One week ago today I finished my final Lemtrada infusion (You can follow my infusion journey here). During infusion week I had slight tremors in my hands, a little weakness in my legs, blurred vision, slight heaviness in  my chest and an abnormally low heart-beat, but for the most part, I felt a million times better than I thought I would! It was the “after-math” that I was unprepared for!

It’s hard to put into words how my body has felt the past week. It felt like everything good in my body had been sucked out, and my body was fighting for dear life just to stay alive. I know that sounds extreme, but I don’t know how else to explain it. The first weekend I couldn’t hold up my own body weight to sit. I barely had the energy to eat, not to mention I was extremely nauseous and couldn’t keep food down. I couldn’t even stand long enough to brush my teeth or fill a cup full of water. Really, I was brushing my teeth from my knees. I had no idea how I was going to make it.

By Monday I felt stronger. I was able to walk around the house on my own strength and even take a shower! Ambitious to make a quick recovery I convinced Clark to take me for a walk to the bookstore, less than 3/4 of a kilometre from our home. He agreed and we began to slow journey around the corner. By the time we arrived at the bookstore, I was wiped. I had to sit because I thought I was going to pass out. Once we made it back home I crawled onto my bed and didn’t move for the rest of the day. Maybe a quick recovery needed to come by way of rest instead of pushing my boundaries. 

Tuesday I was forced to stay put, so I parked myself on my balcony for the day and enjoyed the sunny 17 degree weather outside! It was nice to be outside, but what I was craving was human interaction! I absolutely love being with people, so by Tuesday I was going a little nuts. I needed to get out! I scheduled a coffee date Wednesday with a friend, optimistic that I could handle sitting upright for at least an hour. I made it through coffee on Wednesday morning, but that resulted in sleeping the afternoon away as soon as I got home. It seemed like I would pay for every effort to do something besides sleep and eat. 

On Wednesday evening I decided that if my body couldn’t handle walking, maybe it could handle yoga, or at least a good stretch! I do yoga strictly for the physical training, not mediation and my favourite way to get a good yoga routine in at home is the Yoga.com app (you can check it out here). It has number of different routines ranging from beginner to advanced and cost only a few dollars. You can also change the background music to suit your style, which I love. I did a beginner stretching routine to ease myself back into it, and it was perfect for where I’m at right now! Gave me lots of time to rest between stretches! 

I can’t even explain how much better I felt Thursday! I was able to do another simple yoga routine, and I ventured outside! I needed to pick up a Bridal shower gift, so I went to do that and I also did my first post-infusion grocery shop! By the time I was finished at the grocery store, I was wiped, but I did it! Progress! My nurse also called to see how I was doing and assured me that the extreme fatigue I had been experiencing was perfectly normal. 

That brings us to today, Friday! Today I cleaned the floors, washed my bedding, made lunch, did another yoga routine and enjoyed the sunshine on the balcony! Yoga is really helping to regain my strength without exhausting my body. I still feel great, and no nap today! I think I’m almost ready to return to life as normal! 

Thanks again for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers this past week. I know I’ve said it a million times, but I’ blown away at the support I’ve felt over the last 2 weeks! I see my neurologist again in a week Monday, and I’ll be giving blood and urine samples every month for the next 5 years to monitor by health. I’m hopeful this treatment is going work! I’ll keep you posted!