Yoga

I have never had an interest in yoga, but recently decided to give it a try. As would be expected, I have been doing a lot of research about Multiple Sclerosis lately. It turns out that people with MS who practice Yoga 2 to 3 times a week feel an average of 70% better than they did before they started practicing yoga. That 70% is all the convincing it took me to start yoga. I am really lucky to live four blocks from a great yoga studio (Centered City Yoga) that provides a variety of classes and is sensitive to my medical needs. My first class was yesterday. It was called "Yoga For Stiffer Bodies." Stiffer is really an understatement. However, when the session ended I felt looser. Looser is a term I now use to explain how my muscles are feeling. Most the time, they are pretty tight and stiff, but Yoga gave me some relief from the stiffness for a few days. It also made me sore. I never really considered yoga a form of exercise, but I stand corrected. Some of the poses made me sweat and I felt like I had been on an treadmill for an hour at the end of the class. As I learn more about yoga and the theory behind it I understand why it is beneficial. I am excited to feel 70% better and learn something new on my journey through MS.
Namaste'

Round 2, a Success!

It is nice to have good news to report to everyone. Round two was a success! Not only did I get half the dose of Solu-Medrol, it was also extremely diluted. Dr. Foley and Kara think that the reason I had such an awful reaction to the first infusion was because my body did not absorb the medicine correctly. Needless to say, whatever they did worked. I am experiencing what are considered the "normal" side effects of the medicine. These include a headache, metallic taste in the mouth, red face, elevated heart beat, slight fever, and acute alertness. The alert part has kept me up at night for the past two nights with little sleep which is really quite bothersome. However, compared to my last infusion, I feel wonderful! When I walked out of the Dr. Foley's office on Wednesday, my muscles felt really loose, something I have not felt in several months. It is nice to have some relief from the dizziness, pain, and stiffness. Again, we appreciate all of the love and support and know that your prayers, fasting, and thoughts have played a role in the outcome of this infusion.
Love
Libby and Dustin

Infusions Wednsesday and Thursday

My Doctor called and scheduled my infusion for Wednesday and Thursday. The good news is that it will be half the dose. I will receive half a gram Wednesday over two hours and half a gram Thursday over two hours. I am also receiving this infusion at Dr. Foley's infusion clinic so he can monitor me and watch my reaction to the Solu-Medrol. Hopefully it won't be as bad as last time, keep your fingers crossed. We will keep everybody posted over the weekend and update the blog regarding how I am feeling and reacting to the infusion. Thanks again for all the support.
Love
Libby and Dustin

Round 2

Yesterday Kara Menning, Dr Foley's Nurse Practitioner called me back about the dizziness I have been experiencing for the past four days. She has decided to order another round of the Solu-Medrol at half the dose I had last time. That means I will receive one gram over two days instead of two grams. Dizziness is part of MS and can last months if you don't receive aggressive treatment. If another treatment is what I need to get better, I will do it, side effects and all. Dr. Foley's office will call me today with the dates for my treatment. Kara also told me that I don't have any MS on my spine. That's really good news because lesions on the spine deteriorate faster than those on the brain. It is nice to be lesion free for the time being. Thanks again for all the love and support. Dustin and I are grateful for all the wonderful people who have rallied around us during this time.
Love
Libby and Dustin

Scrapbooking...zero enjoyment but at least it looks good

I have recently had the desire to preserve our memories in an aesthetically pleasing way. What better, more time consuming way to accomplish this than by scrapbooking. I have to be completely frank, I do not enjoy the art of scrapbooking but I do enjoy the finished product. This means that I spend endless hours at my dining room table with a paper cutter, a mish-mash of papers, ribbons, brads, glue dots, mounting squares, and little patience. I turn on some tunes so I don't have to fully concentrate on what I am really doing and start working. About an hour later I have an aesthetically pleasing presentation of my pictures. The hope is that some day, generations down the line, a grandchild will look at the scrapbook and say "Oh, they were so cute!" or "Look how funny Grandpa looks!" At least that's what we hope.

