Demolition Is Not My Calling

The other day I fell down the stairs (again). It’s not the first time, and it’s probably not the last, but I try really hard to avoid such things because…well…frankly it hurts.

As I am lying on the floor, at the bottom of the stair, grimacing in pain; I realize that my head is at an awkward angle against the wall.

It hurt too much to cry. I swear that I must have broken my right arm, or at least my wrist. I couldn’t move, or didn’t want to move…at that moment I couldn’t figure out which.

So what do I do?

Laugh!

Mostly to myself, but I laughed.

Why?

Because I realized that I fell hard, hit the floor and the wall, and that my neck was at an angle that should have broken it, and after all that the WALL was unscathed.

I did not hurt the drywall at all…not one mark.

Of course…if I had broken the wall I would have been pissed off.

But at that moment I didn’t care. I wanted some memento that I was there.

“Well that there is where Chris fell down the stairs again and went through the wall”.

Nothing, but back to reality…

The fall really did hurt, but I don’t know what happened.

I try to be careful, but I also know that all accidents happen when there is a level of being comfortable.

Did I feel stronger and more stable than I really was?

Did my legs give out?

The truth is…I don’t know, but there has to be something to learn.

And what I got out of this experience is that I need someone to carry me around all of the time and give me piggy back rides. I swear it would be for medical purposes only, and that I wouldn’t have any fun doing it. 

Clusters of MS

MS is found in millions of people through a lot of the world, but there are also pockets (aka clusters) in certain parts of the world that have more people with MS per capita than in other parts of the world. Why is this interesting? Because I’m from one of those cluster areas.

I was born and raised in Eastern Washington, and the area is known to have a high number of people with symptoms related to Multiple Sclerosis.

Is there a link? The MS Society doesn’t know, but they also haven’t ruled it out:

Other MS clusters have been reported over the years, but epidemiologists have been unable to pinpoint causes. Research into reported clusters continues. In 2002, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) awarded research grants to five investigators to evaluate possible environmental risk factors for MS and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in several U.S. communities that are near hazardous waste sites. These studies, undergoing final analysis, focused on sites in Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts, eastern Washington and Missouri. While these efforts of ATSDR to understand the potential health risks of hazardous waste exposure will provide important information, there is no information to date to suggest a definite link between hazardous waste and MS.
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS/What-Causes-MS/Clusters

And according to a 2011 article in Seattle Magazine:

Washington is a hot spot for multiple sclerosis…The National Multiple Sclerosis Society says multiple sclerosis is more prevalent in the Pacific Northwest than almost anywhere else on earth—there are about 12,000 known cases here. There’s no known cure, no known cause and no proven explanation for its prominence in Washington. “If I knew why, I would get a free trip to Stockholm to pick up my Nobel Prize,” says Dr. James Bowen, medical director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Swedish Medical Center’s Neuroscience Institute and board member of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

What we do know is that every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with this debilitating disease of the central nervous system. More than 400,000 people in the U.S.—2.5 million people worldwide—are affected by MS. An often-progressive disease that attacks the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord, MS symptoms vary from person to person: Some have numbness in their arms and legs, others lose their eyesight or balance, and some can become paralyzed and in very rare cases, even die. The complex disease is like a giant unsolved jigsaw puzzle: Dozens of factors—such as lack of vitamin D, diet, childhood viruses, gender, genetics, age and geography—are believed to contribute to it, but have yet to be fully understood and formally linked. Do our high-fat/dairy-rich diets and the vitamin D-depleting sunscreen we are obsessed with contribute to MS?

http://www.seattlemag.com/article/lifestyle/health/washington-hotbed-three-dangerous-diseases

Eastern Washington does have the Hanford nuclear power plant, but come on really? I don’t remember seeing the Toxic Avenger or any number of comic book characters with MS. Then what about pesticides? Eastern Washington does produce a lot of fruit and hops, which do use pesticides, but again there are no real links…only guesses.

Are these clusters real, and if so what should we do about them? Is there anything that we can do? Other than the stupidly ridiculous answer of shutting down all farming operations and waiting 50 years to see if there are any significant changes.

