The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ok, because it wouldn't be fair for life to be 100% bliss, we have to have some bad to balance out the good. Hard times make us appreciate the good times that much more.

In light of this, Andy has pretty much been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In April, he had what is called Optic Neuritis. He was having problems seeing out of one eye. The doctors kept making quick referrals, so we knew something was up, and we got escalated to a neurologist rather quickly since this Optic Neuritis can be indicative of Multiple Sclerosis. So, Andy sat through a two hour MRI, and they diagnosed him with "Clinically Isolated Syndrome". He had a lesion on his brain, this Optic Neuritis, and had had another separate episode also, at some point. A nurse came to our house and showed Andy how to administer his medicine which he takes once a week - in the form of a shot. This is supposed to "delay", NOT prevent, any episodes and full blown Multiple Sclerosis. He has not technically been diagnosed with MS since a diagnosis is kind of a complicated thing which requires so many episodes in a certain amount of time and one of his episodes happened without knowledge of time frame.

Since then, Andy has been dealing with numbness and tingling in the torso, fingers, legs, arms, with it moving to different spots randomly. The side effects of his medicine (which may or may not work) include flu-like symptoms like shakes, shivering, sweats, temperature and a general fatigue. He takes the shot on Friday evening so he can sleep through most of the symptoms and take it easy all day Saturday. This past week he has been dealing with dizzy spells and has been refraining from driving, I had to drive him to work a couple of days.

So, there it is - the bad and ugly to our good. Everyone has ugly, and I am here to share it all, not just the happy "oh-everything-is-so-perfect" moments. Because, unfortunately, life is not perfect. But we do find joy in our little Amara Mae. When we found out about Andy's condition, he mentioned how he was really glad we had her when we did because she is such a stress reliever, and he could use that right now. She gives a little added meaning to life. She makes us laugh and smile every day.