Health Update

Wednesday was my six week follow up appointment with Kara Menning, Dr. Foley's Nurse Practitioner. She examined me, looking for signs that the Solu-Medrol treatment had improved the weakness on my left side as well as my peripheral vision. The double vision in my periphery is gone, but the weakness on my left side is the same. Kara said that I had an adverse reaction to the Solu-Medrol and should not have experienced severe pain and dizziness. Next time I have a treatment, it will be half the dose over two days. As far as a diagnoses, we are still at the same point. Dr, Foley and Kara are feeling slightly more confident that it is MS, but I can not be given an actual diagnoses until lesions appear on an MRI. It can take a few years after the first symptoms for the lesions to appear. I was given a medicine to help with the nerve pain I have been experiencing on my left side that seems to be working well. In general, I am feeling well. Some days are better than others, actually, some hours are better than others but I am doing well. Dustin and I are grateful for all of the prayers, family fasts, and well wishes. Your love and devotion helps sustain us.
Love
Libby and Dustin

Travel Notes

The blog posts previous to this outline our trip to DC, and the the things we were able to do. Thanks again to the Sabota family and the Williams family for letting us stay at their homes. We are grateful for them and had a wonderful time spending time with them and their kids. Happy reading!

Dulles Air and Space Museum

26 July::..
This morning we went swimming with Jeff and the kids at their community pool. It was fun to play with the kids and go for a swim. Around one o'clock Dustin and I went with Ellie, Jeff, and the kids to the Dulles Air and Space Museum. We regret that we saved this jewel for last. It is an absolutely amazing museum. It is the home of the Enterprise space shuttle, the Enola Gay, a Concord, and many other historic aircraft. Jeff told us that the Air and Space museum on the mall only holds five percent of the Smithsonian's collection, while the Dulles Air and Space Museum holds ninety percent of the collection. Jeff's company has a rocket that launches satellites on display right next to the enterprise. It is unbelievable how much rocket fuel it takes to launch a rather small satellite. We only had two hours to spend at the museum because we needed to catch our flight. Next time we go to DC, the Dulles Air and Space Museum will be our first blog entry instead of our last. We are grateful to Ellie and Jeff for allowing us to stay at their home, play with their kids, and chat until the early hours of the morning. So long DC.

Kentlands

25 July::..
Dustin and I are very interested in, and looking at moving to a new urbanisim community. New urbanisim is a type of residential planning that has smaller traditional homes and walkable communities. About forty-five minutes from Ellie and Jeff's house is one of the first new urbanisim communities ever built called the Kentlands. We decided to go take a look at the community and take some pictures. Kentlands is rather established and houses run in the millions but it is gorgeous. We loved the traditional architecture mixed with community centers, opens space, and shops. We also love that brick is a staple medium in Kentlands. It was nice to spend time together doing one of our favorite things, looking at houses.

Baltimore National Aquarium

24 July::..
As our vacation started coming to a close, Dustin realized he had never been to an Aquarium. We decided to meet Anna, Jack (he LOVES ocean animals), and Elsa at the Baltimore National Aquarium. We spent the night at Ellie and Jeff's house and had the opportunity to take Elizabeth and Sarah with us to Baltimore. We met Anna and her kids around two o'clock and went straight to a dolphin show. We made sure we sat well clear of the splash zone. It is always fun to watch what tricks and skills trainers are able to teach dolphins. It was pretty amazing to watch the dolphins shoot out of the water and high into the air. After the dolphin show we went straight to see Jacks favorite animal, the shark. There was a variety of sharks, and all of them gave me the creeps. There was a shark called the snageltooth shark that desperately needs to see an orthodontist. It was fun to be with family and enjoy all there is to see at the Aquarium.

The Pentagon

23 July::..
Our Pentagon tour was quite the memorable experience. Dustin and I woke up early to print off the documentation verifying that we did indeed have a Pentagon tour that day. When we arrived at the Pentagon, we waited in line for twenty minutes or so in a security line. Security was really disorganized and we had no idea which line we needed to be in and what was expected of us. Once we got in, we checked in at the tour window and sat down in the waiting chairs. About thirty minutes later, we were called into a room where we put on security badges and received instructions about how the tour would proceed. Long story short, the tour was a mile walk that took us from one side of the Pentagon to the other with a little commentary regarding the history of the building. When we reached the far end of the building we were able to see a Memorial Chapel honoring those who lost their lives on September 11th. It was a small room with a book of remembrance that family members contributed to so that visitors could read about those who lost their lives. After we saw the chapel we walked back to where we had entered and our tour was finished. When all was said and done, Dustin and I decided that the tour was a lot of work for a mediocre tour. However, we are glad that we had the opportunity to see the hallways of the Pentagon.

