 USD and I will be there for 30 days and will require additional costs of a caregiver for the stay, airfare, food, and incidentals. This is why I am coming to my friends and family asking for help. Team Mo is taking donations for the auction on August 20^th @ the Clay Country Fairgrounds and selling chances for a Henry American Farmer Tribute Edition .22 rifle that will be given away on September 10^th.  You can also go to www.helphopelive.com/campaign/9742 for a tax deductible donation or local non-taxable donations may be made at 1^st National Bank to the savings account under ‘Mo’s Revenge on MS’.  All this information can be found at www.mosrevengeonms.com.