Though I’ve been known to write my own look back at what the previous 12 months have held for those of us in the multiple sclerosis (MS) club, I have to admit that I didn’t have much stomach for either the writing or the reading of one this year. Now, I admittedly did read the thing. There was good news in the form of a new oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) — Ponvory (ponesimod) — for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a portable neuromodulation stimulator (PoNS), which sits on the tongue and stimulates the nerves with a small electrical pulse. This PoNS has proved beneficial for people with MS who have mild to moderate issues with gait due to the disease. Of course, the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and MS — everywhere from infection rates, our response to vaccines, and DMT effects on those vaccinations — made up a bundle of MS news from the past year. There was plenty to talk about in the MS world from 2021. But, if I’m to be honest, I just want to look forward rather than back. As the old year closes, it will do my head good to concentrate on the horizon ahead rather than our wake behind. I have to think that I’m not alone in this year-end sentiment. It’s been a tough slog for the past 20 months or so for many of us. But I’ll not go into much in the way of detail; it would be counter to the point of this blog post.
So, What’s in Store for 2022?
For me, in 2022, I’d like to think that I’ll be able to get in a bit of the now long-postponed travel that’s been on hold since early 2020. For medical reasons stemming from a major, non-MS-related surgery, as well as the general state of the world since the acronym COVID came into our collective vernacular, I haven’t been beyond the two and a half hour drive to the hospital since we launched my last book, in November of 2019. Perhaps I’ll take an overdue trip to see my parents if the Greek alphabet of variants doesn’t outpace my passport’s expiration date. I’ve also been asked to speak at a few MS-related events that are tentatively scheduled (actually re- and re-re-scheduled). Perhaps that will get me beyond the cottage-to-hospital commute zone.
There’s Likely Another Hospital Visit Coming Up
As to the hospital, well, I’ve a short stay there in store early in the year as well. There was a hernia that my surgeon decided to leave as is as my abdominal surgery pushed into its eighth hour in 2020. It was very close to one of the (six) incisions sites, so he thought it better to leave it for later. After a recent consultation with him, it was determined that it is now “later.” We’ll hope to have that minor operation before the end of January and be recovered for flight clearance before spring has ended.
A New Book Is in the Offing
On the writing front, I’ve been working on a new book that should be ready for delivery to the publisher in the first half of the year. This one is back in the MS world, and I hope to share more, including a hoped-for release date early in 2023, as the process moves forward. As to the latter half of the new year … I think all of us with chronic illness know that we sketch out plans rather than ink them in. I often go through more erasers than pencils when filling in (and rubbing out) engagements in my diary. For now, I’m happy to enjoy a few quiet months of winter, during which I’ll plan the gardens for when the stretch of light in the evening overtakes the cold darkness than has been the past year or so. Here’s to a better 2022 than 2021 … or 2020. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis
