I might ask him if I can do a new MRI, but only if I think I can afford it. (my insurance deductible is like $2500. I'm lucky my dad pays for my insurance!)

and I'd only do an MRI if it's in the new fancypants MRI machine that we have in Omaha now that's literally open. (more open than the "open" MRI that I had to do in 2006 that had the giant magnet 2 inches above my nose)

If I cant afford it, then I'll probably let it go. Since just thinking about being in an MRI machine scared the heebie jeebies out of me and makes me be not real serious about wanting one.

I really am glad that my neuro is one of those doctors who knows the brain so well that he was able to tell me where he thinks the lesion is that's picking on me this year.

I looked up the thalamus on Google and the symptoms fit. Sort of.

I have symptoms on both sides of the body (numbness) but the most annoying of the numbness is on the right side, meaning that it's the left side of the thalamus that has an MS troll poking at it.

I have numbness in my left hand, so I'm wondering if something is poking at the right side of my thalamus too.

Just having a lesion near the thalamus is a bit disturbing to me tho. The thalamus is important for consciousness. (being awake and alert) Some of it made sense to me tho. The thalamus controls circadian rhythms. I dont sleep well a lot. The thalamus is in the middle of the brain, so if it was something other than an MS lesion, I guess they wouldnt be able to get at it.

I do feel better knowing where some of the symptoms are coming from. Now I know why I dont sleep well, and I was able to sleep a bit easier last night for some reason. I still stayed up till after 4am, but I felt like I could relax more when I laid down. It's not something I'm doing that probably keeps me awake. It's a brain thing, so I didnt feel like I had to worry as much about not sleeping.

The thalamus is also the sensory hub of the brain. Which explains all the sensory symptoms, including the vision problems that I've had. The neuro told me that the sensory symptoms arent as bad a problem as I could have. He said sensory symptoms usually improve to near normal. Of course, I'm expecting this stuff to never go away. But it's nice to know that he thinks I could go back to normal after awhile.