Mandatory Rest Period: MOVED!

2005-08-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

MY BLOG HAS MOVED! PLEASE GO TO http://restperiod.blogware.com

2005-08-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

One shelter down, and no kittens brought home. This was a pretty horrid place. All the cats were skittish and sad looking. Horribly poor conditons. Ugh. It left us with a real sad feeling in the bottom of our hearts. Shouldn't we go back and "rescue" them? All my medical background in the Veterinary field says no. We have two lovely cats and I couldn't bare risking them to what disease these ones had. We both stripped down and scrubbed when we got home to get the smell off of us. You know something's wrong when that happens. Sad way to end an evening :( Sigh...

I do hope to bring you news of another subject providing I get the proper approval from the recipent. I should know in the next day or so. Its pretty interesting... stayed tuned.

2005-08-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

We interupt the usual broadcasting of this blog:

Okay, I'm going to put it in writing. We're going to adopt two new kittens! Well, we hope to anyways. We have our two 4 year old kitties (Echo and Flick), but we have this giant house and much room for two more. So we're phoning around to the local SPCA's and other shelters to see what they have. We really want one of the kittens to be calico, and both have to be female. So, if your in lower mainland or just outside of, drop me a line if you know of, have seen or have leads for me :)

Results from 7100 patient study of interferons

2005-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Similar Treatment Effectiveness Found
More than 7100 patients have been participating in the study. The investigators found minimal changes in the patients' disability, on average, after two years of therapy. The percentage of patients who became relapse-free after two years of therapy was about 48 percent in the group taking Avonex, approximately 46 percent in the group taking Betaseron, and about 44 percent and approximately 38 percent in the groups taking the 22-microgram and 44-microgram doses of Rebif, respectively.

In the follow-up group, the percentage of relapse-free patients after two years of therapy ranged from 36 percent for those taking Avonex to about 34 percent for those in the Rebif group.

"Efficacy was similar among patients treated with the four different interferon-beta preparations in different countries," the researchers wrote. "Switching between different interferon preparations did not appear to provide additional benefits."

Interferon beta preparations are widely used as first-line therapy for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, experts say. In clinical studies, they have been shown to reduce relapse rates and delay the disease's progression by approximately a third.2,3

"These results suggest that higher doses and frequencies of interferon beta may not necessarily be better when you take into account … that patients treated with Avonex could have significant advantages in the long term due to the treatment's low incidence of neutralizing antibodies and its once-weekly dosing, which encourages better long term adherence to therapy," Limmroth said.

2005-07-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

I kinda fell yesterday. I didn't put my sandal on right and went to walk thinking it would slip on properly. And of course, I feel like any normal person would have had enough balance to not have fallen over, but not I! As soon as I felt my ankle start to turn over I made to grab for the door jam that was right there but then totally collapsed on the floor. My ankles' a bit sore and puffy today, but I think I slammed my shoulder into the door jam and so feel all stiff. Actually, I feel a little bitter. I just had a darn good massage to fix the damage from the cruise! Grr! Back to square one.

Maybe the heat is getting to me :) I see everyone else is blogging about the heat. I'm seeing some new bloggers out there too. And some older ones not around anymore. I haven't seen Emily or Tee lately. Cheers to you both if your reading.

I have the day off tomorrow and am going to attempt to get to the pool for a swim. We did that last night and boy did it feel good to cool down and be weightless :)

I received an interesting email today

2005-07-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm finally checking email today and received one from a Public Relations company working on behalf of GM's Fastlane Blog. Strange. I didn't know companies were now using us bloggers to advertise. Here's the email in it's entirety:

Hey, Kim. I thought you and your readers would be interested in a
recent post on GM's FastLane blog -- GM engineer Joe Katona writes
about his son's recent spinal cord injury and asks forfeedback from
readers with mobility needs.

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2005/07/transportation_1.html

Anyways, regardless of my feelings on being GM's mode of FREE advertising, if we MSer's want a say in something we could use to help us currently, or in the future I'm all for it. My first thought in more comfy cars for mobility issues would be to have a seat that pivots outwards to the door so when you get out you don't have to twist your spine or anything. That'd be nice.

2005-07-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

Hello! We're home from our trip and not too jet lagged! What a bonus. The jet lag to London was pretty crazy for my body to adjust to. Its an 8 hour difference so at night I felt awake and during the day felt all sleepy. It took about 3 days to get through it. Here's a quick recap of the good:

LONDON: We landed a day after the bombings and you wouldn't have known it. What a resilient country and people. We did a lot of walking around in Picadilly Circus, The Westend, Trafalgar Square ect. Took the Double decker bus tour around the city and saw the play Blood Brothers. The bus took us past Hyde Park where the Live 8 concert was held just the weekend before. The stage was still up and all the fencing. Love London, although we were happy to get on the boat and get the trip started.

BRUGGE: We fell in love with Belgium, specifically downtown Brugge. The canals are gorgeous, the markets are so great and the fact that cars aren't prominent is just the best. Its so quiet! Horse drawn buggies and bikes everywhere. It's no wonder everyone looks so much healthier there. The architecture was most impressive. I took an insane amount of photos there. Begium waffles were being sold out the window of store fronts. And yes, I bought some chocolate. And its damn good.

OSLO: Tiny country of Norway and small city of Oslo was pretty cool. It was quite north so the day light lasted forever. We went to the Vigeland scuplture park, the 1952 Olympic ski park in Hollemkollen and an open air folk museum. All very cool sites. We were in downtown Oslo at 8:30am and it was a ghost town. They don't start their work day until 10am. Now that's civilized!

COPENHAGEN: Yup, birth place of Hans Christian Anderson and the real Little Mermaid. We went to see her and walked around what looked just like our sea wall in Stanley Park. Beautiful. We didn't have a tour booked in Denmark so just wondered on our own.

HAMBURG: Tod ate a hamburger in Hamburg. :) Fun. I wasen't able to get around much to see Germany (more on that in a minute), but Tod made his way to the subway and wandered a bit.

GOUDA: The Netherlands! Yay! We landed in Rotterdam and made our way on a tour to the little town of Gouda. Yes, where the cheese was named from. But, get this, the cheese is NOT made in Gouda! Gouda was just the place where all the farmers gathered to sell it! Anyways, their city was beautiful and they live below sea level, so it was facinating to learn about how they do that with all the canals and water locks. And again, most people were on bikes and not cars and it was quiet in the city center. We bought lots of cheese, which is my all time fav food! A Shanty choir sang us out as the boat left which had the whole boat clapping and waving with them. It was quite the send off that we'll never forget!