Seriously…let’s think about this. If MS is somehow related to pesticides and/or nuclear power, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that farmers and/or nuclear power plant workers would have a higher MS rate among them than anyone else? Maybe they do…maybe that question was stupid…the point is that we don’t know what causes MS…all we have are ideas…and the fact that I was born and raised in Eastern Washington.

You’re A Numb Skull…Literally

One of the weirdest things that has come and gone over the years (and is back today) is that the back of my head becomes numb. It is the most unusual and unexplainable sensations ever.

It is sort of like when your leg falls asleep and right before it starts to wake up, you feel this numbing sensation. That is sort of what is going on with my head. It doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t feel good either, but it is very present…very very present. It is not a good or pleasant feeling…at all.

Usually when it happens it starts in the back of my head, then expand to include my ears, and then parts of my face. It will last for a while (a day or two usually) then it goes away again until it misses me so much that it comes back.

According the MS Society:

Numbness of the face, body or extremities (arms and legs) is one of the most common symptoms of MS. Often it’s the first symptom experienced by those eventually diagnosed with MS. The numbness may be mild or so severe that it interferes with the ability to use the affected body part. For example, a person with very numb feet may have difficulty walking. Numb hands may prevent writing, dressing, or holding objects safely.

People with MS who have severe facial numbness should be very careful when eating or chewing, as they may unwittingly bite the inside of their mouth or tongue. People with numbness over other parts of the body should be careful around fires, hot water and other sources of heat, as they may suffer a burn without realizing it.

There are no medications to relieve numbness.

(http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Symptoms-Diagnosis/MS-Symptoms/Numbness)

Great information, but it doesn’t talk specifically about being a numb skull…I mean having a numb skull. So I read other people’s stuff online and found this guy Matt who has MS and has experienced something very similar. Here is a piece form his site:

Woke up this morning an my head was numb... The back left of my neck, the back left of my head and my left ear. As the night is coming to an end it is slowly spreading down towards my cheek... I can feel that I am touching my skin but it is a very faint sensation as if a dentitst decided to shoot me up with novicane all over my neck, head, and the left side of my face. Also been experiencing a little more pain than usual today most in my right hand's fingertips. One finger in particular has a sever almost itching sensation that comes and goes but mostly just the "I just smashed my finger with a hammer" sensation. My left sciatic nerve is bothering me a bit as well. That's all that's new, vision and everything else is no different than usual.

(http://www.mattsms.com/2012/01/woke-up-this-morning-my-head-was-numb.html)

It is crazy how differently Multiple Sclerosis affects different people, yet there is such a commonality of similarity that is undeniable.

WARNING: Do not attempt to make your own head go numb. MS is a serious and sometimes laughable matter. Do not try this at home kids; I am an untrained professional who cannot control his own body.

Seriously though…a numb head really really sucks…I hate it!!!!!

http://chrisallreddesign.com/

I wrote this as the opening to my website link and wanted to share it…

Chris Allred’s Personal Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis (MS) – The Blog
    

This is about me, or at least part of me because MS doesn’t define me…I’m not a disease, nor do I look upon Multiple Sclerosis as a disease, but rather a lifestyle change. Some people will be able to relate, while others cannot see past the physical and have no ideas what MS truly is.

MS can be, and is, different for everybody fighting that unknown battle; however, with those differences comes a lot of similarities and understanding.

What I just said should be clear to people with MS, and/or to the people that are very close to a person living with MS. To everyone else…it probably sounded like double talk that went absolutely nowhere…unknown with understanding?????...differences with similarities?????...yes, and that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.

What are some of your symptoms because you don’t look sick?

This is something that I wrote a long time ago, and featured it on my website Chris Allred Design (http://chrisallreddesign.com) and still feel as though it is still very relevant:

