Monday, May 5, 2014

I really hate the heat! This heat slurs my words; it is like I am speaking another language...gives me fatigue...Bad Bowels...

(Jeannine Everett, Columnist, MS News Channel)

I hate the heat! I mean I really hate the heat.  I have to backtrack here for a bit so bear with me. I was diagnosed with MS in August of 2000 having symptoms for 14 years.  I was diagnosed with everything under the sun before this happened, Epstein Bar Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, Ulna constriction (which I have had 3 elbow surgeries), compressed discs in my neck(2 surgeries) and Hypoglycemia.    Well anyway, I was diagnosed with MS in San Francisco (I know about this because my neurologist gave me a MSbook to help me understand what it  was) and moved to Monterey, California.  It was cold and damp.  You think hot is bad, try cold and damp.  Anyway I got this wild hair and decided to move closer to my son in Arizona.  OK, that’s a good idea because in Monterey I could never get warm (everyone thought 80 degrees was a heat wave), so Arizona would be warm and I would love it. What was I thinking #^%#(&^)^)(&_&*.
  OK, yes it is a dry heat (and I want to hit the person who said that)   It is HOT.  I have actually wanted to crack an egg and put it out on my patio to see what would happen.

So I had to see my doctor today, it was a cool 106 degrees and of course I had to wear my braces, one for each leg.  I have created a fashion statement with these braces.  I wear black socks so I guess they look like boots because people keep telling me they love my boots.  Why would I wear boots when it is 106 degrees, really?  OK anyway they look like the shoes Abbey wears from NCIS.  So now being so hot outside I don’t even have to tell you how hot they make me but I guess I should be happy because they are fashion Goth.  I feel like I have MS when I take them off.  OK fantasy gone.

So I started Tecfidera.  When I went outside with my dog my skin felt like it was on fire.  I have to say it was 115 degrees on that day and sometimes I hate my dog because she won’t do her business without me.  So I got my umbrella to see if that would help and felt really stupid and my dog kept looking at me funny since it was not raining.  I could only stand it for about 5 minutes and proceeded to call my doctor who told me not to go out during the day…….REALLY?  Now I truly felt Goth and it really sucked. I hate the heat.

This heat is allowing creepy other people to take over my body. It slurs my words; it is like I am speaking another language.  I dare not talk to anyone during these times and feel like I should start speaking with my hands.

And don’t even let me get into what it does to my bowels, yes bowels I said it.  They just have a mind of their own.  Bad Bowels.

And let’s talk about the fatigue you get in this heat.  I feel like the Queen barely raising my arm to waive.  I think the better term for it would be SLUG.  My brain won’t work; I have to take out my name from my brain so I can fit another sentence in it and then forget it (I really hate when that happens).

I do have a cooling vest.  I also have these fashionable wrist bands as well as a cooling cap.  Now I feel SNAZZY.  But in Arizona I can honestly say they work for about 5 minutes and then you are a goner.  I just work up a sweat running in and out to keep watering them down to keep cool.  So I don’t use them that much but I am glad I have them.

Heat, I hate it.  I really miss the coldness of California and can’t go back there because it is too expensive to live there, now that I am disabled and on a limited budget.  But that is a rant for another time.

Carry On.