Veggie Tales

With temps hovering in the mid- to upper-40s and mounds of dirty snow quickly pooling into sloppy puddles, it's hard to believe we're in the midst of what is commonly referred to as the snowiest month in Minnesota. In the midst of this too-good-to-be-true warm-up, it seems everyone has been struck with a touch of spring fever. It would appear that my entire neighborhood spent the majority of this weekend's daylight hours outside. This afternoon, some guy was playing Ultimate Frisbee in the slushy field across from my house in SHORTS and a T-SHIRT (a little nutso, in my opinion).

Not surprisingly, I have also jumped on the spring fever bandwagon. This weekend I anxiously began the first steps in the long process of building a better vegetable garden.

First, I hung a homemade shelf in the bay window on the south side of my house. This window gets fantastic sunlight for much of the day, and I'm hoping it will be a good springboard for my veggie collection. Here's a summary of the veggies I have started:

• Bell Peppers


• Poblano Peppers


• Jalapeno Peppers


• Beaver Dam Peppers


• Italian Heirloom Tomatoes


• Brandywine Tomatoes


• Grape Tomatoes


• Eggplant


• Cucumbers


• Brussels Sprouts

Now all I do is become a Landscape Architect (or, ahem... tap the brain of my BFF who happens to be one) and devise a plan for incorporating all of these plants into the tiny strip of yard that lines the south side of my house.

I also have plans to rummage through the family farm in Iowa to find some wood to build a raised area for some of the veggies, bringing a little bit of my family's history right here to Minneapolis.

For now, I will leave you with a snap shot of my big dreams, preliminarily set in motion. Enjoy!





p.s. March 5 marked a full year from when I began the rather intense series of medical tests--which means the 1-year anniversary of DxDay is rapidly approaching (HOW is that possible???). I have a few commemorative posts in the works, so check back soon.

Right Back to Boring

Once again, I am operating under the "no news is good news" theory. As such, my blog is pretty lame.

Don't get me wrong--I am in NO way hoping for any blog-fodder-worthy excitement (exception: a cure for MS, breakthrough treatments--good stuff like that). I'm just apologizing for my lack of posting. I do have a few posts (not requiring new symptoms, knock wood) in mind, and I promise to post them as time allows.

In the meantime, hopefully you're as happy as I am for the fact that I'm not taking my symptom-free days for granted (which means less time sitting in front of my computer).

I'm back, bitches*

I just played my first symptom-free soccer game since early December. And it felt fan-freakin' tastic. So good, in fact, that I didn't even realize how good I felt until my pal K asked me how I was feeling after the game. I had forgotten that I was supposed to feel dizzy (which surprises the crap out of me--I thought I would hear voices singing down from the sky on the day that I could honestly say "normal" had returned).

So yeah--I'm back, bitches.

*Sorry about the language, but there's really no better way to articulate my return to normalcy.*

p.s. F.L., I hope "normal" is finally returning for you, too!

One Week and Two Days Later...

It has been more than a week since my steroid regimen ended, and the improvement I have seen is phenomenal! I feel like I have finally climbed out of a giant, slippery hole, and I have Steroids to thank for helping me.

A few details (both for the benefit of anyone following the progress, and for my own reference in the event that I find myself in a similar situation down the road) about my experience follow.

Monday, the first day of the "crash," was not too bad. I think I did feel a little bit of the jittery, anxious side effect by the time I went to bed the night before, which made for a rather poor night of sleep. So a bit of tiredness, coupled with the drug's hasty withdrawal from my system, made me feel a bit "hung over" on Monday. I had a headache, I was achy and relatively uncomfortable, but all in all not too bad.

I woke up Tuesday morning weighing 7 pounds more than I had only a few days before. And I could feel it. My face was puffy, my eyes felt swollen, and my belly and rib cage almost felt bruised. It also felt like there were sandbags on my eyelids, and like I was walking around in a fog. This was perfect, since my boss had flown in from out of state, and we were meeting to plan for 2010 that day.

Through these two days, I began to get nervous that the steroids weren't working. My expectation was that the high dose of the drug would knock the symptoms out before the drugs left my system. In hindsight, it was not quite as fast as I expected.

Wednesday morning I still felt foggy, but was a few pounds lighter, and by mid-day the fog was lifting.

By Thursday the remaining five pounds were gone, and I was feeling better than I had in a very long time.

Since finishing the dose of steroids, my symptoms have progressively subsided. In my day-to-day activities, the dizziness is now virtually gone (aside from an occasional moment here and there).

One thing I am discovering (or I suppose "remembering," since it was a notable part of my initial Optic Neuritis prior to my initial diagnosis back in April) is that heat exacerbates my symptoms (Uhthoff's Symptom). Because of this, the symptoms are lingering a bit more when I play soccer. I will say, however, that the symptoms have improved with each and every game that I have played in the last week or so. That's saying something, since I have played quite a few games.

