Morphine and MS

The patch starts at 25mcg and of course that is what I was started on. It was too much for my body to handle after three weeks of continuous morphine going into by body. I talked about how good I felt on the morphine patch and how it turned on me. Well, I am happy to annouce the patch comes in a lower dose of 12mcg…it just came on the market. My pharmacist told me when I inquired if I can cut the 25mcg patch in half. The lower dose patch was so new neurologists and doctors did not know the morphine patch came in a lower dosage. I called my Neurologist and informed her about the lower dosage and we decided to see if having a lower dose patch would work for me.

On September 27 it will be one month I have been wearing a 12mcg Fentanyl/Duragesic patch. I have not been feeling the daily nerve tingles through out my body and my pain is about non existent. I only had to take Lortab 10mg every now and then for break thru pain. I am able to function more now that I do not have to take the numerous pills I had to take prior to wearing the patch.

I know what is working for me may not work for others, but that is why I blog and talk to others about what works for me because what is working for me might just work for you. My goal was to not take so much medicine on a daily basis and for the last month wearing the lowest micro gram of morphine has helped me reach that goal. I now only wear the patch take my Copaxone injection daily and take one or two Lortabs a week. That is a far cry from taking 10 different prescriptions on a daily basis.

The only problem I have now is getting use to taking the injections again after stopping for thirty days when I considered taking Tysabri. I am not going to lie… it still hurts like hell every time I push that needle, but Copaxone is working and I have to do what I have to do.

Is There A MS Scam Going On

I am one of those consumers who despise telemarketers. Telemarketers are pesky and annoying and now days most of telemarketing contracts are with prisons or another country.

I might have been one of the first consumers to sign up with the National Do Not Call Registry. My telephone numbers and name should not go off the list until 2010. That is why I couldn’t understand why this telemarketing number 1-877-213-7608 was calling my house. That number start calling my house September 10 asking for my husband who was out of town. I knew it was a telemarketer so I politely told them we are on the do not call list and not to call again.

The pesky *&#* %&@@ called my house everyday exactly at 8:00am and 6:00pm. I became so pissed I final dialed that 800 number and asked in a not so pleasant tone who the hell were they and why are they still calling my house after I asked them not to. Low and behold it was a foreigner who couldn’t speak good English; I was outrage to this intrusion of my privacy.

I decided September 19 to call and report the number. As luck would have it a telemarketer from that same number called before I called to report the number. This time she acknowledges me before asking for my husband. This was my opportunity to find out who the hell is behind this 800 number intruding on my privacy. I was floored to find out she was calling on behalf of the National MS Society and was seeking a donation from my husband because records showed he donates to the MS Society. I challenged her on why she was calling because I have MS and I am an active member of the National MS Society and I raise money every year during the National MS Society Walk Fundraiser and I never known them to do a phone fundraiser.

My first question to her was, “Why is the National MS Society soliciting by phone when as long as I have been involved they never solicit money by phone?” She couldn’t answer it to my satisfaction. I also asked, “If this is a National MS Society fundraiser campaign why would they call contributors who contribute to me on my behalf during the MS Walk." I told her, "I know for a fact my husband and others who are on my list of contributors do not want to be bothered by a phone fundraiser drive." The telemarketer was dumbfounded and all she could say was,” I will not be receiving anymore calls."

I called the Mid-South MS Society headquarters in Nashville MS Society and told them what has been going on for the last week and a half. They too were surprise a phone call fundraiser was going on in their name. I gave them the 800 number and I was told they were going to look into it and let me know because it is not their policy to call and ask for money. I told them, “I did not appreciate it and I know the people on the list I turned in who contributed to the MS Society on my behalf would not appreciate being called and asked for a donation when they have already donated this year.” I also let them know that if this is a new policy of theirs it will hurt my chances for receiving donations next year from my contributors if they are harassed by the aggressive telemarketers who were harassing my household with unwanted phone calls.”

Finally, if this is a new fundraiser drive for the National MS Society, they need to put a stop to it NOW and SHAME on them for having an aggressive telemarketing firm call to beg for money on the behalf of the MS Society. I and many others work our tails off to raise money during the MS Walk and Bike fundraisers and to solicit off the list we turn in to the society is WRONG on many levels.
Mainly, NO ONE wants unsolicited pesky, annoying telemarketers calling them.

Until I know differently I am going to assume the telemarketing calls from someone stating they are representing the National MS Society as a SCAM.

Thanks Mom

My mother was and is my role model on how to be a woman. There is not a price or value of a woman’s worth. My mother worked full-time and always had a homemade dinner prepared for my father and us. She kept a clean house and made sure me and my siblings did our part. She was a disciplinary who did not take any bullshit. As long as you told her the truth she had your back. If she found out you lied you would have a severe price to pay…trust is everything. She also had the courage to walk away from my father because he did not appreciate her. To this day my father is still in love with my mother and my ex-husband is still in love with me. Like most men, my Dad and Ex did not know they had a good woman until it was too late. My mother has been divorced from my father for 29 years. She said she would never marry again and she didn’t, but she has been happily involved with the same man who I know love her and treat her like a Queen for the past 24 years.

