Thanksgiving

Last cg of the year was just awesome!! :) Instead of the usual message / word that we get from our cg leader, Zes, she opened the floor to 1 at a time... She asked us what is 1 thing that we want to give thanks to God for, for year 2010. 1 by 1 went off and by the end of it, the girls in cg were all crying. Individually, we were each so touched and thankful that God has given us what we have and how God was seen working in everyone's situation. God is just great! :)

Didn't feel as though i gave thanks for mine completely cos halfway thru, i was tearing 'kindda too much' to talk? :P So, i told Han, i will blog my thanksgiving for year 2010.. It's easier to blog than talk hehe

Year 2010?? :) A few things to give thanks about but the major one has to do with my wedding. I married my best friend who accepted me just as i am with or without MS. But knowing that i have MS and he still asked me to marry him, i'm just speechless. Truly, what i prayed for 2 years ago that i wanted a guy who accepted me just as i am came true.

Going back in time to 2 months after diagnosis where i told Zes & Sam that i wouldn't get attach or marry someone. Reason being, I didn't want him to be financially or emotionally burden the moment he say 'I Do'. To me, the burden is mine and i should be the only one to bear it. Seeing what the rest have done for me was enough to make me come to this conclusion...

That was then :) A few weeks ago, i learnt the meaning of 'burden'... It's sharing of everything... no matter whether it's a positive or negative issue.. it's sharing :) Han taught me this... i was admitted for 2 days to go thru the MRI scans, tests etc... All went well :) Praise God... it wasn't just the result of the MRI where it told me that there's no new lesions in my brain AND my old lesions are now smaller in size BUT Han stayed with me throughout the entire 2 days that i was admitted :)

The above are the major things that i wanna give thanks for and even more!! Lots more in the background that i'm not saying here :) But dad, mum, small fry & smallest fry :D big thank you for year 2010 :D

Pregnancy??

golly!! i didn't realised that it's been over a month since i last blog... hmm, and i said i would blog at least once every month :P sorry, things have been busy what with the wedding dinners in Ipoh & Penang... thank God it's over & done with =D friends come up & told me that i'm 'finally, really' married.. hehe.. all the customary events like 'serving tea' etc...

just thought i'll blog a short one today... Pregnancy... i've been thinking about this for awhile now.. even more after attending the MS Care event last week. there was this nurse from Brisbane who's based with the MS Clinic... she spoke briefly on pregnancy & said that typically, the doctors would stop the jabs for a period of 12 months... 3 months when you're trying to conceive and 9 months when you're carrying. you start on the jab immediately if you decide not to breast feed and the relapse rate is higher in the span of 3 months after delivering..

why, you may ask... a patient does not jab for a period of at least 1 year while going thru the process to get a baby. there isn't any 'layer of protection' created over your 'wires' to protect it, hence, a relapse could happen...

another patient voiced out and said that it's a risk but worth it. she now has a 2 year old son :) coincidentally, 'Momentum' magazine released a few articles in their latest issue on babies... some patients decide not to have kids and opt to adopt instead... i guess, this is for the couple to decide.

to have kids? how many? adopt? own kids? etc... these are a few questions that the couples would need to answer..

in my case, i've got no idea... on one hand, both of us want our own kids and i want 3 kids... 2 boys & 1 girl =D jokingly told my hubby that i want 3 kids and i want it to be 3 at 1 go!! :P and close 'shop' after that.. that way, i just go thru the whole process once :P hehe... he doesn't mind if we don't have kids, our own or adopt. he just doesn't want me to risk getting a relapse :) something to pray and seek God for :D

Oral tablets vs Rebif

Just had my routine check up with my doctor.. Was told that the oral tablet, Fingolimod is out in the states and it's bound to be more expensive than Rebif!! I guess that's to be expected. But if it's gonna be more expensive than Rebif, i wonder how many people will be able to afford the tablets. I know 1 type of tablet is for daily consumption, and another is for a few weeks every 3 months. Fingolimod is the first type, daily (I think :P). So i've got some time to think about using oral tablets...

It'll definately be a comfort... Compared to Rebif, i won't have to jab and it's not every alternative day that i'll have to use it BUT i read that it's at least 30% more expensive than Rebif... so hmmm, something to think about? :)

The good news is, with the new tablets out, the price of Rebif is 'speculated' to go down. So, it's gonna be cheaper... Yeay!! :) but that's only gonna mean that i'll still stick to Rebif and continue jabbing myself for another year or 2 till the price of Fingolimod goes down? hmmm... something to think about..

Wedding + Honeymoon

Praise God!! :D Everything went well and great :) From the start of Sept 11th to the end of our honeymoon, everything went well. We went to Melbourne & Tasmania for our honeymoon. Staying here in Singapore for the last 5-6 years, going to a laid back lifestyle was a great rest & renewing time. We also had a great time knowing each other and I had a chance to catch up with my oldest friend, Peggen :) Everything was just great :D A few pictures.. I've put in 2 pictures to show.. This was taken along the way to Great Ocean Road.

The weather was just awesome!! :) Was only once that i got a backache and trust me, i've never walked so much!! Was jokingly telling Han that 1 day's walk = 1 year's walk in Singapore. Not only that, there was no sign of hives in Oz!! Absolutely no sign at all :) Looks like it's really the heat that affects me.... Read & was told often that heat & stress brings out the possibility of a relapse..

