Recovering Well

When you're sick, you're supposed to sleep and drinks lots of liquids. Pretty much just sleep, soup, ice cream and movies until you're feeling better. It's only logical to give your body time to heal itself and recover from the exhaustion of fighting whatever it was you were sick with. 

In my case with MS, my body attacks itself (basically the cells that are supposed to keep out viruses, and keep me healthy and strong get confused and attack healthy cells instead of viruses and cause a lot of damage to the nerves in my brain) and cause a "Relapse" of symptoms. To fight off the confused helper cells that are attacking healthy nerves, the doctors load me up with Steroids. The idea is to shut down my system, and give it time to reboot, and hopefully when it reboots the helper cells won't be confused anymore, and won't attack healthy nerves. 

When I am recovering my body isn't just recuperating from the relapse, it's also trying to recuperate from having all of the added drugs and steroids in my system. Like I said, steroids shut down my system. They make me very susceptible to colds, flues, bug bites, sun burns and anything else you can think of, which is one of the reasons my skin breaks out so badly every time. So I'm fighting everything I come in contact with. 

Fortunately, this time I've stayed out of the sun, and away from anyone who's sick, so with the exception of the pressure headache I'm suffering from today, I've been very healthy (all things considered). 

The only unfortunate thing is that I don't "do" recovery very well. I have a very hard time sitting still. Even when I'm writing I have a hard time staying in one place. So my remedy has been to take short jaunts. Small breaks out of the house to keep my spirits up. Getting out is tiring, but the mental stimulation and sense of achievement I feel when I go out and push my limits is amazing. It may not be right, but it seems to be working for me. 

My recovery is going very well. I've finished the steroids and my skin is already starting to heal. My face is pretty much back to normal, the paralyses was temporary, and my dizziness is all but gone. I still have some lasting effects that are preventing me from feeling 100%, but if you looked at me, you'd have no idea I've just had a relapse, or that I have MS at all. 

I'm doing very well, thank you to everyone who's been thinking of me, sending me gift baskets, cards, texts and hugs. I adore you all. 

-Brandy