LE HAVRE: Last port of call in France. It was about 3 hours each way to Paris so we opted out of doing that and decided to wander in downtown Le Havre. Beautiful bustling little port city.

And now we're home. Ahhh... its always nice to come home isn't it? The downfall on the trip of course was my back. I was really dumb and decided to "treat" myself to a massage on the boat. Remind me to never do that again. I must have got the most inexperienced massage therapist and he managed to send my back into spasm to the point where I could hardly walk. I had massive bruising on my back to the length of about 6 inches. Every step shot pain to my lumber and I'm certain my bad disc (L5) was either bulging, slipped or herniating. It SUCKED. I ended up at the doctors on the ship and he gave me some anti-inflamatories and muscle relaxants. That at least took the edge off so I could contiure on with the trip, but I'm dying for a proper massage with my own. It's booked for tomorrow.

On a brighter note, no MS symptoms really (unless one considers a back spasm a part of MS which I'm uncertain of). I lucked out and we had weather that only got as hot as 23. Yay. I went in the hot tub on the boat too and didn't overheat :)

Oh, and the Harry Potter book arrived (thanks for not posting spoilers on your blog Heather!) Time to start laundry.

CHEESE!

2005-07-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

CHEESE!
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Just leaving the little town of Gouda in The Netherlands! Mmmm... I love cheese.

2005-07-18T03:16:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany! The boat has left this port and we're on our way to Rotterdamn :) Having a blast and thought I would post a link to some pics we've posted of our journey so far.

www.flickr.com/photos/onlinekim

I'll post again when we get home on friday :) Hope everyone is well and healthy.

Kim

2005-07-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

Wow. So, we're flying to London tonight. We don't know what we'll arrive to. We're still really excited about the trip, but sad and scared for everyone in London who lived through the terror and chaos of today. Wish us well, and I'll post again in a couple weeks when we return. Hopefully without MS stories ;)

Look what happens when I go to work for the day!

2005-07-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Look how healthy looking they are
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Those pesky big huge bears! Its garbage day today of course so clearly the smell of the neightborhood is just too much to keep them away from free pickings.

2005-07-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

So much to do today on my last day off before the trip. And yet, I want to just have a lazy relaxed day :) I started by sleeping in until 10, which is rare! Next on the list is to go shopping for a new formal gown for the fancy nights on the ship. And a new pair of comfy sandals. Then bathroom and continuing house clean up as my mom and step dad are coming to stay and look after the cats and house. I think I made a mistake with not booking Thursday off. We fly out at 8:30pm to London, but it would have been nice to have the day to pack and putter around before leaving instead of working a hectic day! Hopefully the long weekend in both Canada and US keep people on holidays and I won't have too much to catch up on. Wishful thinking, yes!

I'm still a little worried about how I'll do with the jet lag. I don't imagine I'll sleep well on the flight to London, so we'll be tired when we land, but I worry that will catch up to me and I'll just want to sleep away the 3 days we have in London. Tod keeps saying not to worry and who cares if we have to lay low and catch up on sleep. But i don't want to waste those few days before we get on the boat! Maybe my MS can take a vacation and let me have one on my own this time?

In the past before I got my diagnosis, everytime we would travel I would get sick. Usually not long after landing and always when we got the hottest place on our trip. I could never understand it but it has just become the expectation. When I had asked my neurologist about that last year, he told me to stop going to hot places! MS and heat don't mix at all. It was a moment when Tod and I found that out and could explain why I was always feeling rotten when travelling. So, maybe this time I'll take more advantage of the A/C in the places we go and fair better. Europe can't be that hot in July! Ha ha ha.

Alright, on with the day. Have a good Fourth of July my fellow Americans.

Eugene comes to visit

2005-07-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Eugene comes to visit
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Lucky us! Our friends parrot is living with us until tonight. He's so fun. He has a really big vocabulary and its always a fun game to try and figure out who's voice he's using to speak with and what he's saying. The best is when you remove the cover from his cage in the morning, he says in a deep man's voice "Hello gorgeous".

2005-07-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day! :)

This is the way to spend the morning. We're looking at our options for excursions on the cruise ship! Did I forget to mention that we fly in SIX DAYS!! So far, we're going on a Chocolate tour in Belgium, A walking tour and cheese tour in the little town of Gouda in Holland, and a boat tour through the canals in Denmark. Ahhh happy days, happy days. This is the actual cruise we're on. The really cool thing is that the ship is sitting at the port in Southampton, UK right now! We're flying in to London and then taking the train to Southapmton. There is a webcam on the front of the ship, so you can even have a look at where we are! Its looking a little cloudy there this morning.

Healthtalk Topic: Managing MS Symptoms: Bladder, Bowel, Fatigue, Spasticity and Cognition

2005-06-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight at 8:30 PM Eastern, 5:30PM Pacific

Teva's development of an oral form of Copaxone(R)

2005-06-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like they're moving ahead to phase III clinical trials for the oral version of Copaxone. Yay, for getting rid of injectables!

Vitamin D

2005-06-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Looks like some trials are showing some interesting things about Vitamin D levels in MS.

From the article:
"We conclude that the vitamin D stores in most MS patients are adequate for their normal bone metabolism. However, lower vitamin D levels during MS relapses than in remission suggest that vitamin D could be involved in the regulation of the clinical disease activity of MS. The optimal serum levels of vitamin D for the regulation of immune responses remain to be determined."

My neuro doc immediately prescribed 800 IU of Vitamin D when I saw him the first time. Were you too? Different amount?

2005-06-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

I think I'm starting to get used the the 3 day work week. I certainly look forward to my four days off thats for sure! I'm feeling okay energy wise these days as long as I sleep well at night. That really does seem to be my down fall. My back has been less than great over the last month. I'm seeing my massage therapist on a weekly basis, but he hasen't yet made the break through on my back that I'm hoping for. One treatment fixes one problem, and then by the next appintment I have more to complain about that have been shaken out from the last! Does that even make sense!? Does to me :) So, this week's pain has been all lumbar pain, including my tail bone. So, if I wake up in the night with that type of pain, I find it very difficult to recover from it and keep sleeping. My flexor muscles seem to be the culprit... they cease and tighen and then start pulling at the rest of my back. I do a custom stretching/yogish/stengthening routine but its not yet really kicked in. My body feels weak still. A friend of mine whose waiting for a work transfer is going to start swimming with me. Hopefully that will help too.

Let the countdown begin... 11 days until we leave for our Europe trip!! So exciting! I haven't even started to think about what to pack yet.

I forgot to add: Emily? What happened to your blog?