I married young and the only good thing out of that marriage was my beautiful daughters. When I divorced at the tender age of 28, I told myself I would NEVER get married again. A woman tends to loose her identity when she thinks she is in love at a young age. My mother recognized my first husband was stripping me of who I was. She never interfered in my marriage, but she did say this to me, “You are not the daughter I raised; you need to find yourself again.” I did not understand her statement in the beginning, but as the years went by I realized what she was talking about and I made the painful decision to walk away from my daughters Dad.

That was the best decision I ever made in my life. Life is too short to be in an unhealthy relationship for the sake of children. I allowed myself to fall in love again and I must say when you are not looking for love that is usually when you find real love. After dating my present husband for a few years and turning down proposal of marriage because of my first bad experience. I took that leap of faith and followed my heart and married my soul mate in 1995. My old school ways, sex appeal, and personality is what attracted my husband to me. I have my Mom to thank on how to treat a man like a man should be treated and in return that man would treat a woman like a woman should be treated.

Because I stayed true to who I am and knew what I wanted in a man after my divorce, I am the happiest person in the world. I didn’t think I would ever in this life time find a man who didn’t feel threaten by me and who would loved me with his heart and soul. Women dream of falling in love with a man who treats her like a Queen a man who is secure, strong, protective, love of his family, and hardworking. My husband is my heart and soul and I thank God everyday for blessing me with the kind of man I have always prayed for. He is away on business for a week and I am missing him already, I pray he have a safe trip to Virginia and back home to me.


He is all the man I need!

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President Bush Is Wrong For Denying Children Healthcare

Presently I have good health coverage, but each enrollment period I brace myself to see what changes my insurance carriers will make. I just found out this year, my insurance no longer pay for routine eye exams. What pisses me off more is how private insurance companies are slowing hacking away at the medical coverage Americans get.

It also angers me that President Bush thinks so little of American children when it comes to healthcare.

UPDATE

Three generations of activists tried to teach President George W. Bush a new song about health care today. Flanked by congressional leaders, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and members of the Alliance for Retired Americans,

A group of children kicked off a Capitol Hill press conference today singing:




I don’t want your millions mister.

I don’t want your car and wealth.

All I want is SCHIP, mister,
So kids like me can have good health.

I Am Saying No To Tysabri

I have been contemplated on trying the multiple sclerosis therapy Tysabri. I actually convinced myself I was going to have my first Tysabri infusion in September. While I was in the MRI machine August 22, I thought about how miserable I felt with the severe nausea and vomiting I've been experiencing from trying a new drug. I was also frustrated when the MRI technicians couldn’t get the IV in my veins to shoot the dye in my system for the second part of my MRI test. That was a first, they had to call a phlebotomist to insert the IV and she had trouble. My motto is if you do not get it on the second try leave me the hell alone.

My veins are gone in my arms, the surviving very small vein in my right arm is hiding and running when a needle approaches it now. The veins in my hands had start running and the ones that didn’t run when I had to have an IV inserted became inflamed to the point were I can not be stuck there again. Call me a coward, but I am not ready to have an IV needle inserted in my chest wall to receive a Tysabri infusion on a monthly basis. I am also not ready to risk possibly contracting PML and suffer the side effects that come with taking Tysabri.



Today I am saying hello to Copaxone again. My MRI’s shows stability in the scarring of my T1 and T2 area. That tells me Copaxone has been slowing the progressing of brain lesions for me. I have been taking daily shots of Copaxone for years and had become accustom to the pain and the sometime injection site reaction after taking a shot. Although some days are worse than others I prefer to stick to a MS therapy treatment that I know is working for me. My stomach, arms, thighs, and hips have enjoyed not being stuck everyday for the last thirty days, but a girl has to do what girl has to do.

I Could Be Wrong

I appreciate and I am thankful for the family and friends support I have when it comes to my health. I understand that they are scared and worried for me because of how my health changed this year, I am too. I have to and I am making my own decisions on how I battle multiple sclerosis, my doctors support the approach I choose to take, but in the end it is my decision. I know in my heart the day I die it will be from a drug I take to control the symptoms of my multiple sclerosis not the disease itself, but you know they will say death by complications of multiple sclerosis. I have a right to be wrong...
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Here I Go Again...

Until Montel Williams,advocate organizations and average citizens continue to help support the passage of bill H.R 1717 (Truth and Trials Act) passed and help get Tennessee twin medicinal marijuana bills H.B.0486and S.B. 0641 passed. I and many others have no choice but to continue to take man made prescription pain medication with unbearable side effects that can be potentially deadly to get relief from the severe pain while living with a chronic illness with no cure.

I thought the Duragesic morphine patch was my answer to be rid of the pain and nerve tingles. I told you what happened while wearing the patch. Today I am to start taking Kadian 20mg which is a morphine capsule. My doctor logic is the patch was dispensing morphine in my body 24/7 and it became too much for my body to handle. By taking the morphine capsule I can skip a day or two between dosages to keep the severe pain away.

I am not looking forward to ingesting morphine again, but I will if my pain return to this point in my life again. For the moment I believe I still have enough morphine in my system where I can control the intensity of the pain with Lortab. I am hoping once I start the Tsyabri infusion in September, there would be no need for me to take morphine. I am hearing good things about Tsyabri; I hope it works for me. If it don’t I guess I will be back to injecting myself with Copaxoneeveryday to slow the progression of lesions in my brain that is slowing destroying my central nervous system.