Ancestry on my dad's side.

I did some digging on my family history of my dad's side of the family and discovered some pretty cool stuff. Like this land deed to Joseph Mathie signed by Andrew Johnson, January, 15th 1867.

This letter is from as one of my ancestors as she made the move from Switzerland to America. Because it was originally written in German, it as been transcribed to English. It's a really fascinating glimpse into her experience!
The cursive writing reads:
"Our great-grandmother was 43 yrs old at the time she wrote this letter. She was accompanied by her husband + 8 children ranging in ages 17-3 yrs old when she made this oacian voyage from Laufen Switzerland to New York in 1878.
Our grandmother, Josephine was 9 years old at the time.
There was bitter confusion concerning the Catholic Church in Switzerland and Germany at this time leading to the formation of the sect known as the "Old Catholic Church." This church was then confiscated by the sect which claimed to be the "True Old Catholic Church."
Because of this religious struggle and for economic reasons - Stephen Meyer and his wife Marie Anne (Frey) Meyer came to America settling in Marathon County.

Round 2 of my first infusion

Good report, this 2nd round of my first infusion went much better. In fact, it sorta proved to me that the nurse for my very first infusion didn't... well... I don't want to say she didn't know what she was doing, but she certainly didn't do very well compared to this last nurse.

Here are some things I didn't have to experience today compared to my awful first time around:

• Puking! This time when I told them was allergic to Tylenol I wasn't force to take it. 

• Blown vein.

15 days later and it still looks icky.

• Being dismissed. I was listened to when I told this new nurse to use my right arm because I'm left handed (and I still had a gnarly bruise on that arm). Cause, Jiminy Cricket, give that arm a break! Plus, unlike last time, before putting in the IV she numbed the sight! Needle in - smooth like butter.
• Painful burning sensation every time the medicine started pumping in. That sucked last time and apparently that should not happen. It probably means the IV wasn't in correctly. This time, I only notice the medicine pumping in when the IV tubes suddenly felt cooler.
• ASTHMA ATTACK! I don't think this is any nurses fault. I just had a bad reaction the first time. Was it just because I was acclimating to Ocrevus - probably, or was it because the IV wasn't in correctly - don't know.
• Dizziness. I am a little dizzy but not like I was last time.
• Being pumped full of steroids. Because I didn't have an asthma attack this time, there was no need for me to be pumped full of steroids. I did have to have a little before the infusion, but that is routine.
• Totally wiped out. I was stupid and drove myself last time. I should have known better. Matt took me this time and I am sooo very thankful. I'm still feeling tired, but that is just the nature of Ocrevus infusions.
• Migraine. The nurses are not allowed to give out Ibuprofen as an alternative. However, I am allowed to take Ibuprofen before my appointment, which I did. Wish I would have known that before my first appointment.
• Uncomfortable bed. They only had a cart for me the first time. I got terrible neck pain which added to my migraine. After 6 hours I wanted to burn that cart! Today, this little princess got a very comfortable bed and I was smart enough to bring my neck pillow. The nurses said my room had a Zen like atmosphere. 

 After today my next infusions will be every 6 months. Since I now know how it should and should not go, I feel like this infusion stuff isn't so bad. I got this. At least I don't have to worry about forgetting to take medicine every day.

First Ocrevus (oak•ra•vus) infusion

The first thing they had me do when I arrived for my infusions at Meriter, was take Tylenol and Benadryl pills. I haven't taken Tylenol in years because it really doesn't do anything for me but make my ears ring louder than tinnitus. Then, Nurse Amy, blew my vein in my left arm putting in the IV. I warned her that the left arm is usually fickle so she switched to the right, where she struggled with that one too and had to have another nurse come in and use this cool device that shows my veins. Eventually/painful, she got it in. I got light headed and threw up. Model patient.

They decided to skip the Tylenol since I puked it up and they think my allergy to it may be part of the reason I puked. It might be due to her digging around in my arm and sucking at hitting a vein, but whatever it was, luckily it cleared up. 

Then they gave me liquid concentrated Benadryl in my IV which made me very dizzy and sleepy. I napped off and on but someone was in my room every 15 minutes checking vitals and meds. 

At around noonish I started having trouble breathing - like asthma attack bad. Nurse Amy gave me more steroids in the IV until it went away. It's a normal side effect to feel a little out of breath while getting the Ocrevus infusion. But feeling like an elephant is sitting on your chest is something they needed to fix. Even a baby elephant wasn't allowed to stay. They also decided to dilute the meds since my body wasn't handling the strong medicine very well. Yeah, that is the reason I reacted so violently to Copaxone. 