12 bucks a day for Sativex

2005-06-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

Its on the shelves to purchase here in Vancouver now. Sativex is the mouth spray that has been approved for sale in Canada under a doctors prescription.

The metered spray is administered under the tongue or inside the cheek. It's derived from extracts of the marijuana plant and is said to taste like peppermint. Many new drugs take time before they're approved on drug benefit plans.

Canada was the first country to approve Sativex in April. A strong proponent of its use at Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto, Dr. Allan Gordon, says it eliminates the stigma associated with smoking pot, and gives patients a reliable dose: "This converts a weed into a medicine," he says Gordon says the price for Sativex is about $120 dollars for 50 doses. And he estimates patients who use it, will be end up spending about $12 a day.

Mmmm... peppermint pot! :)

Jasper, AB - pic of the lake and dock we hung out on

2005-06-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Japser AB 6
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Here's a little taste of how beautiful it is in Jasper. There are little docks with muskoka chairs where you could sit and relax. This picture doesn't do the colour of the water justice of couse. It was an aquamarine blue like no other. Amazing place.

Home Sweet Busy Home

2005-06-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

Back from a great trip to Jasper! Although a short and sweet trip, a good one none the less... photos to come soon. We had a full day today taking my dad out for lunch and a friend was ordained this evening. It was a great ceremony and I was sure glad to be there. Much to do before catching up properly in blogland.

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there! I hope you had a well deserved day with the ones you love.

2005-06-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

The MS clinic called yesterday to give me my next appointment. Its not until November 24th. That'll be my one year check in with them. Here's hoping I have no reason to call them sooner.

Oh, I almost forgot the great news for the summer. We bought an air conditioner to go in the bedroom! So this summer shouldn't be as devastating gross to sleep through. I complained all last summer how awful I felt, so now I have no excuse! Its just one of those small ones that sit in the window, but boy does it ever work! Yay!

Canadian Researchers Produce Its First Embryonic Stem Cell Lines

2005-06-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Toronto, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- Researchers in Canada have produced that country's first embryonic stem cell lines, though some scientists say those involved are overstating their claims as to the kind of cures that could come from the unproven research. A senior scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital developed the two lines.

Dr. Andras Nagy said he hoped the new lines "will ultimately bring Canada and the world closer to treating or curing diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Diabetes and spinal cord injuries."

COPAXONE Produced Significantly Greater Reduction in Relapse Rate Compared to Beta Interferon Therapies

2005-06-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Results from a still on-going independent study published in the European Journal of Neurology demonstrate COPAXONE(R) (glatiramer acetate injection) is associated with lower relapse rates than interferon therapies in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Compared to interferon beta 1b (Betaferon(R)), interferon beta 1a (Avonex(R)), and 22 microgram interferon beta 1a (Rebif(R) 22), COPAXONE(R) produced a statistically significant greater reduction in annual relapse rates at 24 months after initiation of treatment versus pre-study rates. Additionally, a significantly higher percentage of patients remained on COPAXONE(R) for the duration of the study compared to the beta interferons.

Warning: Do not use GHR-15

2005-06-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

Health Canada issued a warning to consumers Tuesday not to use a product labeled GHR-15 or GHR that is sold as a treatment for a wide variety of diseases including cancer and multiple sclerosis.

The department said labelling for the product - purported to be a human growth hormone supplement - makes unsubstantiated health claims. It suggested users risk developing hyperthyroidism as well as possible interactions and allergic reactions by taking the product.
GHR-15, which is not authorized for sale in Canada, is sold over the Internet in capsule and powder form by BIE Health Products (Canada).

Human growth hormone therapy has not been proven to be effective when taken orally and people taking GHR-15 are unlikely to experience any therapeutic benefits, the department said.
GHR-15 can also cause hyperthyroidism, which can lead to a variety of symptoms including increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, excessive sweating and nervousness and anxiety.

Tovaxin

2005-06-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

A new drug in clinical trial phase II is receiving some promising results. They plan to move to phase III by the end of this year or so. Some info on the drug:

TovaxinTM is a novel T-cell therapeutic vaccine that parallels the concept of autologous cancer vaccines. Instead of modifying cancerous cells, TovaxinTM consists of attenuated autoreactive T cells. Attenuation of these cells during the vaccine production process renders the cells non-replicating but viable and causes them to elicit an immune response when injected subcutaneously into the patient. This immune response is directed against T cells within the patient that are self-reactive with myelin. This immune response, directed against a specific subset of autoreactive T cells, greatly reduces the number of these autoreactive cells in MS patients. TovaxinTM has considerable potential because it attacks the underlying cause of MS rather than just addressing its symptoms.

Also found this site with Tim talking about being on the drug in the trial.

Fun trips coming up

2005-06-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

In the next couple months we have some great trips! Next Thursday we fly in to Edmonton and then drive in to Jasper. Its absolutely gorgeous there. Tod has some business to do and then we'll stay there for a couple days to relax and play. I can't wait to play with my digital camera at the lake!

In July we're off to Europe! This will be my first time overseas! I can't wait. We're going on a 10 days cruise and will be stopping in Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, Beguim and the Netherlands! Wow. I'm a little worried about the trip over and how my back will fair. And the 9 hours difference might be a little crazy, but I imagine that the excitment of being over there will override all that! :) We're looking at seeing a couple plays while down there. Our hotel is right by the theatre district so we'll be able to just walk over. Anyone recommend something we should see? So far the must-see shows are Chicago and Blood Brothers. I wouldn't mind Chitty, chitty, bang, bang too.. but I don't think Tod is all that keen.

Map with highlights of where we're travelling!

2005-06-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

Map with highlights of where we're travelling!
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

This map is on our wall in the office as a reminder of our upcoming trip to Europe. We're going to fly into London and spend a few days there (mostly going to the theatre!) and then we're hopping on a cruise ship for 10 days to play around in several cities. The trip is one month away now! Let the countdown begin!

It just doesn't make sense

2005-06-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

In news from the US, the opening line of this article just says it all (shaking my head) -

"People who smoke marijuana because their doctors recommend it to ease pain can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, overriding medical marijuana statutes in 10 states."

Rufous Hummingbird flying in for some food

2005-06-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Rufous Hummingbird flying in for some food
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Patience pays off. Nuff said. :)

If your on Betaseron

2005-06-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Head on over to Becca's site to check out what she learned at a recent Beta conference. Good stuff.

Mia posing in the grass

2005-06-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

Mia posing in the grass
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

My neighbor and her dog had a little surprise today... Its called Kool-aid!!

