Winning the obstacles

Soo I am going out on a limb here in writing my daily dynamics of living with pain in hopes that more people grasp the understanding of how debilitating it can be.  Most people that I know of aren't even aware of all the diagnoses I have and ill health I have going on at age 34.  In my twenties I was full of life, excitement and never took the time to pray or even pay attention to my future health.  Waking up everday, jumping out of bed was something I took for granite and now just getting out of bed most days can be a chore because of the pain.  I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis July of 2010.  The neurologist had talked about it for over a year but didn't want to make a definitive diagnosis until more symptoms starting occuring.  So when I presented with uncontrollable tremors in his office that day and my lesions on the brain weren't going anywhere he decided that I do in fact have MS and would begin treatment right away in the form of injections.  I take copaxone shots everyday subcutaneously and rotate between seven different locations on my body.  It is a hassle at times, leaving welts, itching and redness for a few days after the shots but this will assist in preventing major relapses.  It is not a cure for the MS and does not take away what has already been damaged.  Along with having that I have a congenital heart defect and have been seeing the cardiologist since I was six years old and one day I will need to have a valve replacement.  I have aortic stenosis and bicuspid aortic valve.  I also have fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, degenerative disc disease and spondylthesis.  I laugh sometimes thinking that I couldn't possibly have all of these diagnoses, right??  Wrong!!  So most of them cause high levels of pain and I thank God everyday for giving me the strength to handle and tolerate this everyday and the tolerance to perservere what is given to me.  I have had multiple surgeries throughout the years and I know from being a Medical Assistant and assisting many wonderful doctors that I have helped many patient's over the years with different procedures and pain.  I get epidurals and other procedures from the pain clinic about every ten weeks, go to pool and land physical therapy twice a week, use pain patches meds and vitamins.  I am unable to work now which is probably more debilitating than anything since I used to run a shot clinic with an allergist and I loved my patient's dearly.  I keep thinking positive, pray and keep thinking the future will continue to get brighter, with the help of my best friend; the heating pad!!  LOL  So in my opinion the moral of the blog is to never underestimate the power of the brain and the willpower an individual can posess and the pain someone can endure on a daily basis.  There are so many strong people out there and my heart goes out to all.  I fake how I am feeling alot since I don't want to bring anyone else down around me and I still love to try doing all the things that has brought me so much joy over the years.  I feel sometimes though that because I don't use a cane and don't "look" sick that people might be thinking, "Why isn't she working" or whatever but little do they know you don't have to look sick to be sick.  So I just push all the naysayers and haters away and continue to live life, never be a quitter, never give up and push through all the obstacles that are in my way.  Those obstacles are placed there just as a test to see how strong I am and for me to learn from the experience and so I just kick them out of my vision.  I will continue to blog on my daily pain, mainly for me to vent and hopefully for others to learn too :)