Nick helped me onto the table, but before he did that, I HAD to tell him about my Neurology appointment the day before! Having had MS for a little over 15 1/2 years, I have gotten into a routine. I see my Neurologist annually (in the summer). I don’t want to jinx myself but I’m very lucky to this point not to have reason for seeing my doctor more often or having to be admitted to the hospital because of a really bad flare-up. So, I see my doctor once a year. I think I have had my current Neurologist for 13 or 14 years. I love him! He’s really tall and looks like Lex Luther; the Gene Hackman one.
Only, he has a warm smile and even warmer handshake; he has big hands. He’s the head of the Neurology department. He came in for only a moment this time to ask if it was okay if his med. student did my intake. I was okay with that. Kai came in and did all the normal things; he looked at my eyes with his little light and tested my arm and hand strength.
Then he did something I hadn’t done in a while, he took both my socks and shoes off and pulled out that big one-sided Q-tip, took it out of the package and broke it. I had done this so many times before, years ago. It NEVER felt normal when I was poked in my feet and legs, rather it felt like a circular ripple after the initial poke and the initial poke felt kind of tingly, not like the sharp edge of a broken Q-tip. The soft side didn’t feel normal either so when Kai got ready to do this, I was ready to feel the normal “abnormal” sensations.
Only… this time, the sensations felt NORMAL! The poke was sharp with no lingering sensations! The soft side of the Q-tip felt soft and there were no lingering sensations either! It felt normal on both legs! He poked both feet and shins half-way up. Then he asked me to wiggle my toes. Now in my head i was wiggling them as if i were drumming my fingers on a table repeatedly. There was slight movement in both feet but it WAS a wiggle!
I told this (an abridged version) to Nick and he smiled and said something like, “Hell yeah!” and helped me onto the table. I laid on the table on my stomach and he pushed his fingers into my calves. He asked if it hurt and i told him, “At first but then it feels good!” He didn’t use the rolling stick on me which I was kind of glad because my legs felt really bruised but instead used his fingers. I rolled onto my back for some PNFs and Megan came over and sat on the table beside me. Well, I HAD to tell her! She smiled, gave me a, “Hell yeah!” also and raised her hand to give me a high-five. I told her that it took three years but turns out that i am NOT a lost cause!