A different way to fundraise money for MS

2005-06-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so hats off to Vix for choosing to raise money for MS research. I, for one, couldn't imagine baring it all even for the greater good!
**Don't open the link at work**

PharmaFrontiers Announces Positive Interim Results of Two Phase I/II Clinical Trials for Multiple Sclerosis

2005-06-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Potential new drug for treatment of MS! Looks like they are aiming for phase III trials to start in 2006 providing all trials keep going this well.

Tovaxin(TM) is a trivalent formulation of attenuated myelin-peptide reactive T cells (MRTCs), which are derived from peripheral blood and produced ex vivo as myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) reactive T cells.

Idaho making an attempt to better track MS

2005-06-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Interesting article about what the state of Idaho is doing to better understand their population of MS. Good on them for making these steps! Hopefully they will post results over the years of data collection.

They're finally here!

2005-06-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

They're finally here!
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Yay! The MS wristbands have arrived!

A fourth illness may be tied to Biogen's MS drug

2005-06-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

Yikes. More bad news for Biogen's Tysabri or at least the combo of being on Avonex and Tysabri together.

"The Globe obtained the report of the unconfirmed case under the Freedom of Information Act.

After being provided a copy of the report by the Globe, Dr. Patricia K. Coyle, an MS specialist and acting chairwoman of the Department of Neurology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, said she thinks the FDA should investigate the new report ''quite vigorously."

The possible fourth PML patient is a 48-year-old woman who was taking Tysabri along with Avonex, another multiple sclerosis drug sold by Biogen Idec."

2005-05-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm curious about what you think. Do you have MS and have you tried to smoke marijuana to alleviate the pain or symptoms? I watched a documentary on how pot is helping people with neurological problems. On the show, an MS patient with severe tremours took one inhale on a joint and within seconds stopped shaking and could hold the joint himself. Share your stories in the comments section as I'm sure many others would want to hear about them! Post annonomously if you want!

I haven't smoked pot for MS... I think I was in highschool when I tried it and didn't care for it. However, with it being decriminalized here in BC and Bayer coming out with a Cannibis spray... makes me wonder how it really could help MS. Hmmm....

Quit smoking!

2005-05-31T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is an article on how smoking can progress your MS.

** (From the article)**
These results support the hypothesis that cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of multiple sclerosis, and suggest that smoking may be a risk factor for transforming a relapsing-remitting clinical course into a secondary progressive course.

My latest efforts to get a shot of the hummingbird!

2005-05-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

A little more of a profile
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

Okay, so I'm getting a little closer... although what I really want is a close up shot of him flying! Impossible! This shot required Tod setting up lighting to get it!

2005-05-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay lesson learned. Its 30 plus degrees outside and at the peak of the afternon I decided to finish mowing the lawn. I could have died from overheating myself. I'm not even sure I could describe to my husband what I was feeling. He kept asking... nauseous? Dizzy? Hot? What? Its this incredibily overwhelming heat from within that hits and takes way too long to go away. I can't even focus on anything else until I make the heated feeling go away. I ended up going upstairs and filling two ziploc bags with ice and just placing them where ever the heat was radiating from. Crazy.

So I have final resolution on my job going part time. I start immediately and my schedule will be Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I was shocked that they choose those days as I certainly wasen't asking for 4 day weekends! Holy! So, I'm happy it all has been worked out. I can't wait to have the extra days to look after me. For once I'm finally putting my own self before anything. Its a weird feeling.

I know this is a long weekend in the US, so happy long weekend to all my fellow US'ers :)

2005-05-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

My favourite Mountian is looking awfully nice this morning :)

Rufous Hummingbird feeding

2005-05-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Rufous Hummingbird feeding
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

This is a true test of patience trying to get a good shot of a hummingbird. Many hours spent this weekend trying to get him and to no avail! The lighting isn't right or he's just so fast that I can't zoom in fast before before, poof! He's gone!

The unexplainable

2005-05-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went for an eye appointment so I could get new glasses. I was fully expecting to be told that my eye sight had diminished more since having all the crazy eye stuff last summer. I felt like I had lost vision in one eye at that time, so I wasen't sure if it had recovered or what. So, surprise, surprise, my eyesight has gotten BETTER! Huh? My optometrist had no explanation why my eyes would have gotten better by two steps in each eye. She can only assume that way back in 2003 when I was last vision checked, my eyes must have been not at their best and that this could be my true eye sight now. Weird and totally unexpected. So, I got some new shnazzy frames and a lighter prescription. Crazy.

Maybe next week?

2005-05-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, still no change to my working full time. I have to wait until next week when my team lead gets back from holidays. When she gets back she'll get a note from my doctor saying I have to be on reduced hours to part time. I'm sure she will not be happy about that as she wanted me to continue working full time for the next 8 weeks! I'm not okay with that.

Monday is a stat holiday and I'm just craving the start of the long weekend. I have a dinner out with some girlfriends on Saturday night and thats about it! Tod is away in Arizona for some of the weekend. All in all, a pretty relaxed weekend ahead. Bliss!

Clinical Trials

2005-05-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

In case you want to volunteer yourself for a clinical trial, here's the link to the US site where you can search based on your city. It will show you active trials that are recruiting and what phase they're in. It also shows Canadian facilities that are part of the trials too.

MS Wristbands

2005-05-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

The wristbands are for sale now! You can get them here. A 5 pack is $15.00 USD.

Healthtalk topic:New and Emerging MS Treatments: The Latest News

2005-05-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

On May 19 the next topic will be New and Emerging MS Treatments: The Latest News. Might be an interesting one to tune in for.

2005-05-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

If you live in the lower mainland here in BC here's an opportunity to make the MS Society a little money. On May 23rd (Victoria Day) a movie is being shot at Nat Bailey's Stadium. A John Cusack movie called Martian Child! So, if you volunteer to be an extra for the day, they will donate 500.00 dollars to the MS Society!

Contact Danielle Rippingale if you are interested in participating at danielle.rippingale@mssociety.ca

Still waiting

2005-05-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

So, I still don't have resolution to getting a part time position here at work. Its a little unnerving. My position itself is a role that requires someone be available all 5 days of the week. If I move to part time, I've asked for a 3 day work week. Its not really a great fit. Hopefully with some good brainstorming in the next week something will come to light and I'll have an end date to this full time position. I hate sitting status quo though. I just want a decision to be made and fly with it!

