Original Posting: 12/12/2015

“No new symptoms?”

“Nope.”

“Any side effects from the Aubagio?”

“None. Can I stay on the half dose?”

“Sure. Well, barring any blood work issues, we’ll see you again in three months.”

I didn’t realize how I excited I would be not to return. In the 12 office appointments, my neurologist gave to me 4 MRIs, 3 blood draws, 2 cranial injections, and a puuuunnncccctuuuure in the lumbaaaaaarrrr. I am clearly ready for a break. Granted, I still have monthly blood draws to check my liver since the Aubagio can cause major liver damage. And a follow-up appointment with my primary care provider on Monday. Oh, and a follow-up with my endocrinologist on New Year’s Eve. A dentist’s appointment.

The one appointment I am excited about is my last visit to the dentist on Monday! Being a dental assistant in my former life, I always feel a sense of nostalgia entering the office. Oh, look at the explorer and mirror. Is that a high-speed drill? My how the composite extruder has changed. This time, however, it is more than visitng my past life that has my excite-o-meter abuzzing. I will have my last amalgam fillings removed.

It’s funny how so many people can have an opinion about what does not trigger an autoimmune disease with an unknown cause. “Not that,” apparently, is the cause of MS. This week, I read yet another study, this one conducted in 1983, that once again found a correlation between MS and mercury/metal toxicity. One scientist defined it as an allergy to metals that not only affected a patient’s neurological health, but also caused digestive issues and malabsorption issues as well. Not that I haven’t had any of those problems for like a decade or anything, but I digress. 42 out of 50 participants had all MS symptoms go into full remission for several years following amalgam removal and chelation therapy. Cha-ching!

Plus, I have wanted those damn things out of my mouth ever since I entered the dental assisting program at Spokane Community College and learned of all of the measures we had to take to protect our selves from amalgam. Even the 2×2 gauze we would use during a procedure had to be thrown away as hazardous waste. MS was an excuse to make their removal a priority.

A dear friend and collegue, whose name rhymes with Finn, asked me the other day how I was doing now that I was living the MS life (my words, not his). My reply?

“Fantastic.”

MS has forced me to make my self, my whole self, my #1 priority. For that, I am truly grateful.