I visited the neurologist this week and had some questions answered that came up last time.
Brain shadows: Just a lesion that’s being re-myelinated. (MS eats your nerve insulation, which is called myelin, so remyelination is when your myelin grows back.) I didn’t know remyelination was a thing that happens, but yes it is, and the doctor is participating in a number of studies to see if they can help it along.
Losing lesions: I was concerned that I had fifty lesions before and now I have less, and recent studies suggested that was a bad thing, and he agreed with my husband’s rationalization that the counting isn’t exact and my rationalization that lesion load seems to have no bearing on how I feel.
Overall Health status: “You are the poster girl for Gilenya.”
Sadly, no matter how much I like Gilenya, it isn’t good for one’s immune defenses, and I’ll need better immune defenses as I get older. How old? Sixty-five or so. Only eight years away. It’s okay, there’s a drug that works the same as Gilenya, and it doesn’t tear up ones immune system as much.
Overall, it was a good visit. It did result in another elevated test, which will lead to a gallbladder ultrasound next week, but I don’t think my gallbladder is in trouble. Of course, I don’t think my brain is in trouble either.