That is a big question and unfortunately different versions of that same question get asked to lots of people living with MS on a daily basis.
It’s not the flu, it is not always that obvious to see, and don’t worry it’s not contagious. I am happy to report that people living with this disease live long enriching lives, with the added benefit of having huge stumbling blocks thrown in the way in an attempt to keep you from getting from here to there. No one said life was easy, it just happens that some of us take a little longer getting to where we need to go. The person who first came up with that old proverb of not taking the easy road must have had Multiple Sclerosis, because every day is a struggle. I’m not dying and so it is easy for me to stay positive based on the fact that there are worse diseases out there. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely hate MS, but I would rather have it then something worse, and so that makes me lucky. There is no cure, and the symptoms vary from person to person, and strangely enough the symptoms vary in the same person based on if it’s Tuesday or not (Tuesday has nothing to do with it…it was a joke based on MS is a disease without reason).
Personally, most of my symptoms come and go, lasting a few days to a few weeks depending on how long they choose to last (I have no say in it). However, there are a couple of things that are always present no matter what, and those are fatigue and an excruciating pain in my hands and feet. I’m not going to bore you (nor do I choose to share) with all of the symptoms that I have had over the last few years, but I will say that my biggest frustrations are mental and physical.
My absolute biggest frustration is getting my body and mind to work together. Examples:

1. I know what I want to say, but I can’t get it out. So I either look lost for words or unsure of myself.
2. Motor functions, as in I know what I want to do and how something should work, but my hands don’t always agree; like using the mouse, using the keyboard, writing, picking up things, holding on to things, etc., etc., etc.
3. Mental pause, as in my brain seems to take a break. It happens a lot and I know it’s happening, but I can’t do anything about it. I just stop! Stop thinking, stop speaking, stop moving; everything seems to shut down (except of course for all of the involuntary stuff like breathing and blood pumping through my heart). It last from a few seconds to a few minutes, and I am aware of it, but I can’t explain it.

My second biggest frustration is coordination. Examples:

1. Falling down is a huge concern. I have done it, I have been hurt by it, and there is a fear of serious injury depending on where it happens or what I may hit on the way down.
2. Legs not working properly, as in they sometimes like to give out; sometimes I know about it (as it has been going on for a while), and sometimes it is brief and without warning.

I am a stubborn kind of guy, and so I don’t let it beat me. I gave in and bought a cane a while back though, but I refuse to use it because I don’t want to be labeled. I should have been using it for a long while now, but can’t seem to do it. It is all about baby steps, and I’m on step 2.

1. Step 1 – Admitting you need assistance.
2. Step 2 – Buy a cane.
3. Step 3 – Use the cane.

 

    

Getting a Good Swallow

When was the last time that you had a good swallow? Do you ever think about swallowing, or do you take it for granted unless you have a sore throat? Does having a sore throat make you appreciate your ability to swallow under normal circumstances, or do you forget all about it after you’ve healed and moved on?

I personally think about swallowing a lot…like every day a lot. I call it a double swallow because it seems like I have to try it twice to make it works once, and even that is a half-assed attempt to get it right. The MS Society states that it is a “Delay in triggering the swallow: “I can't get my swallow started.”’

I can't get my swallow started????? What kind of stupid ridiculous crap is that? It makes no sense, but it sounds a lot like my so-called double swallow, which doesn’t make sense either.

Even with a sore throat the swallowing function works. The body is a complicated piece of machinery (not talking cyborgs…yet), but moving food, liquid, gum, pennies, saliva, or anything else that you put into your mouth from your pie hole to your stomach doesn’t seem like the most complicated piece of the machine (just pissed off a bunch esophagus junkies and smart people with that one).

The problem is that I know how to swallow, or at least thought that I knew how to swallow because I have been practicing it successfully my entire life. How do I know that I have been successfully swallowing my entire life? I’m alive and not dead from choking…point for me.

So since I know how to swallow, this double swallow crap sucks. It’s hard and it takes work. I’m not fully afraid of hard work, but I want to take my swallow for granted like I used to.

Seriously…a good swallow is a memorable thing when you don’t get very many of them. I had one, two days ago. We were in the car heading home. My wife was driving because neither one of us felt safe with me behind the wheel. I was in the passenger seat playing on my phone. We were stopped at a red light behind a few cars, waiting to turn right, off of Fourth Plain onto Andresen. Right then and there, as we were stopped in front of some check cashing place waiting for the light to turn green, it happened…I swallowed…a perfect “normal” swallow. It felt so good, so indescribable, and so incredibly perfect.

I wanted more.

Why did I have to be greedy? Why couldn’t I be happy with what I got? No, I had to press my luck and try to duplicate the swallow. Maybe I was better, and my double swallowing days were gone; maybe not permanently, but for a while at least?

