I was sitting here in front of my computer, getting ready for work after I just had some yummie Cottages Cheese with sweet fresh strawberries mixed in with my supplements. The last part got an unexpected addition recently, in the form of Juice Plus Capsules: I wanted to gift P90X to a friend (thank you Rita! <3) who tried through a great deal of hassle to order it and in turn she surprised me with a whole ration of Juice Plus. While my last blood test came back with great results, I am now able to boost my nutrition levels even higher thanks to the unexpected, awesome gift. I am curious as to what it does for me

Our apartment is quite the mess as we are getting ready to move to Norway by the end of June. There is still so much to be done  in between my P90X Workouts, normal work, painting (not that much recently), pack, throw things away and plan ahead. I seriously couldn’t imagine if I had to do this during the first years of my diagnosis. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate for more then a few hours without being dead tired in the end and totally useless. It doesn’t help that my Yoga Mat, Push-up stands, dumbbells and other workout gear add to the overall chaos that is the pre-moving madness. Add the dangling bands on our pull-up bar and it’s a veritable mix of confusion.

While I am getting a good potion of sleep now, my change in eating habits and addition of the workouts, just completely turned everything in my life around. It’s almost a bit dangerous because I have so much energy during the day that I feel like I want to attack thousand things the same time and risk overworking/training every now and then. I almost consider it a very good thing to have the normal work day since I might just go crazy and train even more if I had more free time. Heck, I was asked if I would think about competing in bikini (no I won’t, I don’t want to have to get fake boobs, thanks! ).

My current Neurologist (by the way, if you are in the Athens’ area and are looking for a good Neurologist I can definitely give you some input, same for general practitioners, contact me )) is really impressed with how well I am doing. He completely supports my life style including working out. As a matter of fact he says that living healthy and workout to your own capabilities/limits (depending on the severity of your MS, in moderation), is probably the most important aspect of dealing with our illness. However, it’s easier for me since I never smoked, drink rarely and I got born into a very active family to start with.

While I share his sentiment that living healthy is important, I also think that having a goal to work towards to is a very strong aspect (if not the strongest). For me, staying as well as I am right now is as important as it is for others to work out to get that lean, slim, toned body. Well, of course I would lie if I said it’s not a great additional aspects but it’s not really what keeps me most motivated. It’s the fact that I can help with our move to Norway without feeling completely worn out by it, as an example.

During my last routine check-up (clean MRI, further decrease in my lesions and healthy, clean blood-tests) we also talked about Gilenya (fingolimod), the new oral drug that was approved last year and this year in several countries in Europe (not 100% sure about the status in the States). While I find the thought to have the option to exchange my injection with an oral drug really comforting, I am kind of hesitant about the whole thing. I am not really sure I want to be a guinea pig that early in the approval phase (even though writing this makes me feel guilty in a way for not helping out more). This however comes from the fact that I am wary as to how the initial tests have been used for results. Meaning, do we really know how many of the test group had issues and which of the numbers are 100% correct?

Surprisingly enough my Neurologist shared that sentiment. Now that the drug is available to the market we will get a more in depth idea of how everyone is reacting to the drug and its possible side-effects, he explained. Sounds totally logical to me and was, after thinking back, the sentiment I had with sticking to Rebif for now. I also have gotten used to the injection rather well and fast. I think the most welcome change would be not to have to go through the whole hassle while travelling and taking the drug with me into the airplane. Having to open the bag and explain why I am carrying around syringes in front of all the other passengers at the hand-luggage check always makes me feel like a little terrorist. That’s pretty much about it though. It’s rather easy to get used to something that improves your quality of life

Disclaimer for those that haven’t read the one at the top: I am NOT selling any products nor am I involved or benefiting financially if you go and buy/use any of the products I talk about or link in my blog. Likewise, I am not going to force you or come over to kill you if you don’t buy or use any of the products mentioned