On this topic of heat & exercise, heat 'aggravates' MS. On exercise, I personally think that the best exercise will be swimming. Why swimming, you might ask. Because you're getting your exercise and you're still kept cool in the waters :) Doing other forms of exercise like jogging etc will make your body hot after awhile. Yes yes, my husband might be saying that i'm 'just saying' that exercise is good cos i haven't been very regular in exercising in the last few weeks because of the wedding & honeymoon :P I'm picking up, i'm picking up!! :D

I'll try exercising in an air-con gym soon... I wonder if it'll make much difference than exercising in a non air-con gym... Let you know again when i find out what's good :) I heard that yoga and pilates is good too.. but I can't do that now as my back is still not strong enough. Having the 2 lesions on my spinal cord causes the backaches. Some have backaches, some have numbness etc.. People with MS gets different symptoms... You learn to live with it, accommodate it but at the same time keep praying that not only does the symptoms / side effects go but pray that you'll be healed :) That's what i'm doing :)

The Best Thing That Happened to Me! =D

Saturday, 4th September 2010 - Happy Birthday luv!! =D May the remaining of this year and may 2011 be the best years for you yet :)



Hmm.. I know that the remaining of this year is gonna be great hehe.. cos you have me now :P
But on a more serious note, yes... the remaining year onwards and 2011 will be even better for you, that i'm sure :) Better career prospects, deals are coming your way and even more!!

Thank you... thanks for taking care of me / looking out for me all this while, for accepting me as who i am :)

Just a short note today :) but Happy Birthday luv! and am looking forward (excited more like it :D ) for 911.. hehe

Side Effects

I'm back :) Was asked how come since Tuesday, i only have 1 post/blog... So i thought i can write this one now which i was saving for the next time... Phew, now that you're actually beginning to post, you start thinking/keeping track of what to write for your next post... hehe...

It has been a busy 3 weeks or so with the last minute wedding preparations. Came to the conclusion that no matter how much you've prepared during the first few months, some things are simply 'last minute stuff'. Thank God!! I've finally settled the day tour packages for my honeymoon :D Some other things to be settled within these 2 days and viola, i'm nearly done!! (i hope)... It's been a tiring 3 weeks but it's def very fruitful :) So many things got done within these short period. That brings me on to writing on the 'side effects' of MS...

No 2 person with MS have the same symptoms/side effects.. In my case, i've got a back ache which is my 'radar'.. It tells me in advance if i'm tired, even the slightest bit. Even before my head says i'm tired, my back is telling me so... It gets bad when i'm tired. I try to avoid tiring myself out. Back ache isn't a textbook symptom of MS but it exists..

Started getting this backache when (before diagnose) i was thought to have a slip disc. But I didn't seem to recover even slightly from this slip disc after a month.. Not too long after being told that i have slip disc, i started walking like a drunken lady in the middle of d day!! :D hehe... couldn't walk in a straight line as every few steps, i'll veer to the right. Imbalance is a sign of MS which i went for physio when i was hospitalized. Dad asked me to go for MRI after i didn't show any signs of recovering from the so call slip disc... Went for it and found out that my brain isn't 'perfect'.. It has many white spots which I was told it's lesion..

Was immediately hospitalized after the MRI.. An experience that i wouldn't forget.. funny in some ways, in other ways, it was a learning process... to depend on everyone from strangers even to family members, yes, the Penny here cried heh.. this is def not something that i wanna repeat again!! Thank God for all the friends and family members who came to keep me company in that 10 days there :) With them, family & God, they gave me the strength, courage & joy to carry on in that 10 days and even up till now :)


In their own ways, mum, dad, my sister, Han etc would keep on encouraging me to 'fight' this, to be strong & the list can go on & on.. :) ermm.. i think this post was supposed to be on side effects but i kindda diverted to other parts :P apologies.. i've got so many things to write & say that i don't know where to start/end.. but being tired/fatigue is a large part of MS.. The degree of tiredness varies for every individual.

There's cognitive, emotional, physical etc 'side effects' as well.. i'll post more on that in the coming future. It'll def take more than 1-2 posts to do all this (at the rate i'm going :P)

The first time - MS

It's finally out!! :) Well, this blog took a long time to come out.. Can't blame me :P I've just been occupied since the first & hopefully the last time that i get Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

What is MS, you're gonna ask.. In layman's terms, your body is attacking yourself. In professional terms, it's a disease (your own immune system) attacking your central nerves. It can cause disabilities, is a chronic illness etc. In short, it's a disease with no cure at the moment. The Interferon jab of 3 times a week is just a form of prevention. It's to slow down the disease from attacking you any further.

Most people would ask the question 'why me?' at the beginning but i didn't. It wasn't until i got the 'side effects' of MS then i started asking 'why me?. But praise God!! i recovered from the side effects fast each time and it's been nearly 2 years since i got my first attack :)

It hasn't been easy. But i believe nothing is impossible with God. From the beginning (when i was hospitalized with the attack), God spoke and guided me to the story of Paul with a thorn in the flesh, 2 cor 12:7-10. God said, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.. That story and this verse gave me the strength to go thru this. The period that i was hospitalized taught me to rely on people, strangers who soon became friends. The nurses were helpful and i really learn a lot from them and that event. My family & friends taught me a whole lot.. I was reminded that 'the joy of the Lord is your strength' :)

It's been something that i've been holding on since that day. The joy of the Lord is my strength :) I came back from my MC telling my leader & my friend that I am NOT gonna settle down, get attach etc because i saw the financial & emotional burdens that my family members carry and i didn't wanna burden any guy unnecessarily. And the best news is, I'm a wife-to-be =D This guy, my guy accepted me for who i am with MS & all. He's been the best!! The number of times that i 'claw' on him (due to the emotional changes - mood swings) & he's still accepted me for who i am is more than i can ask for. Truly God is just awesome!! He's our Jehovah Jireh, our provider & I know that God is also our Jehovah Rafa, our healer.

I'll blog more often on MS, how i go thru it etc. There's just too many things to say in 1 blog :)