I can smell skunk in the basement!
 

No, I dont have any new pets that I know of...

I think the smell is coming thru the seal around the backdoor. Guess we need to find out if our backdoor has a crummy seal. Pretty sure it is, we had the house powerwashed a couple of years ago when we had it repainted, and when the powerwasher hit the back door, water came into the house around the door.

Time to get that fixed I guess. Right after we finish the bathroom remodels and get new carpeting.

oh, and right after I have an expensive echo-cardiogram tomorrow. Apparently some of my weird symptoms this summer might be heart related. (crap. Isnt the MS enough? :confused:) I've felt really weak, out of breath really easily, extra numb and tingly, some interesting edema, dizziness and an apparent near syncopal episode (almost fainted) last week when my blood pressure must have dropped out for a bit. Oh, and my blood pressure was high today at my doctor's office. (120/100) :mad:

My to-do list.

Skunk proof the house.
start exercising
get the remodels finished.
try not to die of heart disease
lose weight. (so I dont die of heart disease)
and finish the 3 knitted scarves I started this week.

Skunks!! YUCK!!! Would you believe I had one in my backyard about an hour ago too! Had to close the windows......man, that smell makes you want to choke. I sure hope "yours" isn't in the house.

Good luck with your echocardiogram today. I've had a couple of them because of mitral valve prolapse and atrial fibrillation. You're right, as if having MS isn't enough!!!:( God must really love us!

Let us know how your test turns out! :)

nothing worse than being assaulted by aroma in your own room. ICK! I would be packing towels against the door, and dabbing perfume under my nose. ICK! :(

I'd rather have a mild aroma of skunk than have perfume under my nose. :eek: I've got a serious scent allergy to most perfumes.

Only slept four hours last night. Just got woken up by the phone and now cant sleep for a few more hours. I dont want to fall asleep while they're doing the echo...I'm betting that gel stuff they put on the skin is cold.

Now I'm all freaked out about my heart.

The skunk aside, I'm happy to see your to-do list. I had to start lowering my bad cholesterol naturally because it's a bit elevated. I refuse to get anything more than MS. Heart disease can be so much worse or make the MS even worse. I need to exercise more too.

Judy
I have MVP too. And often wonder about the fatigue factor and what part MVP plays in fatigue. oh well....

I dont know if it's really heart disease right now. (find out soon I guess) but already my MS symptoms have been affected by it.

I'm pretty sure it's why I've been so numb lately. I've felt like crap for so much the past month or so...I just want that feeling to go away. (It did some...sort of. Just not enough)

Hi MJ! First of all, I don't think I've said "hello" and welcome to you......but then again with the brain fog, you know! Do you take medication for your MVP? I've been on a beta-blocker for years, maybe since 1968??? Wow, I'm getting old! It's the generic for Tenormin -- atenolol. One of the side effects for the med is "may cause drowsiness". Seems like that's a common side effect for so many meds -- it's a wonder anybody can function at all!

I have read that MVP quite often goes along with MS.:( Have you had this "lovely" disease long? If it's not one thing, it's another. :)

Out of curiosity, what's MVP?

The echo went ok. It was weird that it was a male tech, and they didnt have another female tech in the room with me. But he was nice, didnt do anything other than scan my heart. So, I guess I wont worry about there not being a female tech in there.

He did ask me if I wanted to reschedule because there wasnt a female tech available today. I just wanted to get it done, so I just did it.

Of course, he was just the tech and couldnt tell me anything, but he did say that my echo was pretty boring...so hopefully that means that it was ok and I just wasted $1000+ on a test. At least it was less annoying than having an MRI.

MVP = Mitral Valve Prolapse

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a valvular heart disease characterized by an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet in the left atrium.

Hi Judy thank you for the warm welcome!
so far no meds for MVP just echos twice a year to monitor it. And talks of surgery if/when needed. MVP for 7 years, and MS for 10+
Question: are you small framed? Doc told me that women with smaller upper bodies (chest/heart cavities) are prone to MVP. I am petite and very small framed.
Best
missJ

Is the MVP something to really worry about?

My doctor's office just called me back.

Said that I have a "trace" of tricuspid and mitral valve regurgitation.

I have to start exercising and lose weight apparently. (crap. I dont wanna exercise! I'm lazy. :mad:)

Good thing I didnt totally cancel my gym membership. I only had it put on hold this summer while the MS crap was picking on me.

I suppose I could worry about it if I wanted! I am managing it (and the MS) the best I can and that since that is all I can do, worry seems to be a waste of my precious energy. I need to save it for the important things in my life!

I asked because I'm worried about my own heart right now when the nurse told me that I have some vague problem with mitral valve regurgitation.

I found some site somewhere that said they dont really treat it if it's mild. That treatment would basically be exercise...which I'm going to do.

I'm planning to start with a recumbent bike. Hopefully to get back to the treadmill that I was using earlier this year before that stupid flare kicked me. I think it's because I just couldnt do much this summer with that flare that caused my heart to get weird.

I was diagnosed with MVP in my early 20s. So far, I just have echocardiograms yearly. I started having fainting spells in my teens that led to MVP diagnosis.

I've never fainted.

I've had a few dizzy spells, but that could be the MS.

My doctor said it was a "trace" of mitral regurgitation, so I wonder if that means that it was triggered by the edema that the stupid lyrica gave me?

Not sure what the tricuspid regurgitation means. I think what I read said it's a heart valve also...

I think I'm going to go see how much I can do at the gym. Thinking of doing 10 or 15 minutes on a recumbent bike and just do that every day or every other day till I can build up to do more.

My dad pretty much panicked when I told him what the nurse told me. The nurse told me that the doctor said to up the exercise, which really for me, means to start exercising again. (stupid MS flare made me quit earlier this year)

My dad is a nurse, and he has heart disease...so he naturally thinks the worst of everything. I'm going to ask my aunt (a nurse practitioner who works in the heart transplant unit) what she thinks of what a "trace of tricuspid and mitral regurgitation" means

In all honesty, I am not comfortable nor qualified to tell another person whether or not they should be worried about X. That question is best answered by the professional that gave them the dx.

So the best I could do to offer a semblance of support was to talk about it in terms of me and not you.

I just talked to my aunt (a nurse practitioner who works in a heart transplant unit) and she's suggesting I go to a place that helps you lose weight. She's paying for my 30yr old cousin to go. My cousin has some problem with her heart too, and a few other medical problems. (my cousin is adopted, so her problem isnt in our family history)

Apparently this place teaches you to eat properly and tells you how to exercise. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it. My aunt is one of those people who will tell you the truth when you need to lose weight. She says that I have to lose cough100cough pounds.

If I can do it, my doctor will freak.

I guess tho, if I get rid of the extra flabbage, that might help the MS symptoms too. So that by itself is a good reason to lose it all.