You might be wondering why I am showing you a blurry picture of an alien. Actually, it’s my uterus with an IUD (or as the ultrasound tech called it “the anti-baby”. You can see that weird tube thing in the middle top of the picture. Thats the IUD.

Because my life is never boring… my ovaries decided to start acting up. I was having dull annoying pain all day which included a missed period. It turns out I have an ovarian cyst. The doc said the cyst already burst and the contains of the cyst is what is causing the pain. I am still having the dull ache which is now combined with the lovely no-longer-missing period. Yay.

The ultrasound was hella cool though. Tom said my ovaries look like bubble tea because they are full of little.. bubbles (eggs). I am glad I keep him around. He always makes doctors appointments much more interesting.

Never a dull moment around here.

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Very interesting article out today on vitamin D! Just a snippet:

Vitamin D seems to help control a gene known to increase the risk of multiple sclerosis — a finding that suggests taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy and early in life may help prevent the disease.

“I think it’s the first time that the environment and genetics are brought together, this is something that links the two,” Dr. George Ebers, a Canadian who is based at the University of Oxford in London, told CBC News.

“It’s saying that the environmental factor, which is everybody’s favourite at the moment, which is vitamin D, directly interacts with the gene region … that has the biggest effect on your MS risk.”

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I decided to do some research on breastfeeding with Copaxone. The expert in medications and breastfeeding is Dr. Thomas Hale from Texas Tech University Medical School. He does research studies on breast milk with different medications to determine if they are safe. Every year he publishes a book on breastfeeding and medicine. So another words, he is the expert in this area.

He has a message board which is open to everyone to read and only medical professionals to post. He has researched Copaxone and breast milk. He *believes* it is safe to breastfeed while on Copaxone! I am not sure what medical professionals would say. I forgot to ask my doc the last time I was there but anyway,

The reason he thinks Copaxone is safe is that it is a large molecule that is unlikely to enter the breast milk. Copaxone is also NOT orally bio-available which I think we are all very aware of. He also says “large peptide antigenically similar to myelin basic protein. I can’t imagine that even if microscopic amounts were absorbed, it would harm an infant.”

It is a calculated risk but very low considering all the other risks in your life. Talk with your doc and stuff but I’d do it (again family, no crazy ideas here).

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I am angry at my regular doctor for ignoring my problems all these years. I am angry at myself for letting her ignore my problems. I am angry that I know have to manage this disease. I am angry that it picked me. I am angry at the way people react. I am angry that I have to be careful about who I tell. I am angry at the judgments people make. I am angry at the needles I will need to use daily. I am angry that there is something in my head. I am angry that I won’t know when the next relapse will be. I am angry that this disease is so unpredictable. I am angry that I can’t modify my life plan because this stupid disease doesn’t know how to plan anything. I am angry that I need a pill case to keep my daily pills organized. I am angry that I need like 8 pills a day. I am angry at the idea of a pill. I HATE PILLS.  I am angry that the power keeps going out at work.

I am angry that parents aren’t taking the new vitamin D research more seriously and supplementing their children. I can’t say I am angry that adults aren’t but none the less, they don’t believe me when I say it’s a huge problem in the US. While they don’t know the full deal, there is a link to vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis.

So yeah, that sums it up. Angry.

(take your vitamin D)

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FINDINGS: Diffusion-weighted imaging shows no areas definitely identifiable as an acute infarct. On the T2-weighted diffusion weighted imaging, there are several areas of T2 shine through due to T2 lesions which will be described. On FLAIR, there is a small less than 5 mm lesion in the right parietal white matter image 21 which is also seen on T2 and does not enhance. On FLAIR there is an oblong enhancing 6 x 4 mm lesion in the position of the left motor strip image 26. At the same level there is also a nonenhancing 5 mm lesion adjacent to the left lateral ventricle in the white matter image 26. Adjacent to the posterior horn of the right lateral ventricle image 24 there is a large nonenhancing area 1.4 x 1.1 cm immediately contiguous to the ventricle. No further lesion is seen in the cerebrum. The cerebellum and medulla appear clear on FLAIR T2 and enhanced T1.

The globes and optic nerves bilaterally appear normal. No unusual enhancement is seen in either right or the left optic nerves.

Flow-voids around the base of the skull are normal. Cranial nerves are normal. The sinuses are clear.

IMPRESSION: Multiple enhancing and nonenhancing lesions right and left. The majority are on the left and several on the side are enhancing particularly one in the left motor strip. There is a nonenhancing lesion around the periphery of the posterior horn of the right later ventricle. Appearance is consistent with multiple sclerosis with both active and quiescent lesions.

The diagnostic criteria for MS is odd. The Neurologist says I am very high risk for developing MS so lets call it MS and get on treatment. The Radiologist says I have MS. Anyway, I must say I prefer the Neurologists opinion more than the silly Radiologist. Note to self: It is much easier to be in denial when you hear it instead of read it.

Anyway, I must say this made me a bit sad and very angry. I was not prepared for that. Tom is out of town so he is not around to help me laugh about my black holes. He certainly helps me stay in touch with reality.

I keep thinking that if my doctor listen to me three years ago when I went in for numb legs and I had gotten on the treatment, would I be here now? How about a year ago when I went in for numb hands? Or 6 months ago when I went in for dizziness? The key of this disease is to control the relapses to prevent the damage. That is three or so relapses which might not have happened if my doctor didn’t ignore me. Ok, technically she classified my dizziness as “depression” and my numbness as me “twinging a nerve” even though it lasted for over two months.

I really would love to write her a letter with my MRI report. I know she is a good doctor (or I hope) but I know she works at a large cooperation and she sees too many people in a day. She has a set of guidelines where I am sure numbness twice doesn’t mean MRI until you have whined enough to go through all the other treatment options. None the less, she should have been better at puzzles.

In other health news, my Vitamin D is back down and now I have to add 10,000IU of Vitamin D everyday. She just went to a conference and asked about Vitamin D and MS. It was suggested that someone with MS be on the high side of normal for Vitamin D. At this point, I hope I can just get in the normal side.

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