The Medicine

Well it's official. I have a treatment plan, it arrived in the mail (after a few hiccups with insurance), and I am ready to get started. 

Are you confused? Catch up HERE

Right after my diagnosis we decided to start a new drug that would be administered by IV every six months. 

This drug is made to suppress the immune system... it is new, with lots of promise for an easy, effective treatment. 

I set up my infusions for a couple weeks after the wedding. I talked myself off the crazy train of "what ifs" and was ready to go.

This was abruptly stopped as my doctor decided he wanted to wait till the drug had been on the market a little bit longer -- and decided to switch me to a daily pill called Tecfidera. 

I'm going to try to explain the way that this new drug works using the words of my father:

Your body has an immune system. 

This immune system is basically a little army with weapons that fight diseases.... my body's army is a little over zealous, fights off the bad guys, but then goes a step further and attacks the healthy cells. 

My body has decided that my spinal cord is no good... it has been eating away at my myelin- the stuff that protects your nerves. 

This damage to my myelin is what causes my legs to go numb... originally there was only one area they were attacking.. and over the years they had seem to stop. With the most recent MRI there was another spot detected.. which means the army is still working a little too hard.

We need to disarm the army... ever so slightly. 

We still want them to fight, but maybe just take it down a notch. 

This drug (the daily pill) helps to decrease the weapons... I will still have a healthy immune system, but they won't be able to fight as hard. 

You might be thinking- wait... didn't the IV treatment do the same thing? 

Well no, the IV treatment would have attacked the army itself, weakening the whole operation.

While I'm not thrilled to add in a daily pill two times a day to my routine, I am excited to finally make some moves instead of just waiting for things to happen. 

This is all a positive step in the right direction, and I am looking forward to finally getting started!