My MS Symptoms Top 10 Countdown - #3 Weakness

Yikes, it's been almost two months since my last symptom series post! It's been a busy and tiring stretch, but part of my delay is probably because 2 of the last 3 symptoms I'm planning to write about are doozies. But today, I'll get the last one that's easy to write about out of the way - weakness!

Weakness in MS does not mean that the muscles themselves are weak. (Although that can certainly happen as well, as MS can often lead to being less active and the muscles will become less well-conditioned as a result.) Rather, it's the muscles aren't getting the message to do their jobs because of damage to the nerve fibers.

Muscles in both the arms and legs have had some weakness issues for me. In my most recent relapse, the entire left side of my body was weak. It was endlessly fascinating to me to not even be able to hold my arm up in the air without it falling back down as captured in this video that I shared a while ago:

After time and steroids, the left side weakness is better. I can now lift a 5-lb weight again. And I can stand in the security line scanner airport pose without my arm dropping!

In the past, weakness has just meant that large muscle groups (especially my quads) would reach total exhaustion WAY sooner than they should have. Pre-MS Kayla could have comfortably biked for miles; post-MS Kayla's legs would completely give after only a handful of blocks. Activities like biking and climbing stairs were impacted. Walking was as well, but not nearly to the same degree of intensity. There have been some not-too-long-ago examples of weakness impacting walking ability more significantly, though. A 1-mile walk near my home that I take pretty regularly saw my speed going from maybe 3 mph at the beginning of the walk to maybe 0.25 mph by the halfway point, as every step felt like moving lead.

So there has been some pretty significant acute weakness for me in the past as well as some chronic weakness issues that continue.

This Week in My Life: Week 9 of 2016

The view from here:

This one's for you, Heather!
I went to a place I never go to except when you're home to eat a free birthday breakfast.

got a much-needed haircut, bringing back the side bang for the first time in a while

an awesome package of birthday goodies from my sistar:
my fave ginger mints, a cool clay face mask, homemade hot sauce, and
THE MOST AMAZING COOKIES EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

the view from the neuro waiting room

The next chapter in the crappy car saga:

After spending $550 10 days ago and the car seeming to be fixed, as of yesterday the original problems are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNACCEPTABLE, Subie!!! (Subie is my car's name.) Taking her in on Monday. Hopefully by next week, this unending craptastic story will be concluded for good.

On the MS front:

The left arm weakness continued and the left leg joined the party. I couldn't get into the neuro until yesterday. The neuro exam was pretty funny during all the push/pull or don't let me push/pull parts. Right side did its job, left side was immediately defeated. Here's a video of some of the weakness in action:

The results of the appt: it's a relapse/flareup/exacerbation/bad-thing (DUH), going to get an MRI right away then start steroids (OH JOY), going to stop the Aubagio posthaste, almost certainly going back to Tysabri. I'll keep you posted!

What I read this week:

I hadn't realized that I haven't received any issues of Momentum since I moved a year ago until I saw this issue in the waiting room yesterday. Flipped through it and read the pain article seen on the cover. Nice to see the validation of this as it's a major problem for me and one that wasn't really known or talked about much until relatively recently. Didn't really learn anything new except for the idea of Botox injections for pain. The lady quoted about it has leg pain that sounded an awful lot like mine, so I'm very intrigued.

Really enjoyed this blog post by Robert. Loving as always, Kate's monthly email newsletters.

Finished Playing With Fire. Definitely different from her usual books, but really liked it.

Read What She Knew, by the mom of the kid who plays Timothy on one of my favorite shows, Call the Midwife. Loved it.

Read A Curious Mind. It was okay with some interesting stories, but overall not nearly as good as I was anticipating.

This Week in My Life: Week 8 of 2016

Update on the car drama:

Took the car to a different place and was told that 1. the part had been put in totally incorrectly by the previous place and that 2. the real problem was something else entirely and that 3. it would cost about $400 to fix. Great. So the total with the part (that maybe wasn't even needed) + a rental car for one day + a new fuel pump + labor, the grand total came to $550. That would have paid for the new tires the car desperately needs, but oh well. At least the car is working again!

The view from here:

book + coffee + blanket = happiness

my mom made me this delicious breakfast burrito

it's looking and feeling a lot like spring out there
not at all typical for a MN february

On the MS:

Various paresthesias have been continuing, and now a more troubling issue has joined them: significant weakness of the left arm. Much like how I enjoyed making faces in the mirror when I had Bell's Palsy, I'm morbidly fascinated by this. Holding both arms above my head, or straight out, or in any position really, my left arm will slowly dip down lower and lower. It started yesterday and doesn't seem any worse today, but is also not any better. I experienced this before during my first awful year of MS struggles, especially difficult because I was trying to finish my master's degree in horn performance at the time and holding my horn up with my left arm was a major challenge. I'm still not sure how I completed my master's recital for this reason alone.

What I read this week:

• Reread my beloved favorite, To Kill a Mockingbird. It's as great as ever. So many dear characters and plenty of tears.
• Crimson Shore. Another thrilling adventure (ending with a massive cliffhanger) with one another beloved character, Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast.
• About three-quarters through Tess Gerritsen's Playing With Fire. This author usually writes medical thrillers, but this book centers around a piece of music for violin. Turns out Gerritsen is some kind of superwoman  - not only is she a doctor and a bestselling author, but she also wrote a 7-minute composition for violin and piano to go with the book. I bought a recording and it's pretty cool to listen to while reading the book since the piece of music is such an essential part of the story.