I’ve been thinking about making this blog post for about a month now trying to think of something great to write. Alas, I’ve got nothing huge to share with you!
Since my last post, not a whole lot has changed, and that is probably the best case scenario for my overall goal of not having any new or worsening symptoms.
A lot of people in the MS community make 5 years the first big milestone to reach. With cancer treatment, if you make it to 5 years after treatment and your cancer doesn’t come back, you’re considered a survivor and cured. For years I’ve been waiting to make it to this day so I could say that I’m cured. Well here I am! But the more that I thought about being “cured” it makes me a little hesitant to say such a thing because I know that at any time it could come back with a vengeance. Thankfully, I’ve always been very good at staying optimistic and I’m SO happy that I’ve made it so long with NO new or worsening symptoms and as of my last MRI, no new damage to my brain or spinal cord. This is more than I could have hoped for, really. 5 years of letting my MS not be in the forefront of my mind on a daily basis. No self administered shots or pills to take and no outward appearances that anything might be wrong. What a blessing to have been given this new lease on life!
All of my symptoms remain the same. Heat and stress remain my only triggers that makes my vision blurry and my balance a little tricky. Thankfully, just like last year’s update, those symptoms go away fairly quickly once I cool down. I’ve got to say that having a swimming pool in my backyard was a complete lifesaver for me this summer!
I’ve also made it another year with my immune system kicking butt and somehow keeping me Covid free. If you could see me right now you’d see me making a suspicious questioning face, because I did go through a 2 week sickness in which I had the worst cough I’ve ever had and I lost my taste and smell…but I never tested positive…so there’s that. Many people in the HSCT communities who have relapsed noted that it happens after a major sickness and so that was in the back of my mind as I fought whatever sickness that was that I had. Luckily I came out unscathed and I can now add taste and smell to something I definitely take for granted on a daily basis.
I am SO happy that HSCT is being talked about more in the media, even if I don’t agree with some of the things said about it, I’m glad it is at least being put out there for people to learn about. Selma Blair continues to spread awareness after her movie and various interviews came out and now she’s even on Dancing With the Stars! I bet she didn’t see that in her future when she was in her darkest days of her MS journey.
A major magazine put out by the National MS Society also published a big article shedding light on this treatment. Like I said, I don’t agree with everything that was said in it, but it makes me SO excited when I see people pop up in the forums that I’m on who are just newly diagnosed and they are already looking into this treatment option. I still say this should be considered a first line of defense against MS before wasting time on other treatments that might just slow progression. I look forward to the day that HSCT is widely accepted and supported here in the United States so that more people can take advantage of it early on in their disease so we can have more success stories like mine.
So I made it to 5 years since I got my stem cells back and a new rebooted immune system and my disease is still in remission. Some would say I’m cured. Some would say I’m a survivor. I’m going to say I’m blessed beyond measure.
Thanks for following along with me on this journey, and if all goes as planned, I’ll be updating with another “nothing new to share” post in 365 days.
Adios!
Adios, MS! 