Library of Congress

22 July::..
The Library of Congress was one of our favorite buildings we saw during our vacation. We could not stop craning our necks to see the amazing mosaics on the ceiling. It was interesting to find out that the mosaics were put together on big sheets of paper in a workshop and sent to the Library of Congress where they were installed. Dustin and I both love education and loved the vision statement of the Library of Congress:

"We will foster a free and informed society by building, preserving and providing resources for human creativity, wisdom and achievement. We continually strive to place these resources at the fingertips of the American people, their elected representatives and the world for their mutual prosperity, enlightenment and inspiration."

Our tour of the Library of Congress was very informative and we enjoyed learning that anything you look at has an explanation. Nothing is "just art", it all has relevance to learning and achievement. The Library of Congress now has a website www.LOC.gov that gives you access to the endless documents, maps, and books located in the library. We hope to utilize the services of the Library of Congress in the future.

Art and the Twilight Tourmobile

21 July::..
The National Gallery of Art is the one place I had to go when we were in DC. The last time I was at the Gallery, there was a Mary Cassatt exhibit. I fell in love with what is by far one of my favorite pieces of art. It is of a mother and child in bed. The mother is laying down and the child is sitting on the side of the bed with a teacup on the nightstand nearby. I have never fallen in love with a piece as quickly as I did with this one. Unfortunately, the Mary Cassatt exhibit was a traveling exhibit and was long gone when we got there. However, Dustin loved seeing the Van Gough's, especially his self portrait. We love how beautiful the National Gallery of Art building is. It has huge marble columns, wonderful woodwork, and amazing artwork which culminate in an amazing experience

It was SO HOT that we had not seen any of the major landmarks, Monuments, or Memorials, so we got tickets for the Twilight Tourmobile. The Tourmobile is an open air bus that goes to all the major sites in DC and has a tour guide that tells you facts and history about what you are seeing. The Twilight Tour started at 7:00 and went to all of the Monuments and Memorials in the DC area. The tour lasted about three and half hours and was a really neat experience. We learned things that we would not have learned if we would have seen the sights on our own. The tour started and drove by the Capitol, the National Gallery of Art, the Natural History Museum, The Washington Monument and stopped at the Jefferson Memorial. We enjoyed about twenty minutes to walk around the Jefferson, take pictures, and appreciate the beauty of our surroundings. We got back on the bus and headed to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Monument. The Roosevelt Monument has four chambers, each representing a different term in his presidency. Each chamber focuses on something significant that he was known for. The first chamber had sculptures depicting the depression, my favorite of which is a piece depicting five men in a bread line. The second chamber was focused on the civil programs and services President Roosevelt worked to establish. The third chamber depicted his International relations and war, and the fourth was dedicated to his family, and his death. We absolutely loved the Roosevelt Monument and the time and effort that was put into making such a wonderful place for people to visit. We headed back to the bus and went to the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The sun was setting and it seemed to make the Korean War Veterans Memorial come to life. The soldiers really seemed to be on patrol and I felt like I was walking with them keeping my eyes out for the enemy. Our last stop was the World War II Memorial. The sun had set by now and it was a really amazing experience to see the fountains, wreaths, and stars at night. On our way back to Union Station where the tour originated, Dustin and I felt blessed and grateful to have seen such wonderful Monuments and Memorials erected to honor those who have made our nation great.

National Archives

July 20::..
In the morning I had an awful toothache so we went to see the on call dentist in Falls Church Virginia. He was a young guy who diagnosed me with a dying tooth, remedy, root canal. I decided I could tough it out until we got back to Salt Lake due to the many horror stories I have heard of getting dental work done by an unknown dentist. We took a cab and went to Anna and Luke's house where we stayed for the next three nights. We had a good time talking to Anna and Luke, and hanging out with their kids at the pool. Thanks to Anna and Luke for letting us intrude on their lives. We had a blast!

Later that day we went to the National Archives. We had to wait about twenty minutes to get into the building because of security screenings. Once we were in we moseyed around looking at all of the exhibits. There were some really neat exhibits that showed letters written to various Presidents of the United States. My absolute favorite was a letter from three teen girls in Idaho pleading with President Eisenhower not to give Elvis a GI haircut. It was really funny. Among that same exhibit were letters pleading to stop war, start war, step down from office, thank you's, praises, well wishes, and suggestions on how to run the country. Of course, the main reason to go to the Archives is to see the Deceleration of Independence, the Constitution and other important documents relevant to the birth of our great nation. There is something sacred about seeing those documents on display and we are grateful to those who toiled to make them.

We met Anna, Luke, Jack, and Elsa at a local diner for dinner later that night. Dustin and I both enjoyed some of the best omelets we have ever tasted. Besides Elsa being terrified of the new faces, we all enjoyed ourselves.