"Team We'd Stick That."

I chose the lab because it was adjacent to my neurologist's office, so I figured somehow this would make my life easier. It was close to campus, but so were five others. Sonora Quests are like McDonald's, with one on every corner, but my favorite location had closed. Now that I was facing extensive blood work and a standing order for monthly liver panels, I missed it. Seeing their motto spelled out in construction paper above the clock, I knew this was the place for me.

As someone who does not like to take even a Tylenol, heck, I have to ask for a ZPack whenever I have had to take antibiotics or else I wouldn't finish it, I have to shift my mindset about taking the DMD (disease modifying drug) I have been prescribed. Especially when that medication requires blood tests before I can begin taking it, a separate prescription identification card, and a consultation with my personal, MS One-to-One nurse before I can begin. Oh, and they have monthly seminars in Phoenix and in Tucson for patients and care-givers.

I am not sure how I feel about those words, let alone the medication. I am not suddenly going to exist in in a perpetual state of "patient-hood" just because of an autoimmune disease. On a cellular and spiritual level, I feel like if my body is attacking itself than I can make it stop. My husband is not my caregiver, he is my partner-in-crime. Just now our hijinks require him to laugh at the inappopriate jokes I make while getting my blood drawn. He at least takes me to lunch before every stick.

But that medication though.

It is the only one I plan to take, and it works by wiping out my immune system, so that antibodies don't attack the myelin sheath protecting my nerve cells and my brain. It seems bass aackward to me, but I can somewhat see the logic. The other symptoms, such as the leg spasms that keep me up at night, I have been managing with a combination of essential oils. My symptoms seem to abate to some degree when I do not consume dairy, soy, gluten, or grains, so I can no longer treat my Paleo diet like my mistress. It's time for me to put a ring on it.

I plan to get massages more regularly (oh, the horror!), in addition to regular accupuncture treatments. And since I am in Arizona, there will definitely be some crystal work and chakra balancing involved. I have also rededicated myself to the art of meditation and breath work.

Maybe, just maybe, I won't need the medication at all. Eventually.

10/27/2015 Update: Today, one of my students brought me a necklace comprised of crystals she was drawn to in Portland last week. When she couldn't walk away from it, she inquired about the healing properties contained therein, and bought it for me. Crystals engaged.

#ms #aubagio #liverpanel