Making Changes

2005-05-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

I've been contemplating a lot these days... specifically about balance between life and work. And of course that has to include in the equation my MS symptoms for what they are today. Since I've been back to work full time for the last 3 months I'm finding my self trying to protect my sleep time and "down" time to the max that I can. Basically so I can go back to work on a monday and feel refreshed and normal. The problem with this is that all I'm doing is trying to save my energies so I can work. Where is the life blanace part? When should I be socializing and going on weekend getaways, having friends over for dinner? And more fun... when am I going to get rid of the second ugly faux wall in my bedroom!? :)

So, the end result after lots of soul searching is to drop my job to part time for right now. I don't really know why this was soooo difficult for me to do. I know its the right thing to do. Financially we'll be okay with some adjustments to how we live, but thats a small sacrifice to having life back right?

I think the major part that has bothered me the most is that kinda for the first time I have to let the MS hit me in the face for real. When I was off work, I was continually getting better on my own and was moving towards getting back to work and I accomplished that. No change to life but a small blurp in the path. But this decision meant accepting that the MS has changed me and I need to recognize that. Tough to do when you really don't want to.

On the brighter side though... how great will it be to have a 3 day a week job and be able to help Tod with running his business? And get all the walls painted that I want to! There's a huge list of things I want to do once my hours are figured out at work. So far they have been supportive but are in the stages of trying to figure out how to make a 3 day week work. So, thats me this week.

Very Similar

2005-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just found this link with bracelets similar to Lance's Live Strong yellow bands. I like the fact that they created them with all the acronyms of MS from aroudn the world. Good idea. The first shipment of them is in mid May.

Carnation Locations in the Lower Mainland

2005-05-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a listing of the places you can buy Carnations from this week:

Thursday, May 5th
Capilano Mall – Marine Dr., N. Vancouver – located by the elevators – 11 AM to 4 PM
Park Place – Burrard St., Vancouver – in the lobby – 8 AM to 2 PM
Pacific Centre – Georgia St., Vancouver – in the TD Bank Tower – 11 AM to 2 PM

Friday, May 6th
Capilano Mall – 12 Noon to 6 PM
Pacific Centre – 11 AM to 2 PM
BC Hydro – 333 Dunsmiur St., Vancouver – in the lobby – 12 Noon to 4 PM
BC Hydro – 6911 South Point Dr., Burnaby – in the lobby – 8 AM to 3 PM
GVRD – 4330 Kingsway, Burnaby – in the lobby – 7: 30 AM to 9 AM – ONLY!!
Liquor Store – Cambie & 39th – out front of store – 3 PM to 8 PM
Liquor Store – Nordel Way & Scott Rd., Surrey - out front of the store – 3 PM to 7 PM

Saturday, May 7th
Liquor Store – Cambie & 39th – out front of store – 11 AM to 4 PM
Liquor Store – Nordel Way & Scott Rd., Surrey - out front of the store – 11 AM to 4 PM

The Carnation: Symbol for a Cure

2005-04-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else seeing all the commercials lately about the MS campaign with selling Carnations for Mothers day through the MS Society of Canada? May 5th to the 7th in BC. I've sent off for some info to be a volunteer.

Bad news for Biogen

2005-04-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

Biogen is having a bad year and just can't seem to get it together.. this article sites that excutives profited to the tune of 1.9 million dollars and are being investigated. Sigh...

Healthtalk topic: Facing MS As a Family

2005-04-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

An MS diagnosis can pull a family together or tear it apart. Discover creative ways to bring family members closer to help negotiate this disease and its treatment as a team.

**The replay is now posted.

2005-04-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... home sweet home. I've posted some pics from my trip to Tofino and Ucluelet here. I'm most found of the one called "Long Beach". The trip was good although I'm sitting with a bit of a head cold today. Grr.. so much for one last peaceful day at home doing fun things. I'll update later on the trip details. :)

2005-04-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ohhh... something I can look forward to! Ha ha ha.

2005-04-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

I just can't stand the wait. In two days my closest girlfriend is flying in to town and we are going on a road trip! This is our destination! Yup, a beautiful two bedroom suite with a jacuzzi on the deck overlooking the ocean! The days are flying by way too slow. I have Friday and Monday booked off work which will be such a nice break. Its been busy at work and it'll be nice to just drop it and go. There is just nothing better in my books then hopping in my car and taking off on a road trip! I love it.

2005-04-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Gotta love having divorced and remarried parents... my second birthday dinner is coming up in a couple hours! LOL. Fun times this weekend.

I just got back from paint shopping. We have been living amongst drywall dust for 2 months now and its all starting to wrap up. So, we have a full basement and office for Tod downstairs! Yay! In the mean time, it meant some changes to our master bedroom. Which in turn of course means I get to paint it a new colour! The people who sold us our house were renovators trying to make some money... for some unknown reason they decided to do faux walls in a few places. And by faux walls, I really mean the ugliest shades of weird browns and yellows all mixed together in some sort of bizarre technique that I have never seen in a book or at a paint store. UGLY is really the only word to describe it. So, we need to prime that wall (of course the biggest one in the bedroom) before I can actually start to paint a nice shade of mossy green. The colour chip was called Distant Forest... ahhhh... so much nicer than what is there now! I already covered up the other faux wall in the master bathroom... I have some pics here so you can actually see the ugliness. :)

2005-04-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

The morning started out with getting a spa gift certificate for a steam shower and massage! And a new pedometer so I can know how far I walk. Tonight we have family coming over to take over my kitchen and cook a fabulous meal! Nice way to spend my birthday, thats for sure!

MS walk

2005-04-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

I did the MS walk yesterday! I raised 985.00! It was a good time. Nice path to walk and I did 2.7km's... so not the 5km, but a good amount anyways. It was kinda neat. The walk was around a park that I used to live across from as a child. We even walked right past the house I grew up in. So my dad and I did some remisnicing along the way. Thats the tree we buildt a tree fort in, those are the cedar trees we planted in 1985... that was where I learned to smoke at the age of 15... hahahha. I'm sure he was thrilled to hear that :) So, happy monday all.

2005-04-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ugh! What is this world coming too? Grover doesn't sing about cookies anymore? HUH? This is just not right!!!! What are my future kids going to do? If they can't sing along to "C is for cookie... good enough for me..." what will they sing? Tsk, tsk... its a bad day on Sesame Street!

2005-04-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. Doesn't the time fly? Last week was one crazy one. It was month end and quarter end at work and I ended up having to work a 13 hour day! Can you say tired? Ugh. It was pretty bad. I spent most of the weekend just lounging around watching movies. I was not happy about doing that long a day and then losing my whole weekend to it too. Begs to question the fit of this job post an MS diagnosis doesn't it?

