My Realty of MSA Has Finally Arrived!

I posted this on my FB page of the 31st December 2018, "I had the most awful experience at around 1.50 am this morning! I woke up and my jaw was hectically "convulsing", sort of exaggerated, fast, chewing motion. I put my hand up to try to stop it and may hand was also flaying about. Suddenly I realized I was not breathing. Panic.. I started thumping my chest as hard as I could, grabbed my glass to try to take a sip of water and that went flying across the room. Thankfully a gasp of air eventually hit my lungs and very slowly my breathing started again. I would call that a close call. By that time I had put my bedside light on and my poor kitty was staring at me wide eyed. I bent down to stroke him and say a few words. I could not, no intelligent sound came from my mouth. My mouth was raw and sore and felt all skew, as was my tongue. I immediately thought of stoke, however, as my "wheezing" was somewhat pronounced over that past few days, I put it down to my first serious Stridor attack. What a way to start the last day of the year!"

Six days later I have be waiting for some form of reasonable speech to return. I has not. It caught me off guard. Of course I had been expecting this to eventually happen, but never in a million years so fast. I had even prepared cue cards for this eventuality but never printed them. I even installed "OptiKey" speech recognition software on my laptop but had not even looked to see if it worked.

My realty has arrived. A new set of challenges. A new set of rules to play by. Not only has my speech been affected, my typing skills have seriously deteriorated. The last seven lines have take me over an hour to type. My journey with MSA continues.

I dedicate to post to Mr. Paul Norman - One last lecture, a true MSA warrior as recounted by his son William Normon. The Vimo link to the full video may be found here. 
Mr. Paul Norman - Rest in Peace

Thinking and praying for all the MSA warriors and the carers out there!

[If you have not read the first post of this blog, I recommend you visit HERE and read in chronological order, it will make my journey a little clearer for you]

Keep safe,

Neill

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Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare, degenerative neurological disorder affecting your body's involuntary (autonomic) functions, including blood pressure, breathing, bladder function and muscle control. MSA shares many Parkinson's disease-like symptoms, such as slow movement, rigid muscles and poor balance. Treatment includes medications and lifestyle changes to help manage symptoms, but there is no cure. The condition progresses rapidly and eventually leads to death. Read my Journey with MSA @ https://msainsouthafrica.blogspot.com