Tools of my trade...

You'd think with a title like that I would be talking about carpentry or something but I am actually referring to my MS tools. Anyone who gives daily subcutaneous injections should get a BD safe clip. They are about $7.00 and they have a small hole that you put the syringe into and pop, off it goes into the clip. It holds about 2,000 needle clips. You can order them on Amazon.com. I highly recommend this tool especially if you don't want to have a SHARPS container clouding up your counter space. It's a bit of an eye sore too if you ask me.

Obviously my other tool is the shot itself. My magic drug, well that's my hope anyway. The drug has a 20% success rate in decreasing attacks after two years but the real magic happens after 5-10 years on the drug when the rate of attacks decreases by 80%. To me, this means a commitment of 5-10 years on this drug.

That does interfere with my dreams of having another baby however. Our family is wonderful the way it is but I long to have another baby, a boy. I want our family to be full and happy and I think the more, the merrier. Well not too much more, just one really. Our house would be maxed out if another one joined our family so it is unlikely we would attempt the grow the family for three years or so but then again, Emma would be 5 and Anna, 7. It would be quite an age gap for baby boy Nystuen or baby girl that is...

A more obvious tool is my daily vitamin. At the urging of my older brother I started taking a 1000 milligram of Vitamin D and a multi-vitamin. I have never been big on vitamins... not sure why but I haven't ever really taken them consistently. Probably because there is no visual benefit to vitamins. Yeah some say they help your nails and hair grow but I have never noticed therefore no vitamins for me. Well that's changed and I have been faithful to my pills for sometime now.

Probably the biggest and most reliable tool of my trade is my family. Anna and Emma are involved in the shot time daily. They peel back the shot package and Anna checks the air bubbles and Emma gets to throw away the trash and blot my skin if any blood occurs from the shot. At first, I wanted to shield the girls from this daily torture but they were intrigued and I thought they should see that Mommy isn't afraid (don't tell them but it hurts everyday) and that I am doing what I can to proactively take care of myself. Anna told me just yesterday that she wanted to be a nurse when she grows up. I almost cried. I was so proud of her because I knew she was doing it for me. I will tell you though she always said she will be Sleeping Beauty too when she grows up.

My husband is my rock. He is so caring, so generous and loving. I truly don't deserve such an honorable man but we take care of each other and that's love for us.

My parents, in-laws, friends and beyond have offered support and prayer when I needed it and I know some still pray for me regularly. I appreciate all of you.

Taking care of ourselves is something we have taken for granted. Neither Adam nor I thought our bodies would fail us at such a young age. Me, diagnosed with MS at 28 years old and Adam diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 31. Our health has continued to challenge us too. Adam now has borderline hypertension (high blood pressure).

I too had a bout of high blood pressure this past Sunday that landed me in the ER. My blood pressure had shot up to 176/123. I have never had high blood pressure but for the past three weeks had felt tightness in my chest and didn't think I could really get a deep breath. The ER doctors and nurses were shocked that I was only 29 and in relatively good health but there it was on the monitor, dangerously high blood pressure! After an EKG, a chest X-ray and an ultrasound of my leg to check for a clot, they couldn't figure out what was wrong. My blood tests came back clear and so did the urine analysis. The nurses came by to try to analyze my condition and the doctor was down right stumped. The nurse thought it could possibly be a pheochromocytoma. Yes exactly my thoughts - what the heck is that? After a little mayo.com research, turns out it is a tumor on the adrenal glads on the kidney. Tumor is a four letter word to most but in my profession, the first question is benign or malignant? These rare tumors are mostly benign so the odds are in my favor... that is if this is even what was wrong. I'll know more tomorrow when I get the test results of my 24 hour urine analysis - boy was that fun.

The good news is that my blood pressure has returned to normal. It is holding steady around 112/68. The lowest of my life. Makes me think losing 30 pounds has actually paid off in more than just my wardrobe but my heart and body as well. I take the accomplishment of losing the weight very seriously but I can't help but think that before all of the weight loss, I appeared relatively healthy. As the layers of pounds have peeled away, discovery of health problems keep popping up. I know the two aren't likely related but I can't help but wonder... silly I know.