Anyways, goo things to come. The MS weekend is next Sunday! I'm lookng forwad to it. And we have the whole season 3 of 24 on DVD to watch this week... so I'm sure we'll be kept busy ;)

Fatigue anyone?

2005-03-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

So, I think by tomorrow I will have caught up on lost sleep. I think. All week I was getting too little sleep everynight by maybe an hour. Then, I had a rotten sleep on Wednesday where I got maybe 4 hours max. So, with the long weekend happening, I have been pretty low key. I slept about 9 and a half hours last night, and hopefully the same tonight, and then I should be as good as new right?

Or maybe its just the time of year? In surfing this week on my fellow MS blogs I'm seeing others dealing with fatigue... Erik posted a bit about fatigue... Dave too... So, is it the season? Does anyone else who's had MS for more than a year find that their bodies change with the seasons?

Conflicted

2005-03-26T21:52:00.000-08:00

So, I applied to carry google ads on my site and surprisingly was accepted. You can see them over there to the right... But I'm really not so impressed with the ads that are showing. They are certainly not products that I would ever take for my MS, and I highly doubt that any of my readers (or at least those of you that I have emailed with) would ever take any of them either. Some of them are okay and are links to legitimate sites that are helping people (ie: Health talk, MS pathways ect..). I'm a fan of that as many of those sites helped me a lot in the early days of my diagnosis. So do I kill the ads? Any opinions?

2005-03-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

Today Tod and I went to the nursery and bought a new tree (a pink Dogwood) but more importantly we bought Mason Bees! I had heard about them a while ago and have wanted to get some ever since. Tod posted some pics of the little house we bought for them and the larvae. We have 3 cherry trees and 2 apple in our back yard that seem to have had very little to no care for many, many years. The Mason Bees should pollinate the heck out of them and yield some yummy fruit! I'm looking forward to seeing if they hatch and actually make a difference. Well, that and the pruning friends helped us with last summer.

ouchless injections

2005-03-20T16:11:00.000-08:00

Love that title... I think I've been hearing about this concept for a long time but more in the way of having a transdermal patch that would slow absorb medication... this however is more star trek like... propelling the liquid at a fast rate through the skin. Interesting.

2005-03-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading this book. You'll know him... Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley. It was an okay read... I usually pick up something from evey book I read... One particular thing hit home. He talks about trying to keep working (regardless of what his MS is doing to him) and for him that is working on a set. He always wanted to make sure that he knew his surroundings really well so he would go and practice in those locations to get more comfortable and easily aware of where things were so his brain didn't have to "on the fly" interpret so much information or props ect.

I totally feel this from time to time. If I'm in the mall or driving somewhere I don't know and there's all this new stuff to interpret, I start to feel overwhelmed. When my double vision first kicked in this was *really* bad when going grocery shopping. The IGA down the street has these great big fans just overhead and my eye would catch that movement. So while trying to find something on a shelf, I would also be distracted by the fans movement... so frustrating. I'm not sure I'm doing this description justice, but it makes this sketchy moment where its almost like my brain doesn't know what to follow. Kinda like a short circuit. I figured out that if I put my hand over my eyes like I was wearing a baseball cap that would help big time.

2005-03-19T23:19:00.000-08:00

Oooooh... ahhhh.. look at my new little icon to the right---------->
:) Yes, finally the proper RSS feed in case you don't already have it.

Now Avonex?

2005-03-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

Just found this posted over at Diagnos and Adios.

Biogen Idec's multiple sclerosis drug Avonex can cause severe liver damage, U.S. regulatory officials and the company warned on Wednesday, the latest in a series of blows to MS patients.

I also found this Forbes posting that seemed to down play this news a little to be a minor label change... Mostly I'm disturbed that the actual news in these postings seems to be what the stock is doing and not actually what the real scoop is about the drug.

Something a little odd

2005-03-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

So, the other day Tod and I were getting ready to go out for dinner. We went out the front door and walked about 15 feet to my car. At the moment I got to my side of the car I was overwhelmed with nausea. We immediately turned back around and headed inside. I sat down for a bit and didn't actually get sick, but went white as a ghost. Then magically I was fine. I don't have any repercussions from it, but it makes me wonder what the heck happened inside my body to bring that on? It wasen't like vertigo where you feel like your going to fall over... more like instant food poisoning or something. Anyone else have this happen? Is my myelin trying to send me a message?

2005-03-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

Interesting new mouse technology that IBM came out with. Compensates for tremours in your hands.

**Sure pays off having a techy husband who keeps on top of this stuf! ;)

Time for a trip?

2005-03-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

Pretty happy to read that Vancouver rates 3rd place in best cities to live in the world! I woul dhave to agree with that survey. Maybe we need to travel to Geneva and Zurich to find out what we're missing! :)

Only 160 to go!

2005-03-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

I only have 160.00 dollars to go to meet my goal of 1000.00 dollars raised for the MS society! And Tod is catching up... he has more readers on his blog so I think he's got the advantage! hahah! Kidding, kidding...

Happy Saturday. Its a beautiful sunshiney spring day out there! I might even have to mow the lawn this weekend.

2005-03-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

Yay! I randomly booked tomorrow off! :) Fun. It almost feels like I'm playing hookie! Or... err... pre-planned hookie!!

So, I had a great weekend. On Saturday my step mom and I went out for brunch at Milestones. Yum. Then went shopping at Chapters. I had a gift certificate and bought a book I had heard about and wanted :) Then we headed over to Spa Utopia! Its a real shwanky spa and I booked this Hydrotherapy mud bath and a 45 minute massage. It was lovely! I was a little worried going in that they would put the bath too hot. It was at 39 degrees but I asked if they could add cold water and brough it down to 36 and it was perfect! I didn't overheat at all :) Its a good day when you can soak in a tub with over a hundred jets AND not overheat in the process. Ahhh... I was super relaxed all weekend from it!

And even better.... I have raised 765.00 dollars for the MS walk now! Amazing.

Environment?

2005-03-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Came across this article today about Sweden... kinda interesting to think that there are clusters of MS'ers too close regionally to be considered for any other reason than environment. Hmmm they talk about the lake region... what's in that lake!?

Further considerations on the distribution of multiple sclerosis in Sweden.

Landtblom AM, Riise T, Kurtzke JF.

Division of Neurology, University Hospital, Linkoping, Sweden.

