Hello! Long time no post.

I know, I know, but a lot of shit has happened since Feb 1. My mom did pass, eventually, on February 25. She went through one hell of a month and as I found out, pretty much because my ...sarcasm hat on... dear sweet darling wonderful fabulous ...sarcasm hat off... brother never showed the hospital or her doctors or the nursing home or anyone "in charge" her Living Will. It clearly stated that she did NOT want to be hooked up to the life-saving devices OR intubated for sure! But she was and suffered because of it. Very sad all around. On top of all that, my hands were tied--at the time I could do nothing. I wasn't "welcome" in "their" home at all, so going barging in and grabbing the papers myself was out of the question. Plus, I was scared to death that my brother would shoot me. He had a gun.

Long story short, after this trauma, drama, and general bullshit, my brother caved when he realized that the rental company was kicking him out of the apartment my mom had rented for so many years. Yep, he had to do something so (drum-roll please) duh-ta-da-dum! Me to the rescue!

He signed all powers over to me, so I inherited all the paperwork! But, as it turns out, if I hadn't have stepped in, or wasn't willing to step in, nothing would've gotten done! Well, since then all has settled down regarding the paperwork and now all I'm looking at is the final tax returns and final estate return which I can file come January 1st.

It's strange...yesterday I awoke with a very deep, profound sense of loss, but for the life of me couldn't figure out what it was all about, until now. It's the finality of my mom's estate, the closing the door on a life well-lived. Sad.

Anyway, throughout the year my MS has progressed with flare-ups throughout--I wonder why?--with a major relapse that started October 2nd. It was then that I had two days of "oh my God, make it stop!!!" vertigo and dizziness almost to the point of throwing up. Then all sorts of new pains, spasms, numbness started all over again. It was shortly after those couple of days that I started thinking about re-trying the Copaxone and maybe getting back to physical therapy, but nothing came of it until November. Wow!!! Time goes by so quickly when you're having so much fun! Right? This is fun, right? Living is fun? Maybe? Constant pain is fun? Or am I deluding myself?

It was November 7th that I finally listened to all those Copaxone syringes, screaming at me from the fridge, "Take ME! Take ME! No, take ME! We can help!"

And you know what? They did help!

Next, it was going back to physical therapy and that happened shortly after my first-again shot, oh about three days after even. With more than three months off, it was quite painful in and of itself. I'm very glad about it, though. Now, I really just need to get back into a routine.

I believe THAT relapse ended, finally, on December 2nd. I've actually been feeling pretty good this last week, with only minor twitches or pains or spasms. But, sadly, my right side is starting to show signs of MS too....

Onward! and enjoy!