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Hello, welcome to my next podcast. On the show today, I'm going to stay along the old

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school line that I went on the last one. No scripts, nothing like that. I'm just going

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to be talking about my treatment that I had on Friday and just generally chatting about

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me, what I've been up to and yeah, just sort of giving you all a bit of an insight as to

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what I've been up to recently. Well, we will start with the most obvious. Finally, finally,

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I've started on my treatment. I've started on ocrevis. I was given my first half a bag.

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That was Friday. I got to the hospital before eight in the morning. I had my preliminary

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checks done, signed my consent and whatever else. Apparently, I've been consented as primary

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progressive. Yep. Okay, I'll take that. You know, at least we've got an idea of what's

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what. So that's where we are with that. The consent was signed, all the preliminary checks

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done and we went on. I've taken the antihistamine that was necessary and the steroids. Steroids

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and the antihistamine. Yeah, I mean, it didn't take particularly long. The drip, I mean,

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I've been sort of having IVs and whatever in is something I've never really had much

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of. You know, when I went into hospital from work just before Christmas, not last year,

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the year before, that was the first time I'd ever had one. So this one I actually had in

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the back of my left hand. Very, very strange. So every time I've ever had these previous

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and again, it's only been one, two times, it's always been in a sort of mid part of

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my arm. So having it in the back of my hand, it actually hurt a bit, the needle going in,

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I'm going to be honest, there was a little bit of pain. It wasn't comfortable, but actually

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once I got used to it, it made a lot of sense. As the infusion nurse said, it meant I'd be

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able to use that arm because having the needle sort of in the middle part of your arm kind

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of restricts your movement a little bit. And yeah, I understand that. I've got to say,

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one of the things that the infusion nurse did was absolutely mind blowing. It could

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just be me being very inexperienced with this sort of stuff. But it was a bit chilly out

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in the morning and obviously it meant that the veins in my hand were a little bit hidden.

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So she got a medical glove, filled it with warm water, put it under my left hand, got

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another medical glove, filled it with warm water, put it on top of my left hand, asked

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me to just gently hold that there with my right hand, a couple of minutes. It actually

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brought the veins out to play, so to speak. It was brilliant, honestly, something so simple

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and it worked an absolute charm. To say it was incredibly impressive is an understatement.

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But yeah, say so, we put the drip in, went through the preliminaries, that got done.

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And I like the fact there was no ceremony when it came to actually putting the ocrevas

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onto the drip. Obviously they changed the line and yeah, the ocrevas went on and I actually

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sort of had to ask, I said, oh, is this the big boy going on now? And they said, yeah,

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yeah, this is what it is. Okay, fair enough. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting anything

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major, but you know, I don't know, maybe it's just me being a little bit unsure on

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all of this. But yeah, I was just maybe expecting them to say, right, okay, we're just doing

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this now or whatever else. But actually it was brilliant the way they handled it. Absolutely

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brilliant. Yeah, I mean, once the ocrevas was going, probably just after the first hour,

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I started getting a bit of a reaction, nothing major, nothing serious, getting a bit sort

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of itchy around the back of my head. And the infusion nurse, she had a look, it was going

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a little bit red, but nothing serious, nothing serious at all, nothing to worry about. And

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it sort of just the itching went away and it worked its way around the top of my head

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and hairline and a tiny little bit on my chest, just a tiny little bit. So they just didn't

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up the speed of the drip at all for about an hour and a half, just to give my body a

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chance to get used to what was going on. And again, it worked a charm that that went away

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after an hour and a half. Yeah, the reactions sort of subsided as if my body was getting

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used to it. And it was, it was actually quite, quite surprising. Because again, you know,

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I've said it once, I'll say it again, this is all so new, that I didn't know what to

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expect. And to sort of have that that reaction and have it so calmly dealt with. And again,

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I mean, it is such a minimal reaction, it was nothing major, it was genuinely nothing

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major. But everything was so calm. There was no, no panicking, nothing like that, nothing

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was being made to seem scary. And when it got to the point that the ocrevas was finished,

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I mean, while it was going on, I did actually blog from my chair, that's on the website,

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Mike's MS journey.com. So yeah, I did blog from my chair, just to sort of update everyone

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as to how it was going and whatever else. But yeah, once ocrevas was done, they put

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the flush through, which took another hour. And again, I mean, that's sort of the time

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flew. The time genuinely flew. I mean, I'd love to sort of go through and talk in depth

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about how it all was. But genuinely, it just, you know, we started all this just after eight

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in the morning. And I was done by 20 past one in the afternoon, it felt like I was only

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in there a couple of hours. It really did. And what I've got to say is I was scared.

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Cut the days previous, I was absolutely terrified of what what was going on. I really was scared.

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And even going in now, I did everything I could to try and sort of hold that back so

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nobody really knew. And I know previously, I have mentioned my dislike for the way NHS

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handled my case. Well, what I've got to say on this one, to the infusion nurse and my

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MS nurse, you were fantastic. On Friday, you genuinely made me feel calm. From the minute

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I walked into that room, it was just treated in such a calm and at times quite fun, which

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sounds a bit silly. Trust me, I understand that. But you know, there was banter, which

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helped massively, because it kept me calm. And that's what was needed. So yeah, on that

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MS nurse infusion nurse, you were brilliant. Genuinely, genuinely brilliant helped a lot.

