Day 1 was crazy!

Okay. So. Let's start with a little back story and then we will jump back to where the last post left off.

Remember how the right azygos vein was dramatically restricted? The part we accidentally on purpose left out was that it was so bad that it was impossible to get the balloon in to do the angioplasty. The only thing they could do to open it up was to use a stent. We were told that there was a slight possiblity that this would be necessary and that it would cost $3,000. Azure-Dee and I talked about it ahead of time and decided that if she needed one to go ahead and get it. Less than 10% of patients here have needed one. So when they failed with the angioplasty they asked her if she would like them to proceed with the stent she gave them the go ahead. Stents are made for arteries not veins so it wasn't exactly an easy decision. But the reason we are here is to open up restricted blood vessels. In the cases of extreme narrowing where angioplasty was performed many times there has been a re-narrowing of the veins. With the stent that won't happen.

Let's now jump forward to the chest pains. The pains in the chest were caused by the procedure and installation of the stent itself. The pain seemed to get worse through the night. In the morning I called the surgeon on his cell phone and he told us to come into the hospital. As soon as we walked in the lobby he met us and showed us in. With some fluids and pain meds the pain was under control and x-ray showed that the stent was still where it belonged.

Okay now lets talk symptoms. The first thing that was noticed was last night with the warm feet. Then this morning the leg thing which I described in the last post, and then came the different sensations with the numbness in the right hand.

In the neurological evaluation this evening it became very clear that she had much better balance and more strength in her right leg. Yesterday when she sat on the edge of the bed put both arms straight out in front of her and closed her eyes she immediately tipped over. The same test while standing with her feet together it had the same result. Tonight however when she sat on the edge of the bed, put both arms straight out and closed her eyes she sat still. I'm pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head. She opened her eyes and looked at me with a shocked look on her face and said "I can do it! I didn't tip!" Then standing she was able to stand with her feet together with out major wabbles for quite a few seconds before opening her eyes to help with her balance. It was truly amazing for me to see.

One thing you need to understand about MS sufferers is that any form of stress on the body makes the symptoms much worse. So here we are with an MS patient who had a horrible sleep, had in invasive procedure about 12 hours before, had been experiencing pain described as and elephant was standing on her chest, and she was better than before. That is impossible. That's not how it works. She should not have been able to do things that she hasn't been able to do for quite some time. Her walking is more balanced and fluid as well! I saw it with my own eyes and I still have a hard time believing it. Is she ready to tap dance or walk briskly? no. But to see signs of improvement however small they may seem to some is remarkable.

MS has been all about the unknown, and it still is. But now it's different. There is new hope. Before the unknown was how bad will she get and how long will it take? Now the unknown is how good can she get, how long will it take, and how long will it last? There is new hope and I like it.

Right now Azure-Dee is sleeping. I am pretty sure you will get to hear directly from her tomorrow.

Thanks again for your support. Your messages and kind words mean a lot to her so please keep them coming.

Ricardo