"Hey man, slow down, slow down.  Idiot, slow down, slow down.".  These words were written by a musician a few years back.  And I keep repeating them to myself, because this HSCT recovery for me is slow, that's just how it is and there's nothing I can do about it.  And I can't stop pushing myself just because I get mad since I want recovery to move faster, or I risk losing any gains that I have made.

On Sunday, I made my first trip to the grocery store in a long time.  We parked near the grocery cart collection thing, so I could grab a cart as soon as I got out of the car and use it as a walker.  It was great to be out.  I got physically tired by the end of the trip, but I am not surprised.  Physical stamina is not currently a strong suit of mine.  It's also great to see the snow melting outside.  This encourages me to go outside and move around, which is good.

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The standard for measuring disability in MS patients is the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).  A great picture of the scale and what each number represents was posted on the HSCT Facebook Group that I am a member of.  Here it is:

The last time I was 'officially' measured was at my Neurologist's office in September 2013.  Part of the Fampyra prescription process was to have my EDSS score recorded.  The nurse told me at that time it was 5.0 (score is given in 0.5 point increments).  I would estimate that by the time I went to Israel it was 6.0, which is the EDSS upper limit for HSCT acceptance at many facilities.  My goal over the next few years is to keep my level of physical activity high.  If that results in a reduction of my EDSS to 4.0, then I will be thrilled.

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It has been established that HSCT for MS candidates with the highest probability of ideal treatment outcome (disease progression halted, some reversal of disability) are those patients diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS who have minimal disability (the sooner, the better).  This may be why, regardless of a patient's level of disability, the majority of treatment facilities will not treat patients diagnosed with progressive forms of MS (like me).  One of the facilities that will accept patients with a progressive MS diagnosis is located in Moscow, Russia.  The treating physician there was involved in an HSCT study that included progressive MS patients.  Although this study's population is small, and it is only one study, its conclusion (posted below) is promising for all MS patients, regardless of their diagnosis: