[nancy-bergstrom]

My main pain is on my spine or just to the right of it around the bra line or at lower ribs.  It is where my spinal lesion is located and I have this pain all of the time.  I try to stretch and massage.  If it really bugs me at night, I put on a lidocaine patch – just about the size of a small yellow sticky – right on the center of the pain.  Even with such a small patch, the lidocaine really helps, but can only be worn for 12 hours.  I also tend to sleep on my right side and crunch up blankets or a pillow to get some relief.  But this pain is my constant friend, with me for over 20 years.  A few years before I had any symptoms that led to MS DX, docs thought it was gallbladder pain due the the stones I had, so my gallbladder was removed.  The pain just got worse.  A number of years later, I finally had an MRI of my entire spine, and then the pain made sense.

[nancy-bergstrom]

In addition to allof the recommendations, I have a few more.  I do not have limitless funds, but I am planning to update my kitchen and bath – both orginal to the home which was build in 1953.  And both locations are modest in dimension, so no major changes in layout.

Bath – replacing tub/shower with no thresh hold shower with seat that folds down.  Adding hand shower wand closer to the shower seat, and have a regular showhead as well.  Toilet/bidet combo – recommended by my OT.  More extensive lighting and auto shutoff fan.  I am also having a towel/grab bar installed right outside of shower to hand my canes.

Kitchen redo – new cabinets with light black splash and counter tops.  Lots of lighting.  Adding a dishwasher, a darker one bowl sink so coffee and tea stains are not so evident.  Counter depth fridge-freezer with bottom freezer drawer –  nothing buried back to far, and I can access freezer drawer from kitchen stool.  Induction cook top – lower risk from accidental burning (only heats up the pots and pans on the burner).  Small space for me to sit at counter to do chopping and mixing chores while sitting on stool.  Pantry cupboard.  Vinyl flooring – update, but I need a softer flooring.

In addition, I am having a 24″ washer/dryer stack set installed in main bedroom closet which backs on to mainfloor bath.  I will be able to do laundry without assistance or having to go to the basement where machines are located now.  Adding the w/d will require that the closet be made deeper so I am also have lighting in the closet, and and outlet installed to use for rechargable vacuum that I will acquire at some future date.

Minor things – I have grab bar adjacent to steps in my garage, makes the two steps much easier to manage both going up and down.  I am planning to have similar grab bars installed at the top and the bottom of my basement stairs.  Too often stair railing are only as long as the stairs themselves.  The extra grab bars set higher at the top of the stairs and lower at the bottom give an additional hand hold in just the right place.

I have 4 grabbers for different rooms in my home.  I also keep canes, walker and office chair in the basement so I do not have to carry my mainfloor aids down the stairs.  I also have spare crutches in my car, just in case.

[nancy-bergstrom]

Easy-peasy – a good sized pool at about 85 degrees, for water ex. and swimming laps.  More specifically – about 4 ft deep for running- walking in the water,  a deeper area, 6 ft so I can do flutter kick exercises in the water upright, and even if I cannot use all of my limbs as well, I would still like to do laps.  Pool edge should be at sit on edge height with railings so I can get in and out easily.  Rails, steps in shallow area so I can exit easily.

Then exercise area with my rowing erg, free weights, bench, a cycle and perhaps some other things.

Yard – with paths to get to various planting beds.

I am currently having my modest ranch home updated.  All towel bars or anything that can be grabbed is also a grab bar.  Bath being replaced by walk in shower.

[nancy-bergstrom]

Right now, I take 10,ooo0  IU day.  It makes a difference for me.   I had only been taking 10,000 IU a week, and was having joint and leg pain problems when I started taking Fosamaax.  I raised my Vit D and the pain stopped.

[nancy-bergstrom]

I use duloxetine or Cymbalta for pain.  I have neuropathic pain in my legs, and Cymbalta and previous Lyrica have been the two medications that have help quell the pain.  I had tried Vicodin, which did not help and I hate the side effects.

I had used a 60 mg dose of Cymbalta for a couple of years, but when I switch healthcare due to the ACA, I took some time to get my meds set up with the new pharm program so I cut back to 30 mg dose and day and have stayed on that for the most part.  Sometimes when I have overdone things, or know that I will do a great deal of walking, I take 60 mg split into two doses about 12 hours apart.

[nancy-bergstrom]

I have used hand controls on two cars now, since around 2006.  The set-up is a spinner ball on the steering wheel to the right side, and the gas/brake handle to the left.  I had controls added to my SUV when I first trained and licensed.  I later purchased a slighter small car – Subaru Outback and had controls installed in that car.  The biggest issue for me in purchasing a new car was ease of getting in and out with the limited mobility of my right leg.  While it was rather costly to get training – at my own cost, the new car manufacturer offered a rebate for some of the hand controls.  I have been very pleased with how well they work.

I am not currently working but have driven daily with hand controls for several years to and from work about a 20 mile daily round trip in sluggish Seattle traffic.  I have also driven longer trips and find that the controls and I work just fine.  The nice thing about hand controls is that a regular driver can still use the foot pedals.  They just need to keep their hands off of the gas/brake lever.