LEMTRADA - a new horizon
Almost an year ago I had to quit Tysabri because of the great PML risk. I had 60 infusions although I was positive since the beggining but I struggled to have that wonderful cure. In the end, after more than 5 years of infusions and 3 years with 1 in 265 risk for PML I decided I should stop. I had a 3 months wash-out period and than I tried TECFIDERA, another MS treatment, in pills. I have to say that i didn't work, from september to december I had 3 relapses and lots and lots of cortison. In one of those nasty moments I had to use a crutch in order to walk and it wasn't easy at all. In the end my neurologists decided I should have Lemtrada, the new monoclonal treatment for MS. The scientifi name is ALEMTUZUMAB and it has been used for the treatment of leukemia but now, after they modificated the concentration and the lenght of the treatment period it had been finally approved for MS.It is also an infusion and it is quite different from Tysabri. The treatment has a 2 years period divided in 5 consecutive days the first year and 3 consecutive days the second year and its benefits should last for 5 years. It has great risks and complications even long after the infusions but it has no PML risk. For now, is the new best thing.
It has been a month since I had the infusions and I am fine, no complications for now. I will be back with more informations about Lemtrada and how it works since then, enjoy the moment and live well.

Feeling better

The magic of Tysabri is that it makes you forget this illness... at least this is what heapened in my case. I remember I have this Thing only when I have to go to have the infusion. I hope I am not the only one that feels this way... Good luck to all of you!

Fight MS using a medication as your weapon

How are you fighting MS? MS is not an easy thing, dealing with it is even harder but we should find ways to fight it. Offcourse if you are in a prolungate remission you may not need medication for now unless your medic says so but if the relapses are considerable in number, size and consequences or in all three of them you should continue to fight while there is still something to fight for and pretend the best for you from your doctor and your medication. You should not stop at doing something you should try the best thing for you. In different fases of the MS different medication are indicated for you but together with your doctor you should find the right one for you. Then there are persons that react better to one medication rather than another, you should not get discouraged after the first try. This is not publicity for a medication or another, it is only your doctor that knows what is best for you, if it is Copaxone, Avonex, Rebif, Tysabri or another medication that I am not aware of. I can only say that I tried Copaxone in the past and for two years I was very well but when the situation changed and I went fron one relapse to another in a short period of time my doctor decided that I should not wait anymore and took in consideration other alternatives for me. In this moment I am treated with Tysabri and it is going well, I gained back part of the capacities I had lost with those ugly relapses and what is even better I had no new relapses. I am very grateful to my doctor for not waiting and for doing what was best for me.
If you want you could see what others have tried and how they feel, here I present to you a video made by a girl who fighted like a true warrior. Click on the word video if you want to see it.
Bye and thanks for your attention.

Keep on going

What keeps you going on? What is the thing that helps you face your condition everyday and get out of bed? So many things happen that could take us down, you may wake up one morning with some new simptom, maybe you notice that you can't feel the hand of your husband holding yours, that you can't see the face of your best friend, or that you need some degree of assistance when walking. What is that helps you look in the mirror and see not just the spasm that contract the muscles on your face in a painfull way but makes you see yourself as the unique and extraordinary human beeing that you are? Is it the family? Friends? Work? Hobbies? Passions? This are the things that work for me but mostly I wake up everyday with the hope that something good and beautiful might happen that day. I learned to see beauty in the most simple things: a walk, a flower, a smiling face. MS can take some many things from you but you should not allow it to take your will to begin another day or the smile on your face.
Suprinsingly the MS gave me a good thing too, it helped me realise that I should live every moment as the last one, that I should enjoy every moment and every thing in my life, it helped me appreciate and discover things I ignored before.
Carpe diem!