Tonight was no exception. I hope this improvement continues until I'm back to where I was a month or two ago.

But either way, this has been a valuable experience, to say the least. I feel a little more knowledgeable about what I can expect in the future, and I know how my body reacts to the steroids (at least how it reacted this time). I am also coming to realize that this situation is a potential part of my reality going forward. I think that knowledge will help me identify techniques to cope with relapses, and how to integrate them into my life.

It has actually made me think a lot about my tattoo. The meaning of the Dwennimmen is not only strength, but also humility (the ram--although strong--submits humbly to slaughter). I think the best thing I can take from this experience is that it is okay to stop trying to be "normal" when things clearly are not. That it is okay to accept my situation with a little grace and vulnerability, and take the time I need to work through it.

And that's about all I have to say about that.

Moving in the Right Direction

It has been a few days, but I wanted to keep this up to date with details about the steroids, side-effects, and symptoms.

The last couple of days were a little rougher than I expected, but the good news is that today I'm starting to remember what that elusive "normal" state feels like. In fact, this evening I leashed up the dogs and went out for my favorite wintertime activity--a lovely walk along the frozen creek across from my house. I still felt a little "off" on my walk, but leaps and bounds better than I have been feeling for weeks.

There are a lot of new insights, perspectives, and questions I have taken from this experience--and I hope to organize my thoughts into a few posts in the coming days. But for today, I'm happy to say that I'm doing okay.

The Daily Specials, Part 3 of 3 (a.k.a. "Late" breakfast)

Greetings dear readers! This posting comes many hours after breakfast (and the assortment of supplements and pharmaceuticals that accompanied it), but I did not want to neglect the third in a three-part series.

Today's menu consisted of a pre-game ritual favorite of mine, toast with peanut butter and homemade raspberry/peach jelly (thanks Mom!). On the side was an assortment of vitamins, supplements, and the third and final 1,000MG dosage of steroids (no, I did not skip the injection--just disposed of the needle before getting the picture in, and wasn't about to dig in a Sharps bucket of exposed needles for the sake of the photograph).



As day three winds to a close, I have yet to experience any of the dreaded side effects (with the exception of the icky--but certainly tolerable--taste in my mouth). I have been sleeping great at night, no weirdness during the day (other than the hunger thing, but that's not SO weird, right?), no euphoria/hyperactivity/and/or irritability.

On the flip side, I have also not seen a huge difference in my symptoms. I was feeling pretty good today for awhile, but upon getting back on the field for a soccer game (which quickly turned into two games--yes, I am doing my best to stay active and not look like a bumbling idiot while doing it), I was knocked right back to the world of dizzy. However, it does feel like I am making steps in the right direction. No motion sickness meds have been required for the past 3 days (not even for games--which is significant), and the dizziness is less constant. I have also been energized and invigorated for my routine outings and soccer games. These are welcome indicators that I am either on the mend, or at the very least finding better ways to manage my symptoms. Whatever the case, it has been wonderful taking baby steps back toward that elusive "normalcy" I keep referring to.

Crash?
The next road bump in the journey is the much anticipated post-steroidal "crash." DSO informed me that as the high-dose regimen leaves my system, I'll have some "withdrawal" symptoms, which he described as similar to a hangover of sorts. Hopefully these symptoms are as mild as the side-effects, and are short lived. I have some relatively big meetings this week, and I'm hoping to be feeling fantastic for them. Or at least pretty darned good.

Note: Sending a great big congratulatory shout-out to j-dogg in Jersey. Sending giant hugs across the innerwebs. It was great catching up with you today :)

And now for Today's Special...

Here we are, day 2 of the 3 dose steroid regimen. I was prepared to experience at least a few of the side effects (this site provides visual examples of some of the side effects). But my first day was pretty uneventful. I definitely had a strange and rather unpleasant taste in my mouth for much of the day, and a few hours after I took the steroid, I think I could have given Old Country Buffet a run for its money (crap, I was hungry), but I was not jittery, nervous, euphoric, or anything like that. In fact,I hit a wall of exhaustion after work yesterday afternoon, and took a long and refreshing nap. The dizziness is still hanging around, although perhaps to a lesser extent. I did not feal any nausea yesterday, and did not take any motion sickness meds.

Last night I made a field trip to Home Depot to pick up some goodies for a home project I'm working on this weekend, and I will say it was the first time in weeks I actually felt good about getting into my car and leaving the house. Yes, I was still dizzy, but I think the nap (and possibly the 'roids) gave me a little burst of energy. The lack of nausea didn't hurt any, either.

And now here's a look at this morning's menu:



A delightful spread of scrambled eggs with fresh veggies, toast, fresh squeezed OJ,with a side of steroids, supplements, and injections. Here's hoping for more steps toward normalcy, and a productive day of home projects.

Cheers!