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I have to admit, this was pretty cool. I found Gabby by her detailed blog on HALT-MS and she was instrumental in helping me and my wife get through the procedure with invaluable nuggets of advice. We ended our e-mails with the promise of getting together if we were ever in Austin. Well, that all worked out during our year 1 trip back to Texas, so we met up for lunch.
Her husband and one of her sons joined her at a popular local Tex-Mex joint (a half-hour wait at 1:30!) and the restaurant staff must have been surprised to see two folks hobbling around on forearm crutches. Naturally our table was in the very back. (We might have sat outside, but temps were already creeping into the 90s due to a record April heat wave.)
Gabby's MS trajectory lines up with my experience in a number of ways. While my MS merrily burbled along for several years before it suddenly turned aggressive, hers was a fright from the start in 2007. Both of us have spinal activity that hasn't mucked much with our brains, but has walloped our legs. Both of us barely squeaked into HALT-MS by just making the 100 meter required walk (for an EDSS of 5.5).
She entered HALT-MS about two years before me and is nearing her 3-year anniversary in July. She's doing well and there has been no disease activity or progression, but her legs are still being stubborn. Since she home schools three little boys, her access to physical therapy and time to exercise is FAR more limited than mine. So I'm making it a personal goal to return her kindness in helping me with HALT-MS by helping her walk better from what I've learned.
Let's get to work, Gabby!
Her husband and one of her sons joined her at a popular local Tex-Mex joint (a half-hour wait at 1:30!) and the restaurant staff must have been surprised to see two folks hobbling around on forearm crutches. Naturally our table was in the very back. (We might have sat outside, but temps were already creeping into the 90s due to a record April heat wave.)
Gabby's MS trajectory lines up with my experience in a number of ways. While my MS merrily burbled along for several years before it suddenly turned aggressive, hers was a fright from the start in 2007. Both of us have spinal activity that hasn't mucked much with our brains, but has walloped our legs. Both of us barely squeaked into HALT-MS by just making the 100 meter required walk (for an EDSS of 5.5).
She entered HALT-MS about two years before me and is nearing her 3-year anniversary in July. She's doing well and there has been no disease activity or progression, but her legs are still being stubborn. Since she home schools three little boys, her access to physical therapy and time to exercise is FAR more limited than mine. So I'm making it a personal goal to return her kindness in helping me with HALT-MS by helping her walk better from what I've learned.
Let's get to work, Gabby!
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