All went well!

Yesterday I had my first infusion of Tysabri and it all went very well. I had no reaction at all to the medication which I think is a good thing. My wife came with and sat by me to keep me company and to help me (her support is invaluable.) I don't feel different than I did two days ago but from the material that I was given, I think that's a good thing. I feel hopeful about the future whereas before I was scared. I feel blessed to have been given hope.
I also had a PET scan yesterday. They injected me with radioactive sugar and then I lay very quietly while they ran me through a donut that looked much like the CAT scan one except much quieter. I didn't get to see the photos but I'm hopeful that they don't find anything interesting. It's a little funny that people who go to the hospital want to be exactly the same as everyone else while when people go to other places, they want to be seen as individualistic. My wife thinks that my body matches my personality in it's inability to blend in. I've decided to consider it a compliment.

Tomorrow is the big day . . .

A lot has happened since my last post. As part of the preparation for taking Tysabri, I had an MRI of my head taken. My MS hasn't progressed much in terms of scaring in my head (which is good news) but there was a spot that was a cause for concern. When I had my last MRI a couple of years ago, there was a spot near my hypothalamus that showed up. I spoke with a doctor in neurosurgery and he scheduled another MRI for a year later that somehow didn't get done. Anyway, the blip showed up again and this time it "took the dye" better than last time. There is good and bad news about it:

• Bad news: the neurosurgeon that we spoke to said, "In my 30 years of neurosurgery, I have never touched this area of the brain. It's just too risky." So basically I would have to have very serious side effects of having something there before they would even go in an look at it.
• Good news: it has not grown between the time we saw it last and now. If it was cancerous, it would have grown and been the source of numerous problems (double vision, serious headaches, and cognitive disfunction which is code for trouble using my brain at all.)

So at this point we'll keep and eye on it and hope and pray for the best. In other news, my cancer doctor (I had cancer a couple of years ago and went through surgery and chemotherapy) noticed that one of my Lymph nodes is somewhat enlarged and requested that I get a PET scan. PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography. I had one once before. I think this is how it works: They inject you with radioactive stuff and then watch it and take pictures of where they are interested with the "light" that results from the radioactive decay. It's a little freaky because they put on this suit and stand behind this thick metal shield to inject you (standing there in your underwear) with this dangerous stuff. Then they get away from you so that you can incubate until it's time to take the pictures.
Tomorrow is the big day for everything then. I'll have my first Tysabri injection in the morning and in the afternoon I'll do the PET scan. I'm a little nervous but I think it's the right thing to do. Hope all goes well.