After I was finally able to breathe normally, they gave me more concentrated Benadryl and I was doozing again. Needless to say, no binge watching anything was gonna happen. When I was finally all done nurse Amy said I'm probably going to feel wiped out for the rest of the day and possible tomorrow too. Great. 

Plus, lucky me, I got my period while at the infusion center and a migraine to go with it. Which causes a problem because I'm supposed to report any cramps and/or headaches that last longer than a day because it might be due to Ocrevus. Well now they won't be able to tell which is causing them.

Dumpster Fire.🔥 🔥 🔥 Burn, baby, burn. 🔥 🔥 🔥

Ocular neuritis

2 weeks ago, I got the stomach flu at work. Retching in the garbage cans in the office was *shudder* gross. The next day my right eye hurt when I looked around. Went to the neurologist and she said it was oculars neuritis and gave me steroids to speed up the healing process. It did...sorta. The pain in my eye was gone but, my vision was terrible. I couldn't read out of that eye. It was like an old TV with bad reception and the screen has all that static snow, but you can sort see the pictures. Plus, the steroids turned me into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Neurologist said that was not normal and scheduled and emergency Opthalmologist appointment.

Update:

It's normal optic neuritis.  Now just waiting for it to fully heal... hopefully.

The winds of change

Some winds are a gale-force and some are a whisper.
I struggled working as a Grainger Customer Service rep for almost a year. The floors vibrated because of people walking and my MS didn't like it. I could only work part-time because of it. Even then, I would be dizzy everyday after work and needed a cane to walk around while working there. I was in a constant fog as I struggled with the dizziness and multi-tasking while trying to handle customers over the phone. I was miserable.
I'm happy to announce I got a new job at Grainger as a Cash Processing Administrator on the first floor! The floors shouldn't vibrate so I can work full time now!
I've already been in training for a week in Illinois and can already tell this new job is a better fit. I won't have to multi-task while on the phone either. All communications are done through the computer. Yay!! I had a blast getting to know my new coworkers...and some old ones. I still have more training to do, but I'm more hopeful than I have been in a while.

This is close to the Grainger building where I was training. pretty cool.

On to change number two. We have been trying to refinance this house for a while. Our last appraisal was depressing. This time around it looks good. We hope to start getting some major repairs done that are in critical status.
Change three might not even happen. I was suppose to start Ocrevus infusions last week but had to cancel it because I was in Illinois. I honestly don't know if I want to reschedule. I've read up on the side effects that can happened during the first 2 infusions that are a week apart. Most describe flu-like symptoms that can last a few days or even a month. It's suppose to go away and after that I would only have to have 2 infusions a year. These infusions are an immunosuppressant. Meaning it can adversely affect how I fight off illnesses. Upper respiratory infections being the most common. I have asthma. My respiratory system is already compromised. Do I take the risk? Plus, with this new job I really can't afford to be sick. For goodness sake, I had 3 relapses while on MS medication! Starting to have my doubts y'all!
There are other changes that are currently in the works. Zach is shopping for a car and hoping to move out soon. Sam is flourishing in school and making new friends. I've been on a spiritual journey that has me deep in the Word. I've been really excited to learn some Greek and Hebrew to understand the Bible and the context in which it was written. I feel like I'm reading the Bible for the first time again with a renewed fervor.
I thank the Lord for His presence during all theses changes.

My first MRA

So, I didn't mention this in the last post because I didn't want to freak people out until I had all the facts.

My doctors were concerned that I had suffered from a TIA stroke when I has my last episode. They didn't want me to fly until I got cleared and ordered a MRA to check my carotid artery. 

This was kind of a problem because I'm flying to CA tomorrow! So thankful I was able to find a place that was able to get me a MRA for today. They even got me a CD with all the images on it to take with me.

My doctors rushed the analysis and cleared me to fly. Phew!

So my last post title is correct, it was not a stroke. Just a freak MS thing.

I don't care what you say, this picture is freakin' cool! It so neat to see how my veins run through my body - well, brain, neck, and chest. I have lots more images but, just like someone's vacation photos, I'll spare you the boring ones.

latest MRI

MRI 7/13/17 Cerebellum

Had a MRI today. From what I can see on the scans there are new lesions.

The below picture shows my brain stem has a new lesion too. My balance has been really off lately and this is probably why.

Been comparing my 2016 MRIs and this is my best assessment. Of course, I will know more once my doctors review the images and let me know what they think.