Landtblom A-M, Riise T, Kurtzke JF. Further considerations on the distribution of multiple sclerosis in Sweden. Acta Neurol Scand 2005: 111: 238-246. (c) Blackwell Munksgaard 2005.Objectives -The geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Sweden over time was compared in order to analyze homogeneity. Methods -The distribution of MS was compared among three nationwide resources: 1301 hospital cases 1925-1934; 5425 deaths 1952-1992; and 11,371 disability pension recipients 1971-1994. Results -Distributions by county (lan) were markedly non-homogenous, with greatest variations in the early prevalence series (16-232% of the national mean), less within the death data (75-170%), and least for the disability series (87-128%). Maximal rates for MS in the early prevalence series were found for the cluster of seven counties surrounding the two major lakes of south central Sweden, as well as for one region on the northern shore of the Bay of Bothnia, and another also off the Bay north of Stockholm. Conclusion -Though the epidemiologic sources are quite different, they are internally consistent and thus provide three consecutive cross-sectional views of the distribution over time. When considered together the data may be compatible with a thesis of the origin and spread of MS within Sweden from the south-central inland lake regions of the country. Such spread within a half century is too rapid for a genetic cause, including HLA patterns.

I'm so humbled

2005-03-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

I'm truly humbled by the response I'm getting to raising money for the MS Society of Canada. In less than a week of posting to my blog, friends, family and coworkers I have raised $715.00!!! I was NOT expecting this at all. I'm not sure why. With the Tsunami and Breast Cancer events I thought people are a little charity'ed out. Clearly not.

A special thanks to Emily for pledging me. Coming from another MS'er means a lot to me.

Now... I need to get a new Pedometer and get back to walking! And get up enough stamina to go 5km!!!

2005-03-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm... looks like a little bit of competition for me in raising money for MS.... Tod and I are neck in neck!

2005-03-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

Wow. All the blogs are up and chattering today. I can hardly keep up. I don't think there is one blog out there written by an MS'er that hasen't responded to the dreaded news of Tysabri. Not being on meds gives me a little less of an impact. I don't fully know what it's like to have to inject myself and deal with side effects of meds or anything and hope that one day moving to a once a month infusion would be a great improvement. On the other hand.... I came to read much about Tysabri because in the back of my head I always think... the day I DO have to go on meds, I sure hope I don't have to go through injecting myself every couple days... hopefully the Canadian government will have approved Tysabri by then and it will be the drug I end up on.. I could handle the once a month med treatment.... sigh.....Who knows what the future will hold (for us and the drug)? Keep care of yourselves out there in blogger land.... I'm thinking about you all.

FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Tysabri, a New Drug for MS

2005-03-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Wanna pledge me?

2005-02-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

So, here's the link to my fundraising page! From there you can click on the sponser button and leave a donation. :) Thanks!

Healthtalk topic: Medication Matters

2005-02-27T10:24:00.000-08:00

Left untreated, multiple sclerosis inevitably progresses - and with this progression comes higher risk of disability and advanced symptoms such as cognitive lapses.

To date, there's no cure or medication that completely stops the progression of MS, but it can be slowed significantly thanks to an expanding range of treatment options.

Join us and learn all about:

How MS medications have evolved, and the differences between them
The importance of early, consistent and long-term therapy
Tips for sticking with your treatment plan, even in the face of side effects and other obstacles

Dr. Mariko Kita, herself a leading MS specialist, returns to host our panel of top experts. Bring your medication questions

Raising some money!

2005-02-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post this! My husband, me and a girlfriend have signed up to take part in the Walk for MS in my neighborhood! Its part of the Super cities Walk/Run for MS campaign. I'm going to walk the 5km route and hopefully rasie as much money as I can in the process. I haven't got the online page set up properly but I'm going to post it once I get it done. Stay tuned! :)

A different kind of tired

2005-02-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

So, slowly but surely I'm figuring out my limits... Work this week leading up to month end is mentally grueling. Lots to do, in a fast paced environment, with really bad consequences if errors happen. So, sleep is of the utmost importance right? Um ya. So one night this week I got about 6 or so hours of sleep. I paid so dearly for it! I was really out of it all day at work that my slow pace meant working a longer day. How frustrating. Why is it so hard for me to just go to bed at the right time! I know the outcome if I don't will suck!

Is it Spring?

2005-02-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Wow, it feels, looks and smells like Spring in my back yard. Complete with a National Geographic style showing in my backyard that mating season has begun. Lucky for us we don't have kids yet and need to have that conversation! We call one of the dead maples with a flat top the "humpy stump" now. Lovely eh?

Anywys... This last week at work has been an okay one. I am back to working full time! Yay for me! I made it back to the world of normal working people and am NOT on Long term disability anymore. However, I'm awfully tired this weekend. I have to be really careful through the week that I don't get carried away with something and go to bed too late. I seem unable to get away with a 6 hour or even 7 hours of sleep (like I used to) without feeling horrendously tired the whole day. So I believe as I've read elsewhere that this must just be the new normal for me. Okay fine, I'll get more sleep ;)

Yesterday (just to add to my eye tiredness) I drove an hour in to the Fraser Valley to go to a speciality knitting/stitching store with a fellow cross stitcher :) Love going to new places to find different and unique yarns and patterns! The lady there was so nice and felt awful that we travelled so far to come to the store that she gave us both 10% off cards for our next purchase. Nice! And now, its time to get comfy chair out on the deck and absorb as much Vitamin D I can while the sun is out! Happy Sunday all.

And Again!!

2005-02-13T12:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's Sunday. Our ONE day without having to hear contruction noise. At 9:30am I hear the excavator start up. Ummm what?! It's Sunday!! Hello stupid contruction worker guys! You said it yourself that you can only make contruction noise from Monday to Saturday! So, we phoned the cops again. No warning to the construction people. The guy on his digger all of a sudden has a cop pull up beside him and tells him to come over and takes some ID. I was inside my house sneaking a peek through our kitchen window snickering. About 10 minutes later all the construction guys are in their cars leaving and the cop leaves. My phone rings and its dispatch telling me that they shut them down and to call back immediately if they try that one again. Ahhh.. peace and quiet now.

2005-02-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

My husband just posted a little tidbit and pic about our house renovations that are about to begin. You can check it out here. And if you live in BC, pay close attention to the builder NOT to hire.

2005-02-11T22:57:00.000-08:00

The antics next door continue. Have I mentioned there are two houses being built right next to my house? It sucks! So, we're the last house on a cul-d-sac, and these morons always blockade us/my car in our driveway. We have to go find someone and tell them to move their damn trucks so we can leave our house. Its become way too much though... to have to ask to get out anytime you want to leave your own house!? No thanks!

So we have tried to be good and just ask them... but you see, they don't learn. They actually don't care that we want to leave our house and they are blocking us. They don't care that they are playing bad music screeching out of a ghetto blaster aimed at my house all day long. They don't care that we have to live with a port-o-potty on our front door step! Seriously, I'll post a pic if you don't believe me. Its totally gross and they won't move it.