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And while I was in there, I met a couple of other chaps that were having a different treatment.

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Both of them superb, absolutely superb, have really good conversations, incredibly nice

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people, again, made me feel calm. And in fact, you know, there was nothing off limits we

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were talking about her MS and whatever else, but it felt like actually, you could you could

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just talk openly. And there was no judgment. It was a case of actually, it's somebody

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understands what you're going through somebody that understands that this isn't all the same

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for everyone. Everyone is different. We all handle things differently. We all feel things

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differently. We all have different symptoms. And it was just so helpful to talk to other

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people that are going through it genuinely. And if you are listening, you will know who

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you are. Thank you. Absolutely superb. Because again, it was just it was so calming. I think,

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honestly, that's what was needed was for it to just be killed. Because again, in the days

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leading up, I mean, I was terrified, I really was scared. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't.

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So to have that kind of the calming influence from everyone involved, and I do mean everyone

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involved, it helped a lot. But yeah, I mean, that's the treatment. That's how it went.

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I've got the next one early part of March, which again, once that one's done, I've then

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got six months until I get the first full bag, which I've quietly got my fingers crossed

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that this is just going to start helping to keep me as I am. I'm not telling you this

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isn't no miracle treatment that's going to cure my MS, nothing like that. This is purely

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and simply just to try and keep me as I am. And I take that I'll take that all day, all

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day every day. If it means I'm going to get any worse, I'll take it. But coming away from

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the treatment side of things, I've been doing my MS Society Challenge 28. Again, I've been

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doing that on my scooter, because I can't walk it. Again, I'm not going to sit here

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and lie to you. I can't walk it. But actually, I've been really enjoying it. Taking a scooter

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down to the parks and whatever else and just just having a little look at the river and

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just seeing what's going on. And I got to say it, people have been really polite. Coming

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past people and whatever else saying good morning and just hello and that sort of stuff.

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I don't know whether it's because the weather's changing. I mean, it's glorious sunshine out

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there. It really is lovely. For this time in February, the weather is different level.

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But yeah, I mean, it's almost as if things have sort of turned around a little bit and

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people have become polite and friendly. And I'll take it. I'll take it with a smile on

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my face, because actually it's quite nice. Today, today's Sunday, Lisa came with me.

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It was lovely. It was really, really nice just to go around the river, just the two

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of us. Yeah, and just relax. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Really did enjoy it. And I must

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admit, I'm not quite so tired today. Yesterday, obviously the day after infusion, I was so

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tired. I mean, I just sit and fall asleep in front of the TV. And yeah, I mean, there

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was quite a few times I did doze off. Can't help that. It had to happen. And yeah, I just

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accepted it because if it's got to be done, it's got to be done. But yeah, I mean, that's

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the MS Challenge 28 that I've been getting done. Fully enjoying it. Just getting out

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and being in the sunshine. I've taken that. There is other bits currently I've got going

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on in the background, which are a lot more serious, I'll be honest. Not necessarily health

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related, but I can't go into detail on those just yet. I will talk about them at some point

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when the time is right. It's more work based than anything else. So again, you'll have

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to bear with me that there is things going on, but I've got to keep them close to my

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chest for the time being. But it will be spoken about at some point. But yeah, I mean, that's

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kind of how I'm doing. I mean, in terms of myself and how things are going. Yeah, I mean,

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the standard sort of pains are there that I've been having nonstop. I must admit, I've

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had a few days earlier in the week where actually just moving at all was really difficult. Lots

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and lots of pains just, I mean, it just wasn't good. And I was struggling. I'd be lying

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if I said I wasn't. I was really struggling. But there's nothing new currently, which I

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can accept. So the pains in my legs are pretty much standard. I'm so used to that. I'm real.

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I can't make it any easier because it really does hurt. My lower back has been pretty awful.

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I'm going to be honest, it's been very, very painful. Still get the sort of water droplet

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feelings on my head from time to time. Can't really understand what they are, why they

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are or anything else. But again, I'm just trying to get used to them. Because a lot

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of this stuff, there's nothing that can be done. I've just got to kind of accept it and

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try and figure out a way to live beside it. But yeah, I think that's pretty much all we

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need to go through today. What I will say, there is a chance, I'm not going to guarantee

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it, but there is a chance in the near future, I may start switching back to two podcasts

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a week. I hope that works for everyone. What I will say is on my website, I now have a

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link to my specialist Facebook page that I've set up. So please go over, click on that,

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come and join me. On my TikTok, I've been really trying to do some fun stuff as well

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as the MS related stuff. I mean, there was a face age thing I've done. It actually put

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me over 40 years old. Yes, I know I'm 40 this year, you don't need to remind me. But it

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doesn't matter, it actually added a couple of years extra on top of that. Maybe I need

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to start using some face creams and stuff. I don't know. But yeah, that's where we are.

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As I say, pop over to my website, the links are all over there. I've also got the link

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tree and all that sort of stuff. But yeah, the website, Mike's MS journey.com, you can

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reach everything from there. Come and join me. Let's get this moving around. Because

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again, I'm doing this, I want to help everyone else by hearing what I'm going through. I'm

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hoping I can start showing other people that actually, this is awful. This is terrible.

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But I'm doing all I can to personally try and fight it with a smile on my face. Well,

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you have a really good week and I look forward to speaking to you all again soon. Bye bye.