Jen - that's probably true, and this should be viewed, if I may quote Firesign Theater, as "Not a Guide to ruled by, by a rule to be guided by."

That said it would be more helpful to me if there were some map of the brains. My reports all just say my lesions are *periventricular*. Nobody bothered to give details, so 'd have to work that out myself. Anyone know a link for such a thing?

Avoid eye contact. If there are no eyes, avoid all contact!

This site says: Periventricular white matter refers to white matter that is immediately to the side of the two lateral (side) ventricles of the brain.

http://www.medfriendly.com/periventr...itematter.html

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting.

I remember reading this on another board, and i agree that it is worth the read.

Another point worth mentioning is that, at an NMSS Education Day this weekend, the speaker mentioned that this is somewhat an "old" way of thinking.

As he continued to explain, his point did not seem to be that it was determined not to be accurate, but, instead, that research indicates that the brain is actually very adept at making new pathways.

He was very hopeful in that, with MS, damaged myelin does not need to mean permanent damage, as pathways are known to re-route themselves. As we learn more about how to help the brain to activate this process, with specific activiites, we can be hopeful.

I did not word this exactly the way that he did, but I hope I managed to convey some accuracy in what he was trying to say.

~ Faith

I have been fascinated with the field of "neuroplasticity" for the last year. PBS has done several specials on this (look in your local listings for anything with the word "brain" in it!) and there's a lot of info. out there in general. Truly fascinating. The thing about re-routing though is that some areas of the brain are more adept at this than others so it depends where the damage has been done. But -- there's a lot of research being done on neuro-regeneration too! For more info. on neuroplasticity: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...ticity&spell=1

From my understanding, the spinal cord "repair" is simply reliant on how much damage/healing occurs, and doesn't reroute like the brain.

Cherie

Hello LeeAnn,
My name is Michele. I have MS and I am 47 years old. I have never taken any of the DMD. I just wondered if we could chat as we have this in common.

Kindest regards,
Michele

Hello,

I had my first MRI in July of 2006. On the MRI, the doctor noted that I had six lesions on my brain. He did not think that we needed to be concerned with this at that point, even though both of my legs were numb from my hips down to my toes. In late 2007 several of my co-workers were noticing that my hands were trembling, but I did not think much of it.

In June 2008 I started to notice that my hands were trembling every day and was especially bad in the morning. I do not drink regular coffee if I can help it, and will drink decaf only when I am at work and am chilly. I started having troubles putting on my eye make up and plucking my eyebrows. The trembling got so bad that I could not put the tweezers near my brows for fear of stabbing my eyeballs.

I went back the the neurologist in November 2008 and he ordered another MRI. This one came back with numerous new lesions on my brain. I am scared. I had a spinal tap yesterday at the hospital, so I am taking it pretty easy as to not get the "post spinal" headache that I was warned about.

Does anyone know if my trembling has anything to do with the lesions? My doctor does not seem to think that they are related, but I want to hear from others that may have these symptoms too.

Any information would be welcomed.

Thank you!
Amy

Hi Amy,
Welcome.
I have had tremor as my very, very first symptom. It was visible to the doctors, but it still took me three years to find out why I had it. I had it in a few places. Each doctor would call it something else. We didn't have MRI's back then, so it was a ruling in/out process of other diseases and tests. Then I had other symptoms, went into hospital and was told I had MS.

This link might help you. Good luck
Lady
http://www.wemove.org/et/et.html

[QUOTE=Lady;442679]Hi Amy,
Welcome.
I have had tremor as my very, very first symptom. It was visible to the doctors, but it still took me three years to find out why I had it. I had it in a few places. Each doctor would call it something else. We didn't have MRI's back then, so it was a ruling in/out process of other diseases and tests. Then I had other symptoms, went into hospital and was told I had MS.

This link might help you. Good luck
Lady


Lady,

Thank you for the link, it gave me some great information. I did actually get a confirmation from my Neurologist on January 21st that MS is most likely my diagnosis. My spinal tap revealed antibodies - positive for both lupus and sjogrens among some other information. The Neurologist also told me that since 2006 that I have at least two dozen more lesions on my brain, with some in the cerebellum and brain stem. He originally said that I had "several" more lesions since 2006.....I had nine at that time, and I don't feel that finding "at least two dozen more" constitutes using the word "several" but what can I say. I am trying to digest this information, yet have not quite been able to that yet. My next step is to see a rheumatologist and then from there I will be seeing a different Neurologist for a second opinion. I would like to get working on a treatment plan ASAP with the hopes of minimizing the addition of more lesions.

I do not know if the number of lesions that I have is alot or if it is normal? How do I know? Should I worry about having so many new lesions in just two years, or is this something that I should expect?