Live life to the fullest (2)

So my patient with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is going home on Monday. Had her for the past 3 weeks.

And gosh! she got me thinking about how I want to live my life.... She's 42 and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was about 30. At such young age, she have already travelled the world, ran up every stairs she came across in Italy, walked the streets of Nepal, climbed Mt. Everest (i think that's like just the base, not to the top) and Machu Picchu... and other mountains I am not familiar with.... Went to the Bahamas ... Went to South Africa and let the locals take her and her sibling out for a night of fun and party not knowing the dangers being a naive 21 year old..... coming back safe and sound but with mum yelling like crazy.... all of these not knowing what was gonna hit her.

She definitely have live life to the fullest at such a young age. And luckily she did before she got diagnosed with MS. She told me how she was glad she did all of these before 'this' all happen. 'This' being the worst attack ever. Now she have no regrets at all. She's seen the world and is contented.

With relapsing-remitting MS, you never know when it will strike you again even after your first attack. The relapses are very unpredictable and is followed by months to years of quiet remission .... without you knowing, WHAM! it can strike again just like that. Many things can happen after an attack. You could lose the sensation in your hands, your feet, you'd get muscle weakness or spasms, an increase in muscle tone, you could develop double vision, you could lose your co-ordination and balance, and can come down to difficulty in initiating a movement. You could pretty much.... not be able to walk despite how hard you try.... And you have to start all over again. Like... Learning to walk....

With this type of MS, you can usually recover fully but some deficits will remain. For example, this lady of mine have loss the sensation and proprioception in her feet. She can't really feel the ground, doesn't really know that she's on the ground till she looks down. She can be stepping on someone's feet and not knowing that she's doing that till she looks. And this is bad because if you can't detect the different surface types, you'd easily lose your balance.

Ok, enough about me explaining what multiple sclerosis is. There's many different types. Google it if you're interested. Google will do a way better job than me explaining this.

Anyway, it has been an eye opener working with this patient aka my 'star pupil' as she puts it. Always so motivated, I usually have to ask her to stop her exercise and not overdo it. It is usually the opposite where I have to ask my other patients to keep going! It was so good to have her sitting next to my other patients in the gym as she motivates them and tell them.. it works! The exercises works! My patients would listen to her and start doing their exercises. I am gonna miss her for that!!!

I really enjoyed my time treating her. I'd take her for walks and she would tell me her travel stories and she would narrate as we walk along the ward. "So here we are in Rome... on your left, you could see the fountain of love...." And when I took her to climb stairs, she'd imagine it's Mt.Everest. My day was never dull I tell you.

I've learnt a lot. Not only how to really find the deficits and treat them specifically. But also... a better idea on how I should live my life. Which is really.... not to hold back and live it to the fullest. Enjoy and make the most out of it. Don't save it for next time before it's too late. You never know what's ahead of you. In her case, being diagnosed with MS. But yea... anything can just be around the corner waiting for you. *touch wood* nothing bad will happen to me ... i'm just saying.... you just never know..... Definitely going to miss her presence. Yes I've admitted and treated many other patients, but I have never felt so satisfied this time. I guess it's more satisfying with neuro patients compared to orthopaedic. Because it's more challenging. Seeing the changes happening slowly but surely. Today was just THE BEST surprise.. not only to her... but to me. She came in, completed 75m during a 6 min walk test with a rollator frame. And this morning, she completed 160m with walking sticks. Double the distance! Test not completely standardized because doctors were walking up and down the corridors this morning doing their ward rounds and hence the distraction. She would have done better. But I'm over the moon with 160m! Wooot woooot!!!!!!

And so... to my other half, Ah Swan, our 25 year old plan will definitely have to go in plan! No backing out. We have to do it. And so is our 30 year old plan..... Hahaha! As long as we complete all those, I'd be contented. Haha!!