got a phone call this morning.

the blood tests were all normal.

I forgot to ask what the b12 was. I have to call them back in a few minutes.

I'm mad that you can't see this good doctor, too, Erin. Having ailments makes you a hostage to the medical system. It's a bummer. Praying for you. Glad you have some new Mac toys.

having new Mac toys helps a lot. Even if it's a hand-me-down, it's something to new to me, and fun to play with.

I've had the thing on battery power all day just to see how long the battery lasts. I'm avoiding putting anything onto it because I'm playing around to see what I can do with it. At least it's something to do.

I'm glad you have your new toys Erin. I can keep your mind occupied

I'm trying to clean my desk off so everything has a nice home. My desk is really crowded right now. It's really really messy in here. That's the problem with feeling sick all the time, you lose all the will to clean anything up.

Trying to clean, I guess that would count as exercise. I just have to sit down occasionally because standing is stressful right now.

I slept with my feet up on a pillow again last night. Felt so much better this morning. Starting to wonder if it's the swelling feet and legs that's making me feel sick. I guess there was nothing wrong with my kidneys or liver, since they said all the bloodwork was normal. Maybe that edema is what's causing the insomnia, and because it's uncomfortable, it makes it hard to walk.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but I bought one of these the other day http://www.qvc.com/Sit-N-Cycle-Low-R...ct.F11165.html

It almost looks like a cross between a barstool and an exercise bike. (I guess I could call it a stationary unicycle) My dad let me buy it. (hey, I did say that we're into gadgets here). It arrived today, so I just need to assemble it and try it out. Hopefully it's not a piece of junk. Kind of hoping it'll work and that I can use it to slowly and gently exercise.

Hope I don't end up crashing it into a wall if I get unbalanced on it. I have to make sure I have it next to something to hold onto. Going to put grab bars on the wall in my bedroom for exercising anyways. Really hope it works.

WOW, Erin , I looked at that and it does look easy to fall off of. Good luck

I'm going to make sure it's next to something solid, like my desk. I'm going to go buy a grab bar for my bedroom wall too. Been wanting one for awhile in there.

I'm doing other exercises too, trying to build up the upper body strength. I feel like I wasted all those physical therapy sessions. I don't think they focused on the right stuff. I didn't feel any improvement in the areas I wanted (legs, knees) It seemed like each session, they would tell me I was done earlier and earlier each time too. Like they were rushing me out of there. Not all that happy with how PT went this time around.

Hopefully I'll start to feel better soon.

My doctor just called me.

I'd had my blood checked last week. His nurse had called me friday and told me that all my results were normal.

Technically, that wasn't quite true.

I'd asked him to check my b12. I'd had it checked back in 2007 or 2008, and at the time then, it was 345. (normal, according to my doctor is between 246 and 911).

So, the doctor told me the results for the b12. He said it was 252!! OMG

NO WONDER I feel like crap!!

He wants me to get up into the 600 range. So, now I've got to take some supplements, and take them regularly. In six weeks, he wants to check my blood again and he hopes it'll be up in the 600 range. Otherwise he'll give me shots every month. I have to find some foods that are high in b12 now.

He did tell me not to go wild on the supplements, because you can get neurological weirdness from overdoing it on the b12 just like you can get neurological weirdness from being too low on the b12.

I have some b12 I got at Costco. Consumer Reports said it was one of the best b12 supplements on the market. (It's called Simply Right Wellness & Nutrition, sublingual b12 2500mcg Methylcobalamin...it's cherry flavored!)

I'm going to go take some b12 and hope we can hit the 600range sometime soon.

For sure a low B12 may be complicating your body's ability to get back on track. Hopefully the supplementation will help.

I've woken up with inflamed lymph nodes under the jaw and the joints are on fire. Not just the usual ones in the hands and wrists, but also lower limbs ones. The body is as stiff as an old boot from generalized spasticity as well. I took some Ibuprofen but it hasn't done a thing for the joint pain this time around, so must be an infection of some sort (on top of the Parvo), that has the immune system freaking out .

The only place that I think that I might have been exposed to something was at the dentist yesterday, when I was there having my teeth cleaned. I haven't really been around other people lately, but I think that having my mouth open for an hour at the dentist was likely an open invitation for whatever bug was floating around that place.

Going to the Doc on Thursday for a cardio work-up, so will have him check it then.

Passing the cheese....

With love, Erika

while I don't think that having low b12 means that I don't have MS (b12 deficiency is often misdiagnosed as MS), I'm looking at a list of symptoms for b12 deficiency, and one symptom really stands out.

Premature graying of hair.

I've been going gray since I was 17yrs old. For some reason, seeing that on a list of symptoms for b12 deficiency, it just really stands out for me. Tinnitus is another one that makes me go "hmmmm...." too. (had tinnitus for as long as I can remember).

I'm pretty sure I still have MS, I just also happen to be extremely low on the b12. I think the low b12 is why the stupid MS has been so freaking annoying lately. Maybe the MS will let up a little bit if I keep throwing some b12 and other assorted vitamins at it.