We met with Dr. Jacobe Sloan at BIDMC here in Boston. And no surprise to anyone, he re-confirmed that I indeed do have MS. I’ve already settled into this disease of mine and it has had such a profound and positive impact that I would have been thrown for a total loop had he said anything other than that.
We went through my scans again and he pointed out all the areas that were responding to contrast on my brain and spine. Again all old news.
The only one surprised was the Doctor when he found out that his hospital actually sent me home with a diagnosis of exhaustion after my first episode and having been admitted for 2-days. In hindsight, I was really not in a mental place to be dealing with any of that during that time. Everything happens when it’s supposed to.
He suggested two treatment options. Copaxone, which he sees as the best option for me based on my disease status/stage and plans for a pregnancy. Copaxone, as it was explained to me, takes 6-months of injections (7x/week or 3x/week) before it’s fully effective. However, it is not known if it will harm my unborn baby or if it will pass into my breast milk. The second option, which is pill form and only takes 6-weeks to begin to work is Tecfidera. Just like Copaxone, it is not known if it will harm my unborn baby or if it will pass into my breast milk. )If you’ve had any experience with either of these drugs while pregnant, I’d love to hear about it.)
What does this mean for me? It means, I’ll be sticking to my plan. No drugs until after I have had my next child and I am done breastfeeding. I am open to revisiting that plan though if my scans in August show progression of the disease or if I experience a relapse between now and then.
Until then, I stay focused on very clean eating and adhering to my anti-inflammatory diet, my supplement regimen, yoga/barre classes and simplifying everything in my life. It’s been a really backwards thing for me to be putting myself first. But in really it just “feels right” and I have never felt like my family or the other people that depend on me are suffering bc of it. If anything, we all are benefiting from it.
It’s quite an amazing thing.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
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