Don’t you love the way I date myself with the Irene Cara music?  We all boogied to it.  You know you did!

It  just so happens that today it is a very fitting title to describe  how my day began, as glimmers of neurologic improvement continue to sprout in this MS-worn body of mine.

I was up bright and early, around 5:45 a.m.  I get up and start moving around (yes, still dizzy from the chemo…slow her down, Brooke).  I pick out my clothes, I take some meds, I have my supplemental protein drink, and all the while I’m thinking that I must have really been sweating last night, because my pajama pants (see pic below) seem so damp down the fronts of the legs.  Well, first of all, my legs never sweat, and second of all, I had not sweating issues at all last night.  I keep moving, still trying to figure out why my pants are so cold.  I finally just reach down to feel them, and they are dry as a bone!  Well, well, well…what do we have here?  About five years ago, I lost the sensation of the outer layer of skin in both of my legs from about the mid-thigh, down.  Did it take a little getting used to?  Did I have to be super careful when shaving to avoid cutting myself?  Did I end up with bruises that I had absolutely no idea where I would have gotten something so dramatic?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Was it going to keep me from living, breathing, working.  No, there would plenty of that to come in other disabling forms.  I continue to press the pants against my legs, each time, feeling the cooler temperature of the fabric.  I then put my hand on my leg, and voila!…I can feel that, too.  Well, just tie me up in a bow and call me amazed.  Something else surfaces anew.  Another bud of hope.  You need to understand, that it takes up to two years and a max of five to see the full benefit of this treatment.  To be seeing so many little things so early, lifts my soul.  They may be fleeting and then return again.  But, for now, I will remain steadfast in my belief that I got here just in time.  That there was no other path that I should have taken, and that hope springs eternal in this house of healing.

MY NUMBERS ARE IN!!

My leukocytes are now at 18.9!!  Hemoglobin 112 and Platelets have doubled to 48.  Something interesting that Dr. Fedorenko explained to me today is that their are two different engraftments going on during this process.  Leukocyte engraftment and platelet engraftment (I didn’t know that!).  He said that when my platelets reach 50, they will be considered “engrafted”.  Meaning that they will be doubling down with my leukocytes to jump start this brand-spankin’ new immune system of mine.

HAIRS TO YA!

Dr. F. did another examination of my scalp, which now glares like the sun underneath the fine coating of what’s left of my hair.  He says, again “We will not shave your hair.  It will be completely gone in two days.”.  I’ve trusted this man every step of the way, and he’s never steered me wrong.  If he says two days, I say two days.  Bring it!