It's the winter break at the ballet. I wake up slowly at around 10:30. Still half asleep I jump into the shower and after head into the kitchen. I put on the kettle and start preparing a modest breakfast. My tea kettle doesn't whistle like a normal one, it more like moans with the off set key of a malfunctioning harmonica or two. So I fill my little french press and set the timer on my phone to five minutes. This is when it usually goes down. I walk in my room and go through an almost ritualistic cleansing of myself and the flat surface I use. I fill my autoject (think of star trek when they had the self injectors... but plastic.) with a single package of Copaxone and give myself a shot to "keep my demon at bay".
While in the hospital nearly two years ago now I had, at one point or another, mentioned a crippling fear of needles I had. Probably before getting an IV put in or something. The sweet irony came with my diagnosis. I was told I would have a few choices for medicine- but the best option with nearly no side affects was Copaxone... a daily injection. Actually all of my choices were injections of one sort or another.
My heart sank. How was I supposed to do this every day!?! I spent moments confused but right as I started to get mad at the universe I had the same thought I had when I was diagnosed, "This is happening. No use in getting mad, just do the best with what you have." The world forced me to attack one of my fears head on. If I can take MS head on and my fear on needles... what else could I take on? Surely riding my bike.
Again I have been pretty lucky so far. The relapsing remitting MS I had was commonly maintained using Copaxone. If I were to have to use the other injections like many others I could face flu like side affects. My shot is also tiny and only under the skin, not in a blood vein. At worst usually there is a bump in the area and some redness. At first it sure did itch, and at times it was like being stung by a bee.
But the fact of the matter is, maintaining injections is a pain and a burden. I enjoy backpacking and I imagine I would enjoy self supported bike tours after riding this summer. But in the summer in the south it would be hard to maintain the temperatures needed to keep my medicine safe. What if, god forbid, I got in a really bad wreck and broke some shots? Not to mention keeping sanitary in the woods can be hard. I imagine a world where, even if we can not cure MS right away, we wont have to get stab ourselves daily. This is one of the many reasons I need all your help to raise money for not only me and my ride with Bike the US for MS, but for everyone who has to wake up to a shot just to maintain something they have no control over(MS). I want your help
here at my bio/donation page for Bike the US for MS so we can eventually find a way to a world free of MS.