Disappointment set in…the normal everyday take for granted swallow was nothing more than a fluke, and trying to duplicate it sort of cheapened the memory of it. It was a good moment, and I’ll remember it for a long time; maybe not the specifics, but that I still had a good swallow left in me and that I could still do it.

I know that I’ll have a lot more swallows in my days to come, both good and bad. I can deal with it because it won’t kill me (this one might actually, but I’m not going to tell anybody that…including myself). Yes it is a hindrance, but it’s not a game changer. You always have a choice on how you deal or react to every situation in life, and I choose the positive path.

 

 

 Let’s hear more about what the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has to say about this:

Common swallowing symptoms

These problems are typically mild or transient. But when chronic, they can lead to dehydration or poor nutrition. In severe cases, food or liquids can enter the lungs, which can lead to “aspiration” pneumonia. Common issues include:

• Delay in triggering the swallow: “I can't get my swallow started.”
• Residue left in the throat due to weakness: “It feels like there is still something stuck in my throat.”
• Inadequate airway protection (with possible aspiration) due to weakness or timing problems: “It goes down the wrong tube and I cough.”

Swallow more safely

• Take care of your mouth. Brush your teeth and tongue twice daily to reduce bacteria and the risk of pneumonia, should aspiration occur. (Regularly visit the dentist also.)
• Sit upright at a full 90-degree (or right angle) position when eating or drinking.
• Take small sips and bites to safely control the amount of food you’re ingesting.
• Take follow-up dry swallows to clear any residue left in the throat.
• Cough or clear your throat and swallow again to protect your airway.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Resources-Support/Library-Education-Programs/You-CAN!/Speak-More-Clearly-and-Swallow-More-Safely

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/

As always…please check what else I am up to at:

 

http://chrisallreddesign.com/

Who in the Hell is Allergic to Chicken

I’m not…well sometimes…when the mood calls for it.

I love chicken and eat quite often (a few times a week). Chicken is very versatile in the food world, as it basically can be paired with lots of different ingredients; not to mention that it is relatively inexpensive (for the most part).

So why would I eat something that I am allergic to? To save money…that’s stupid because I just wouldn’t buy it.

The truth is, I’m not allergic to it (nor have any other food allergies).

However, there have been a number of times over the last few years that chicken makes me really sick. I can’t explain it. I don’t know if it’s MS related or not. What I do know is that I am fine, and then one day I eat chicken and it makes me sick, but not food poisoning sick.

The “allergy” will last a week or two, and then go away for months at a time. Most of my Multiple Sclerosis issues come and go as they please, and so the chicken thing fits right in.

 

(I guess that I could stop eating cartoon chickens…laugh that was supposed to be funny)

According to one website:

Doctors are not sure exactly what causes multiple sclerosis (MS). An autoimmune disease affecting the brain and spinal cord, MS causes sufferers' immune systems to damage their own central nervous systems. Although individuals have to be genetically susceptible in order to develop MS, once they have this genetic predisposition, onset of the disease can be triggered by environmental factors, including diet. Data indicates that food hypersensitivities, including food allergies, may initiate, exacerbate or aid in the progression of the disease.

Like MS, allergies are related to the immune system. When you have a food allergy, your immune system identifies the food as harmful to your body and tries to fight it off. Different people have different reactions to foods they are allergic to, ranging from rashes and itchy skin to gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Components of some common food allergens, such as milk, legumes and grains, are known to cause autoimmune diseases. The proteins in milk even cause degeneration of the central nervous systems of mice in a way that closely resembles MS.

Food allergies are much more common in people with MS (50 to 75 percent) than in the general population (one to two percent). The most common food allergens among people with MS are dairy, grains, yeast, eggs and legumes. (Among the general population the most common food allergens are dairy, wheat, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish.)

The avoidance of allergenic foods has been known to help control MS symptoms (and the reintroduction of those foods to cause the recurrence of symptoms). Avoiding food allergens is actually recommended as a form of treatment.

(Taken from: http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/allergies/food-allergy/information/can-food-allergies-cause-multiple-sclerosis.htm)

So what does that all mean? Nothing…they don’t know. MS is different, yet the same, in everybody that has it. So am I allergic to chicken? It depends on the time of the month.

http://chrisallreddesign.com/