Anyways, we've been made to feel bad for asking them to move, I have been verbally attacked and sworn at, and we have had enough. We warned them. Now, we have this frined in uniform who will come deal with them! Yay! The cops are our friend. They told us to not even bother communicating with these construction workers. Just phone the cops and they'll come and deal with them and ticket them. Ahh... so nice to have someone on your side that can make an impact. :)

6 hours

2005-02-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

So this is my second week at working 6 hours a day. All is going well although I'm feeling overall just a little more tired than I usually felt. Next week I'm moving to 8 hours a day. Back to normal working hours. More importantly, back to normal pay cheques!!

I've been thinking a lot about going on vacation these days. Mostly an Alaskan cruise! Vacationing in the cold! Yay! That'll suite me perfectly :) Not so much for my husband though. He can sit in a nice warm hot tub and I'll sit out of it sipping a milkshake. Mmmm... sounds like heaven right?

Perfect Spot

2005-02-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

Perfect Spot
Originally uploaded by OnlineKim.

This is where I write my blog from.... there's always someone in the little bed :)

Cruel and unusual punishment, don't ya think?

2005-02-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

Puzzle Alarm Clock - Valentine's Day Online Gift Shopping Australia - Unique Presents, Gift Ideas, Novelty Adult Products, Big Boys Toys and Home Gambling accessories

2005-02-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today's walk: no pedometer, and we didn't check the clock! Duh. But I'm really tingly now. Right up both legs to my hips. Time for yoga.

2005-02-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

So here is what I found posted in May 2004 about the show I just blogged. They manipulated the media well avoiding talking about the 10 patients that this did not work well for. Although they have stated the using this therapy with people that were not in progessive states of the disease would likely work better. Here is the small amount of data I found... (can't link to it though...)

Autologous Bone Marrow Transplants

The most intensive treatment of MS to date involves various degrees of immunoablation and restoration of the immune system using autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells. Dr. George Kraft^[11] presented the data from his Seattle, Washington-based group that enrolled 26 patients (median age, 41 years) with severe MS, including 8 with primary progressive MS (PPMS), 16 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and 1 with RRMS. Their median EDSS was 7.0 (range, 5.0-8.0). Most (24) had failed single or multiple previous therapies with immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive agents. Participants received high-dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation. The median follow-up was 12 (range, 3-36) months.

With this treatment, 9 patients remained neurologically stable, 6 actually improved (including 3 patients with PPMS), but 10 deteriorated, using the definition of an EDSS 0.5-point change. Two patients with enhancing lesions on MRI at baseline still had these at 1 year following the transplant, 1 of whom reportedly had a flare of MS associated with the administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Two others with no baseline enhancement developed enhancing lesions. One death was reported due to a rare complication of Epstein-Barr virus infection believed to be due to use of rabbit-derived antithymocyte globulin.

Together with European researchers, who have also performed similar treatments on patients with advanced disease, Kraft's group agreed that this therapy needs to be given earlier in the course of disease when patients are less disabled. This is precisely the cohort targeted by the Canadian MS BMT Study Group,^[12] who reported on the safety of their regimen with data from the first 4 of their patients. Because of reported exacerbations using the stem-cell mobilizer G-CSF (as was seen in the Seattle-based study) the University of Ottawa researchers used cyclophosphamide alongside this agent and noted no exacerbation of either clinical or MRI activity. Their longest follow-up was only 6 months, but their initial safety data were encouraging. They plan to treat 24 patients over the next 3 years.

The Pioneers

2005-02-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I watched the show tonight. It was a really good doc on a clinical trial using Stem Cells and Chemotherapy to stop the MS from progressing any further in your body. Its all being done out of a hospital in Ottawa. You can watch some of the show here. Its a pretty risky procedure.. the main gist of it being that you give up a bunch of your bone marrow and they harvest all the stem cells they can from it. Then they purify the stem cells. Then they essentially nuke your immune system with the Chemo to nothing (including killing off the immune cells that attack Myelin). Once you are at the lowest you can be without dying you are given back your own stem cells so that you can get your own immunity back without the MS. There is a risk of death though... one patient in the study did die from liver complications, but they think they have revamped the study to be safer. So far everyone else in the study are not getting new lesions or any new MS symptoms. Oh, and the patients seemed to all have progessive MS and not just RRMS. So, interesting, scary, exciting and what seems like a positive step forward in the research field. I'm going to try to find some more in depth info about it.

CTV's W-FIVE show about MS tonight

2005-02-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

A little late... but for the West coasters its on at 7pm on CTV. Just says that the show is about latest treatments for MS and someone risking their life for (I assume) a trial treatment.

10 Random things

2005-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

1 Married, no kids yet
2 Own a house on a creek
3 Educated in Veterinary medicine but had to leave the industry for lack of money. Still want to work in that field again one day
4 I have 4 brothers, 0ne real, 3 fake
5 Love doing crafty things... knitting, cross stitch, painting objects, painting walls
6 The wildlife in my back yard are more inportant than the flowers I planted that they ate
7 I have a pesicide dispensing license. Its completely useless
8 My job is a chaotic mix of dealing with sales people, implementation planners, production floor planners, credit folk, and admin staff
9 Every 4 to 6 weeks my step mom and I have committed to checking into a spa for the day
10 Looking for a better recipe for Chilean Sea Bass. Anyone?

2005-02-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

So my 3rd week back at work has gone reletively well. I'm working 6 hours a day now and will probably do that again next week. Then move back to proper full time hours the following week. Work is a little crazy these days... we were just bought by Kodak! So the vibe is all a little scary at this point. We are not sure what Kodak intends to do with all of us... but of course the speculation is that we'll all lose our jobs and get buy out packages. If I hear one more coworker say "thats not a Kodak moment" I'll barf.

I'm rather optomistic though. I think that I'll lose my job. Yup. And I'm sure I'll find a new job no problem. But, I'm hoping that they transfer my job to New York and then ask me to bring it to the people there! Thats right! A free trip to New York! Yes please! Me, me! I'll go! When we went through a merge before, I had to go to Boston to bring back a job and those guys also were flown out to us too. I ended up going to Boston for 3 trips to train folks out there. So, I'll just have to wait and see :)

Gmail gone crazy!

2005-02-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Holy Smokes! I have 50 Gmail invites now. Anyone want one? Let me know your email address and I'll send one your way!

2005-01-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

Todays walk: 2KM (roughly), 30 minutes.